KITCHEN DONE, MOVING ON TO BATHROOM

The kitchen has been completed and we put up our first Christmas tree over the weekend.  Here are some pictures;

 While the butcher block serves as a great countertop currently, we decided that granite was necessary at our hopeful price point and it will be installed next week.

I spent the last week refinishing the floors in the front half of the house and rebuilding the fireplace in the living room.  Here is a “work in progress” series of pictures that show the fireplace being built- you can also see before and afters of the floor in the front area of the shots;

We also finished off the rest of the windows and the house is about 50% painted.  The painters spent a few days block filling the brick, primed everything in a tan color, ran all of the soffits/vinyl in white and put one coat of finish on the brick.  I am hoping the weather cooperates and they finish this week- we still need another coat of brick finish, a darker color on the foundation & porch and all of the windows need to be cut in;

I am hopefully going to start the bathroom demo today and I figure the renovation should take about a week.  After the bathroom we are hoping to move on to the basement/laundry room unless the weather is beautiful and I have an opportunity to put up the back deck.

KITCHEN 92% COMPLETE

We accomplished all of our goals over the weekend- the kitchen floor is tiled & grouted, built in doors are on and we now have a sink/disposal.  In addition, all of the appliances were delivered today and I spent the majority of my time connecting the dishwasher, installing the ice maker, etc...  Here are some pictures at the end of the day- please note that the back door will eventually be replaced and the front area will hold a pub table & chairs;

I will be painting the trim and installing shoe moulding along the kick plates tomorrow.  One major point that is currently being debated relates to the countertop.  I installed the butcher block as a “nice” temporary surface until the granite is installed.  However, after a few coats of wax, the “temporary” fix is starting to look really great!  Here is a closer shot of the counter (without edge trim) - please let me know what you think because I have about 5 days to cancel the granite order;

 I have also spent some time in the “mud room” which is the area at the back end of the kitchen as you exit the back door.   Originally I planned to locate a stackable washer/dryer in this area but it just seemed too tight as I rehabbed the space.  I decided to use the space for coats/shoes/etc. and built a rack/bench modeled after an Arts & Crafts entry door.  Here are a few shots as the project progressed- I still need to add a shelf with corbels across the top;

Exterior work will continue tomorrow with new gutters being installed and the first coat of paint going on the brick.  I will be moving on to the fireplace demo and hopefully a new façade by the end of the week.