You CAN Get What You Want

Since I did such a whiny post about the original cabinet install, I thought I'd do an update and let you know how the changes went.

When the cabinets went up, there was a HUGE piece of trim at the top of them.  I was devastated that the cabinets did not go all the way to the ceiling as I had requested.  

The finish went on and the construction continued while I negotiated with the builder and the cabinet maker.

They even came by and tried to tell me, "They look GREAT!"  My realtor came by and said, "It's kind of like the cabinets would have been done in the house's building period."  

Regardless, I was not happy.  When I finally got that through to them, they came up with some ideas to change things to make me happy.  There were a couple of solutions batted around, but until I said, "then he'll just have to remake all the uppers!" they didn't really take it seriously.  At that point, they got it.

The solution I opted for was to put a box at the top of each cabinet upper, then give it a glass fronted flip up door at the top.

The paint guy did an amazing job of staining the new wood to match the existing cabinetry.  I was afraid it would be easy to see the old vs. the new.

The cabinets went up with the glass fronted door panels and I could not be more pleased.

The glass gives the dark cabinets a little more reflective property and a bit of interest.


I like it!  I've already stuffed half of them full of kitchen things I don't use that often.

The added benefit of having the cabinet maker back out is that he readjusted ALL the doors.  The painters know how to remove the doors to paint them, but often, when they are putting them back on, they will flip left to right or vice versa.  The cabinet guy hung the new doors and very carefully adjusted all the doors so they hung right and soft-closed correctly.

I am very pleased with the outcome.

I'm glad I stood up for myself and insisted they fix it.

When you pay this much for something to be remodeled, you need to be happy with the finished product.

And I am VERY happy with my new kitchen!!

--  Sandee Wagner

Lights! We Have Lights!!

The electricians came back because the ceilings were finally all painted--and they installed some of our light fixtures.

All the scary neon tubes are down in my "up lighting" trays that surround the sunken living room and the great room media area.

The electricians were totally freaked out when I asked them to check it and see if it was all right--it was not.  We pulled the old wiring (bare wires--so scary!) and all the neon tubing and replaced it with LED rope lights.

The light cast is a little different, but it's way less maintenance and should pull a lot less electricity.



The bar area got a new pendant light.  The old light was going to be reused...until I saw how pretty the bar looked with the new Silestone counter top.  Then I couldn't put up that old brass fixture.

I went to Lowe's and purchased a pendant kit and then got a gray and white swirled glass cover for it.  It's not disco ball shiny, but it was affordable and it really shows the same colors as the counter top.  Now, I just need to spend about two hours cleaning all that mirror and glass shelving!!

Finally, we got the kitchen lights all installed.  There is a fixture above the eat in table area and a matching pendant over the sink.

I picked a smooth brushed nickel light with a shiny chrome stripe hoping it would go good with all the appliances.  They really turned out nice!

What you can't see from this picture is the new LED under counter lighting.  It is so BRIGHT!!  I love it.  I can't wait for this to get finished so I can cook in this kitchen and mess it up!!

Things are really starting to come together.  Of course, the rooms are still filled with boxes waiting to be unpacked and furniture waiting to be unwrapped.  I left a lot of it until the construction was completed.  Seemed a little crazy to unwrap the leather furniture when some paint would be slung around.  Most of that should be done by the end of this week, so maybe we can get all the large furniture pieces placed this weekend.  Time will tell.

--  Sandee Wagner

The Kitchen Countertops

Stain! and Countertops!

 Well it took them a couple of days to stain all the cabinets, then coat them with a couple of layers of clear coat (shellac? laquer?)

All I can tell you is that it was stinky.  We picked Sherwin-Williams Burnished Walnut in the hopes that it would look good and blend with all our other furniture.  It turned out pretty well.  I think the cabinetry looks good dark.  There is still that soffit to be dealt with, but that is an ongoing discussion.  There will be a change--if they can't come up with anything else, they will remake the uppers.

Yesterday, the countertop guys showed up and did the install of the new Silestone countertops.  What an enormous amount of work!!

Those guys worked non-stop all day.  They did all the kitchen counters, the backsplash on the island and the bar top.

The color is called Platinum White.  It's hard to tell in my photos, but some of the chips in that surface are mirrors and reflect the light.  It's the first time this crew had installed this type of Silestone.  They kept petting it and saying, "shiny".  Which was exactly why I picked it!

I made all the decisions on this remodel.  DH has been working a new job and kept saying, "whatever you think is best" when I offered him choices.  So this is really all me, when it comes to selections.  I didn't have any choices on the layout or design--but all the finishes were my choice.  If it looks like crap--it's on me.

Last night, when we were admiring the countertops, DH stroked the smooth surface and said, "I should never ask you how much this cost, should I?"  He is such a smart man.  It is one of the reasons I love him.

--  Sandee Wagner

You Can't Always Get What You Want

I guess I need to work on my communication skills.  I'm sure I didn't make myself clear.

The original kitchen had a soffit above the kitchen cabinets.  I instructed the contractor to take it out and told the cabinet maker that I wanted the cabinets to go all the way to the ceiling.  I wanted ALL that space for storage.

They asked, "Don't you want some space to put decorative stuff?"  I said no.  No area to dust, to place to put forgotten stuff.  Just all in cabinet storage.

And this is what I get.

Looks like a soffit, doesn't it?  The guy called it 'trim moulding'.  Just the finishing touch.

I asked the carpenter why.  Why when I asked for the cabinets to go all the way to the ceiling did he do this?

His explanation was pretty simple.  I asked for a pantry to be built to the right of the doorway.



You can see it here with a worker doing some painting next to it.  That unit was built as a single cabinet and had to be 'stood up' into the place.  Because it had to clear the ceiling, it could only be so tall.

That one cabinet determined his line for all the rest of the cabinets, they could only be that tall.

I really want to lay down and cry.  I would not have minded if that pantry was two separate cabinets sitting on each other.  Then it wouldn't have had to be 'stood up' and I could have had full height cabinets.  So disappointed.  I spent a lot of money and did not get what I wanted.

But I'm pretty sure it's too late to get any kind of recompense.  The things are built, after all.  I really wish I had been able to draw a picture of what I wanted... some kind of plan so I knew what to expect.  I would have pitched hard to have it the other way--but it truly is too late to get what I want.

--  Sandee Wagner

Yet More Floor Goodness

I choose to put porcelain tile that looked like wood in the dining room.  It's an addition that is windows all around.  Since the room is so bright, I thought a darker color floor would help 'ground' the room and set it apart from the rest of the house.
They've laid the floor tiles, but have not yet grouted it.  I think it looks nice.  And I'm glad that the dark color of the tile makes it look rich.

 I also was very concerned about the 'curb' from the front entryway into the sunken living room and the step up from the living room into the dining room.

The answer?  A mosaic tile strip to give a visual break between the floors so the trip hazard will be lessened.

I will probably still fall at least once, but hopefully, it will keep most people from tripping.



I think the mosaic does a good job on the curb.  You can just see it across the room on the step up into the dining room.

These guys did an AMAZING job laying the floor tiles.  They leveled all the floors using a water level and then mudded up to make all the floors level.

I could not be more happy with the end product.  When it's all grouted and cleaned up, I'm sure it will look great.

--  Sandee Wagnefr

The Floors! The Floors!

I was so very excited to stop by the house and see that they were making great progress on the floors.  They are laying travertine throughout the house and boy, even uncleaned, it looks pretty!

This room had to be 'floated' or leveled (sooooo much!)  It's an addition to the original house, what was a covered patio converted to a bedroom and storage closet.  The cement floor--because it was an outside porch--was slanted for drainage.  When they did the enclosure, they just carpeted that concrete and never bothered to level it out.

So, now the storage closet and the small bedroom/office have Level Floors!!

And look down that hallway!  With the addition of the new LED overhead lights, you can see to the end of the 'runway'.  The travertine is just lovely.

In the sunken living room, they are laying the travertine "on point" and outlining it with some dark wood toned porcelain tile.  Although they have not started laying the border yet, you can see how the tile in the main living room looks fancy!  I'm very pleased with how this is turning out and the great care the crew is taking to keep it all level and make the floors flow from room to room.  No thresholds!  No trip hazards!  Well, except for that curb up into the dining room and the one from the front door down... except for that.

I can't wait to see the wood grain tile laid in the next room.  It should be done by early next week.  More photos to follow.

--  Sandee Wagner

Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

We checked in on the remodeling efforts this week.  I don't know what I expected but it was a mess.

A big mess.

I'm really hoping this is the beginning of the end.  The rough in was completed on framing, electric and plumbing.  The inspector should be by Monday to sign off on the work.  Then the rest of the ceilings and walls can be closed up.

The floor guys were hard at work.  They started in the back of the house and they are working their way forward to the big entertaining areas.

So, they stack up the bags of concrete they use to "float" the floor to level.  They stack up the floor tiles and leave a lot of stuff laying around while they work in the other rooms.

I'm trying to think of it as progress.  Even though it seems like a lot of junk laying around in piles of dust and broken tiles...

It's closer to livable every single day.

--  Sandee Waggner