Victorian House Renovation in Bloomingdale, DC
Ah so the saga of “move kitchen cabinets 4″ down” continues. Besides the dented and scratched counter (which will need an ink & seal touch up) there was also the problem with our shelf beneath the cabinets. That too, had to move down, otherwise I couldn’t use it for any soap or oil bottles.
We could have asked our contractors to do that, but decided that they *might* run away if we ask them to change or re-do one more thing.… Read the rest
Well the distance between the three recessed lights by the cabinets is fixed.
But the fourth light somehow ended up wildly off the mark. whyyyyyyyyyy?????? why can’t everything just happen right, as if by magic, the first time. see that piece of blue painters tape? that’s supposed to be the location of the fourth light. magic, i want magic!
But overall, we are slowly but surely getting there. As of this morning, this is what our kitchen ceiling looks like:
we have started to move into the kitchen, and its taking us a minute (more like days and days).… Read the rest
My beautiful black shiny counters were a bit of a causality in the whole ‘move kitchen cabinets 4″ down‘ exercise. I wasn’t really looking for a solution – I figured that just as well, it was bound to happen eventually, with use. But then I came across this post on Apartment Therapy, suggesting that it was possible to get dings out of wood counters. Intrigued, I decided to give it a whirl last night.… Read the rest
In every renovation, inevitably, mistakes happen. The worst though, is when you are close to done. Or when something has been there for weeks – months maybe – and you “just” notice it. Annnd it happened to us. We have started to use the kitchen just a bit– the new dishwasher was hooked up on Friday for us (works great!) So on Sunday I thought – hey why don’t I unload the dishwasher straight into our kitchen cabinets.… Read the rest
Slowly but surely we are making our way to completion. We lost one day of work (Tuesday) this week due to hurricane Sandy, mainly because driving conditions were terrible. Not much to show in terms of pictures – some electrical outlets, some moldings here and there. A bathroom door – hey cool!
Fluorescent lights (3′ and 2′ long) were installed in the recessed opening behind the bench. The plan is to place plexiglass over these in order to diffuse the light.… Read the rest
I have been trying to take care of the small things as we go along in the renovation – like touch ups and finishing touches – because I figure once we declare Phase II renovation done, its going to be really difficult to get around to small fixes and touch ups. This quick fix – adding a touch of brass to our faucets – one was super quick. In 20 minutes and with minimum materials and effort in the kitchen and half bath, I made a big difference in the finished look of our space.… Read the rest
Well we have survived the frankenstorm that was Sandy, without flooding or loosing electricity. That was the best part of the hurricane. Another neat bit of freak weather events –all public transport typically shuts down in DC, which means that the offices are closed as well, and we get to telework from home. Which means that I got to oil, wax, and buff our beautiful island top during my lunch break.… Read the rest
Woot – there it is. 100 days. Mind you that’s working days, not counting weekends, a week-long break sometime in July or a break that we have between the end of phase I and start of phase II of this monster. renovation project. This weekend will mark exactly 6 months since we demolished the kitchen and began our camping adventure. I am ready to be done with that.I can’t say that I ever want to do it again, but I think counting the stress, dust, etc, we took it all in stride (hey, we are still married!)… Read the rest
More brass! Yes!! The bench is looking spiffy these days. We added a foot rail at the bottom for comfort purposes, since the bench is made taller than normal to accommodate the height of the island. And inside the bench the division/support beams are all done, so its ready for sitting (good thing too since we have friends in town this weekend!)
The open shelving unit next to the bench got the wallpaper treatment.… Read the rest
We were out doing stuff all weekend – including checking out the new Union Market (!) *go for the fresh fish.its.so.good (but more in a separate post – but I did get a random assortment of projects checked off my to do list.
First of, the bathroom upstairs. Bathtub. Thank you to everyone who voted. Burgundy was the winner, but only by one vote edging out blue and red (tied for second).… Read the rest