So Close to Being Done!!

This week the whole space was really transformed by the cabinets and island going in. Mark Leary has done an amazing job on the building and install, and Keith McKay has brought our electrical stuff into the 21st century! There are a few more pieces of cabinetry to complete, a little bit of lighting, touch up stuff, and plumbing which will all hopefully happen next week. Almost there! Here are the latest pics...

The island has the doors attached now.

The work is almost complete on this side, which will include a really cool trash cabinet!! Yay trash! Also, the micro/convection oven/vent will be mounted above and there's soon to be a wine bottle rack on the far end.

Here's our dishwasher and surrounding cabinets. Above in the center will be a plate rack and wine glass rack. The wiring you see in all pictures is for some under-cabinet lighting, coming soon!

Here's where the sink will go...more on that later!

New outside lights are finished! Now we can see when we're using the back stairs at night!!

Here's the island from another angle.

Even the insides of the cabinets are pretty! We have to figure out where all of the stuff will go now that we actually have cabinet space...

Surprise! A cool shelf that pulls out!

The garden in summer- this is what I'll see from my sink window!!

More garden!

We also have lights in the front now for where the cars will be parked. One of the many details to think about with a project like this.

The new dog room light!

Beginning of Cabinet Hardware and Doors

Today there were some molding and trim bits done and the work on the cabinets continue. The drawers and doors are going on as well as the cabinet hardware. The hardware was recycled from our old cabinets since it was pretty new and we still like it plus I got some cool matching drawer pulls from eBay. Tomorrow, more cabinet stuff...

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More Cabinet & Counter Top Progress

Did I mention I am so happy with the cabinets and counter tops??!! I LOVE them!! Today the island was installed along with more butcher block by Mark Leary. The upper cabinets are going to be going up tomorrow. Also, our electrician Keith McKay. came by and fixed some wiring for our under-cabinet lights (yes, actual lights under the counters so you can see what you are doing!!). Mark L. and his assistant Corey also created first a wooden template and then a paper template which will be used for the dimensions of the soapstone sink area. I mailed the paper template for the sink and soapstone surround to New England Soapstone in Leominster just in time to get it to them tomorrow so they can get that part started. Below, I'll post a picture of what may likely be the piece of stone used for our project. It's pretty!!

Our huge-mungous island!! 8 feet long with room for 4 stools. Also lots of storage and plenty of space for making bread and stuff!!

The island in its new home. Will be fastened to the floor tomorrow.

View of the kitchen from the living room area.

The driveway-side wall, with lower cabinets and new dishwasher.

Farl and Monroe check out the new island.

Inside the island will be 4 drawers and big lower cabinets. It also gets an outlet in the side of it to be able to plug in small appliances being used during cooking or a vacuum.

A view from the old living room into the new areas.

A beautiful piece of soapstone in the running to be used for our project.

Cabinets Preview & More Finish Work!

The custom kitchen cabinets and butcher block counter tops are beautiful and perfectly crafted by Mark Leary (Leary's Carpentry of Westport, MA). They are even better than I imagined. It is really exciting to see this part under way... A number of other finish details were added today as well.

The floors and thresholds are complete.

Moldings & trim finish off the dog wall, along with a stopper for the gate.

Our support beam is finished off in trim and moldings in our trim color.

This is the back of our ginormous island!!

The butcher block counter top, close up.

The bottom cabinets and butcher block countertop (no drawers in yet)

New cabinets & island yet to be installed

Beautifully made drawers with dovetails

A view of the kitchen from across the whole room.

The Cabinets are here!

It should take about 2-3 days to put them in place.  A few other minor details with the plumber and electrician and we could be done by the end of the week!  We'll include some pictures tonight after the carpenters leave for the day.

More Floor & Other Stuff

The floor installation is almost complete. Our electrician is working on some of the final details, like the new ceiling fan and recessed light fixture lenses. The kitchen cabinets are being painted and will arrive on Monday!!!

The dogs admire the new floor which now fills the old kitchen area.

This is all that's left of old floor!

Our new fan and recessed "eyeball" lights.

Goodbye, Old Kitchen

The remaining parts of our old kitchen were removed this morning. The hardwood floor is making its way across the room. There were several areas that of course had to be leveled, so tomorrow more flooring will be able to go over those areas.

The last parts of the old kitchen have been taken out!

The old living room corner gets leveled out.

The old kitchen floor gets leveled.

A view from the door to the living room into the new space.

5-Day Countdown

We are very excited that most of our project will be complete on Friday! With the exception of the wood stove and soapstone/sink installation which will happen a little bit later we are very close to be finished.

This past week ended with the delivery of our new appliances and partial installation of the hardwood floor...

 The new stove and fridge are in their new home, waiting for cabinets. The new floor is underneath, but covered with paper.

Here is a bit of the gunstock oak floor peeking out from the paper.

Some of the floor in the old living room and kitchen areas have to be leveled before installation. They are using remnant shingles, plywood, and then self-leveling cement to solve our wiggly floor issues.

The dogs can't wait for the project to be finished, too! There will be plenty of room for indoor frisbee...

More Painting and the "Dog Room" Gate

Paint has been going on the walls and ceiling in the new addition in the last couple of days, along with the window trim.  The "Dog Room" walls are almost complete, and the custom dog gate has been installed. The dogs can now have their area all to themselves (almost--once the fridge is moved it will be a bit more roomy). The appliances are coming tomorrow (to be stored until we're ready for them) and the floor installation is beginning as well. Moving right along...

New living room

Corner window in the new kitchen

Dog Gate!!

The dog room opens to the deck...

Stuff We Did Ourselves!!: Painting

This week Matt took a vacation (if you want to call it that) which we spent painting all of the older walls, trim and ceilings. It was a lot of work but it will hopefully help our project stay on track. Next week our contractors will be painting the new addition and new ceiling areas.  If you are a restoration purist, avert your eyes. We did prime and paint over old walls and wallpaper and it came out just fine.

Our painting gear!

Finished French door and walls in the old living room area.

This painting project has been Corgi-approved!!

The finished color on walls and trim.

The back kitchen door, taped off and painted.

The French door to the old living room taped off for painting.

Scary basement door with cracked paint! Don't worry I'll fix it.

Yuk! This door is really old and has 1000 layers of old paint.

Color-change spackle filled in the deep paint cracks, then I used a plastic syringe to fill in the recessed edge cracks with the spackle. After it was sanded & painted it turned out okay.

Voila! The finished old basement door.

Finished colors in the new "dog room".

Monroe and Farley: Paint Inspector Generals

Camera-shy Mia checks out the "dog room" paint.