Cabinets

Finally, the cabinets are here! They started installing it last thursday, and most of the cabinets are in place now. The top cabinets will have frosted glass doors, which is ordered separately from a local glass company. The gap in the middle of the base cabinets is where the dishwasher will go. To the left will be the sink.


This is what it all looked like when the truck dropped off the packages. I had to park outside for a few days.

Yellow Wall

This color makes me happy, and I am so excited to see it on the wall. I think this is only the first coat... This color matches the base of the eat-in bar. Stay tuned, the cabinets are arriving tomorrow!

New Window and Skylight

The new window was placed in about a week ago, and they replaced the skylight yesterday. The old skylight had a metal bar going through the middle of the glass and it looked prison-like. Now that it's replaced with clear glass, it looks so much nicer! The four holes on the side of the skylight are for lights.

Widening the Hallway

Technically, this is not the kitchen, but we are having the contractor widen the hallway opening to the living room. This is what it looked like before:


...and during:
...and here it is completed. It really makes our living room feel a lot roomier now, when entering from the hallway.

Interruption

This is what I came home to today... before I was allowed to actually look at it, the contractor explained that everything was under control and that I should not be alarmed that there was a GIGANTIC hole in our ceiling. Of course, I tried not to panic but what the...!? They had plastic over our desks and computers, which was fine and all, but once the man started stepping and leaning on my desk, I was immediately concerned and alarmed.

The reason for this sudden interruption was because they were putting the wooden floor in the kitchen (which is directly above our office) and accidentally put a nail through our floor heating system, which heats through tubes of water. So, to fix the leak, ta-da. A huge hole in our ceiling. Of course, I appreciate that they caught the problem immediately, rather than realizing later that our computers were soaked in water from the leakage. However, now we will not be able to sleep in tomorrow morning because they're coming to patch the ceiling at 8am...fun, fun.


Side note: The red cables is part of the radiant heating, and what the contractor had to patch. I guess the tubes are attached to sheets of metal, which is what spreads the heat to the floors.

Drywall

All the walls are sealed up now! When I walked into the room, it suddenly felt much smaller...maybe it's the white. Notice the vent on the ceiling and all the sockets (there are so many!).

Sink

We got our sink in the mail a couple days ago! I'm excited...it's stainless steel and very modern by Houzer. I love the sharp corners. It's not as big as I would have liked, but it's still so much better than what used to be there. It looks something like this:

Lights and Insulation

There's been a lot of banging around, sawing and hammering every morning. It's been 2 weeks since the construction began and they have recently completed all the electrical work. We have sockets! Tons and tons of sockets! (previously, we had only two). There are now six recessed lights and four tiny ones in the skylight.

The room is nice and cushiony with insulation too! Hopefully, we won't be hearing too much of our neighbors anymore. (In case you didn't know, our house is literally sandwiched between two other ones, very typical of San Francisco).

The Fireplace

Okay, I know this isn't part of the kitchen, but we are having the contractor replace the tiles of the fireplace. If you haven't noticed, it's PINK. It has to go.


And actually, it went away today (which isn't any better):


I've thought long and hard about what to replace these tiles with...and it's been really tough. Right now, we are considering a brownish red rectangular mosaic tile pattern. Mosaics can look really good as a small swatch, but it might be a completely different story when it's a slab of it. So, we are still contemplating whether we want mosaic or larger, simpler tiles. Here are a couple of samples we were looking at:


I don't think I'll last staring at that ripped out fireplace for long though...so we'll have to decide soon. Stay tuned...

Reframing & Plumbing

Today the contractor reframed the window, shifting the whole thing over a bit to the right so it's centered. Here's the old window on the floor:


The plumbing was done in a day. They replaced the exhaust pipe, and moved the location of the gas and water pipes. We also decided to open up the skylight. The framing and the glass has been taken out so far. The plan is to replace the skylight and add small lights on the sides of the walls. First photo is the original picture.

Demolition

This is the progress the contractor made in one day. Wow, it's all gone already...

And now it begins...

This is the original kitchen, built in 1940, with very little counter space and a total of two outlets. The window is not centered, the piping of the hood is exposed, and the linoleum floor is just awful.

The plan is to have cabinets along both walls and have a eat-in bar towards the entryway. We will have a dishwasher next to the sink (yay!). The placement of the refrigerator and the range will be swapped, allowing a nicer view of the space when entering. Here's the basic idea:



As far as materials, the cabinets will be bamboo, with white CaesarStone countertops, and a yellow laminate for the base of the eat-in bar. The linoleum floor will be replaced to match the existing hardwood floors. One thing I am very excited about is making a portion of the wall (to the right of refrigerator) a chalkboard!