Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Kitchen Renovation Day 9 to 13

The last week has not been very 'progressive' for our Kitchen Renovation.


Nothing major, just the usual delays on delivery and such, plus to top it off, the carpenters working on the project got sick one after the other! 
That really slowed down the work for sure. 
Still, despite some setbacks, here is what has been done so far...

Refrigerator Cabinet is up!

Looks great!

This cabinet took a while to finish. And there are a couple of reasons why. 
First of all, the original plan was to cut out some of the dry wall on the back so we can push the refrigerator further back. I wanted my ref to have the 'built-in-look' without having to replace it. However, when the carpenter cut a section of the back, there were several pipes, communication lines and electric lines that ran thru it. The lines were not a major problem. The pipes were. They could technically do it, but would cost me way more & delay as by a week or so. 

So we decided to just leave the dry wall be and just put a brace on the wall for the cabinets up top. 
We needed to put a brace since if we didn't the cabinets would just recede towards the back. And I didn't want that. I wanted the cabinets to cover the whole refrigerator top. So they had to build the brace then set the cabinet.

Another problem we encountered was this...


Looks good now
 Somehow, my refrigerator was leaning towards the back, hence the alignment with the cabinet did not look good from the side. So the carpenters placed boards behind to make it align just so. Let's just say, it probably took them five tries to get this baby looking this way! Hew!


Beam added for the molding

I wanted the crown molding to go all around the room and to prepare for that, we had to add this beam on the hallway to make the molding flow seamlessly throughout the room.

New floors for the Powder and Laundry Room

The Floors in the Powder room and Laundry room was also completed this week. These two rooms are directly adjacent to the kitchen, with the same floors as well before, so I chose to redo it too!

I chose Vinyl tiles that mimic Travertine tiles. I love them, great on the feet and looks beautiful and more contemporary. :-)

Cabinet Lighting

I also finally got our cabinet lighting. We chose to go with LED since almost all the reviews and blogs say to got for LED since though it costs a lot more up front, it does last way longer, and plus the lights look better. We'll see...;-)

I aslo had HINGE Trouble.

Remember my Pantry cabinet?



The plan


I originally wanted something like this...

source
source


However, though we planned on putting ice box hinges, the actual hinges itself would look too big for the doors and the offset not exact on my cabinet doors. 
If I insisted on putting these hinges on my pantry doors, my doors would have hinges that almost touch each other and we would have to put an extra brace on where we'll need to mount them! Aaaaaggh! Too much trouble for something that may not even look good on my cabinets! Another big reason why I have to change is the cost - $270/hinge (Wilmette Hardware)!! 
I am NOT going to pay that much for a hinge for sure! 

There were other more affordable choices like this one...

$18.50 each

I was so excited to get this last week too but alas, this could not fit my doors!!!!! 
This hinge has a 3/8" offset which I found out, from all the several hardware sites, was the offset for most antique and antique reproductions for this type of hardware! 
My cabinet doors are not flushed in, they are supposed to be mounted out and the offset is about 3/4"!! The carpenters and I have tried to come up with an aesthetically satisfying way by which we could use the hinge above. But we were not successful, so now I'm choosing either of these two armoire hinges...


$4/hinge from Menards

$3/hinge from Home Depot.
I plan on using these handles...

Goes on the glass cabinets on top

Goes on the long cabinet doors
Yup, I'm going for brass/gold with the dark cabinets. I think this extra-bling would just make it look more special. 

Anyway, my problems could be worse right? And as of Friday, my vent has finally arrived as well as the wallpaper!!! Yup, there's going to be a wall paper. Will talk about that later on. But for now, I'm just hoping this week will go on more smoothly and faster.

If you want to see the how the renovation started CLICK HERE and what the kitchen looked like before, CLICK HERE.

How about you? Got any 'horror' stories to share with a renovation you did? Or have you planned for something in your head and did not work out in reality? Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...


Have a Nice day!



21 comments:

  1. It is looking amazing. Love the refrigerator and cabinet surround and the pantry is fabulous!!

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  2. Oh my dear girl! Your kitchen is starting to come out like a Miss America! I love your fridge cabinet and your fridge is gorgeous! We have one like it, smaller, not a side by side. Can't wait to see it ALL!!!!!!! Big hugs,
    FABBY

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  3. Your kitchen is coming along beautifully! Love your white with dark combination, can't wait to see more!!!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  4. It always seems that the big things with a remodel just kind of work themselves out, but the little things can really hold you up -- hinges shouldn't be that difficult, but they certainly can be! I love the refrigerator cabinet -- just beautiful! I think your pantry cabinet is going to be gorgeous!

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  5. I can't wait to see the wallpaper you chose!

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  6. Beautiful! I can't wait to see the finished kitchen. Maybe you can put tiny built-in shelves for knick knacks facing the hallway and a narrow one for cookbooks facing the kitchen next to the fridge. That way, it looks semi built-in. :)

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    1. great suggestions Ging! I'm planning to put a huge chalkboard on the side of the fridge and wall organizers on the side of the hallway. There's a mudroom behind the refrigerator wall too and I have plans of fixing it up as well. There's an appliance garage on the wall facing the kitchen, so no cookbooks there for sure, it will probably be hidden somewhere. :-)

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  7. Hi Vel,

    From over here you're progress looks great ... living with it you may feel it isn't moving fast enough, but you will get there! Just wanted to share that we have the exact handle as the last one pictured with the caption "Goes on the long cabinet doors" ... don't know precisely which doors that is, but if any of the handles would be placed at hip to waist height, here's what happens to us ... our clothes catch on the open ends. Loops on cargo pants / shorts, my house coat tie belt, just about everything, and it's driving us so crazy I'm searching for handles to replace ours on those select cabinets. It may not be an issue for you but I did want you to know. Also, can you share the brand / name of the vinyl tiles used {and where purchased if a nationwide store}, I may be replacing some flooring and they look like they'd work for me. Robin

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  8. Never mind about how much I love the cabinets, I really love your frig, Vel! Despite the setbacks, your kitchen is coming along nicely...Christine

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  9. Everything is coming along nicely. Love your refrigerator! When we built our home we copied a model and that included everything, including knobs!

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  10. Vel, The kitchen is progressing and it looks wonderful! I know it will be beautiful when finished. Thanks for joining the Open House party and enjoy the rest of your week.
    xx,
    Sherry

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  11. Just Beautiful! I love your finish and hardware choices. You're going to have one absolutely stunning kitchen!!!

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  12. It is coming along nicely! Can not wait to see it all completed. Thanx for sharing the progress at THT!

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  13. Hi Vel, I love the cabinets above the fridge! And the handle you chose for the glass cabinets on top is perfect! I love that finish. I found your blog because I noticed your smiling face when I went to comment on several other blogs and thought we must have the same interests and here I am. I am a new follower now. I hope you get a moment to pop by my blog! Have a great evening!
    -Khammany

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  14. It's looking amazing and believe me, there's always some delay when you begin renovating! I love the hinges you chose. I'll be back to see more!

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  15. Vel, Your kitchen looks wonderful! I really like the Menards hinge and the over head cabinets above your awesome fridge is fantastic! Can't wait to see what you will display there.

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  16. Vel, Your kitchen looks wonderful! I really like the Menards hinge and the over head cabinets above your awesome fridge is fantastic! Can't wait to see what you will display there.

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  17. I love all your decisions thus far! I'm taking a load of ideas and storing them in the back of my brain for the if and when we build our own kitchen.

    XO

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  18. You're going to LOVE it, and all these little annoyances will be long forgotten! :) Can't wait to see the pantry cabinet, it sounds amazing!

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  19. There are always issues and I'm glad you're wading through them seemingly unscathed! Love the cabinets above the fridge and your dark pantry! It's going to be so beautiful. hope this coming week is productive and that you have no more problems!
    Xo Nancy

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  20. You can offer your kitchen a very stylish and unique look by having kitchen cabinetry without handles. Handle-less kitchen cabinetries give a contemporary and fuss-free look to your Sydney Designer Kitchens .

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