Renovation - July 17

AND THEN THERE WAS LIGHT! The lighting fixtures finally came and Tim from Constant Power hung them last week. He also put my bathroom mirror up for me. The fixture over the table is from Hubbardton Forge and made from wrought iron. I LOVE it!



















The mini pendant light which will hang over the breakfast bar are from Tech Lighting. They are on a dimmer switch because they are really bright.














The light fixture over the mirror in the bathroom is also from Hubbardton Forge. The back is a copper patina look, with half moon white glass bowls with a strip of black wrought iron holding them in. It looks very pretty and kind of takes the edge off the contemporary look a bit, as does the distressed mirror.






















The rooster is a new addition to the kitchen. It's home is on top of the oven cabinet.














Adam bought this picture for me for my birthday in Burlington. It is a somewhat abstract watercolor of Church Street. It looks very pretty on the wall next to the entrance to the bathroom!



















In the coat closet area on the upper shelf I added some red baskets.













And now the foyer is getting a new look too. We were not using one of the cabinets that used to be in the family room. It was newly refinished in black. When I was putting the rooms back together, I asked Adam and Kerry to carry it in from the garage for me so I could try it in the foyer. I liked it. Then Jonathan from Nutmeg Cabinets came over and said he has the perfect lamp for the top of the cabinet. He was right. It has a nice shape and gives a more modern look to the foyer. Still to come is a new chandelier in the foyer and upstairs hallway (one thing leads to another when you are remodeling!)

Still waiting on the glass bar top - hopefully this week sometime! Then we will be officially done!

Renovation - July 7

Almost done! The dining room table, chairs, and bench arrived today from Now Furnishings. The chairs are covered in red and gold leather. The bench will be used for extra seating when we have a larger gathering.


We got the bar stools yesterday. They are made my Calligaris. The seats are a cushiony polyurethane foam and they have a lever on the side that lifts them up or down. The seat is a charcoal color.

















And Nutmeg delivered our newly repainted oak pieces that we had in the family room. They were honey colored oak prior to the paint job. They look much better now. And they match the kitchen cabinets.
















I got the pillows on the couch from Company C. This is where I bought the area rug for the dining room. They have very pretty things! The storage ottoman has a top that flips over into a table. They are from Crate and Barrel.













I LOVE my new clock. After literally hours online searching for a clock that would make a statement, I found it. It is easy to see from the dining room, kitchen, and family room.



So the whole downstairs is coming together. I have been putting things away, trying to find a good home for everything that is efficient. The dishes are very easy to reach in a drawer next to the dishwasher. Since there are no upper cabinets, the glasses and mugs are also in a drawer right next to the beverage refrigerator. And all of the utensils and knives fit in the top drawer next to the dishwasher for easy unloading. I have a few things on the counter, but I want to keep it clean for the most part.

Renovation - June 29

We are getting closer to the end. Yesterday and today brought us a lot closer to the finish line. Our new refrigerator was put in place and a green panel replaced the cabinet that was in the original design. I am kind of glad the other refrigerator didn't work out because this one looks so much better.

In addition to the main refrigerator, we have two refrigerator drawers that we will use for beverages next to the bar (which isn't installed yet).




















The hood was installed yesterday. It is made by Faber. I liked it because it isn't big and bulky like some hoods are. It has 4 bright halogen lights and 3 fan speeds. It vents to the outside.





The faucet was put on the kitchen sink at the end of last week.


The steam oven is in, but they are having some issues with the trim kit that are yet to be resolved. Here is what it looks like inside. There is a container (on the right) for water and many steamer bins to hold the food.

I can't remember if I talked about the induction cooktop by Miele. It heats up the pans using magnetic energy, so we must use pans that are magnetic. But otherwise, it is very similar to electric but has the favorable qualities of a gas stove. There is no warm-up time for the burners. You can adjust them instantly to a new temperature, like gas, and when you turn off the burner, it is instantly off. In fact, you can put your hand on the burner after it has been on high and you only feel the residual heat left over from the pan. Only the pan heats up, not the cooktop. This is nice because food cannot burn onto the burners. Here is a link to watch a demonstration:

http://www.hgtv.com/videos/induction-cooking/9488.html

Also installed today were the Shoji screens in the dining room to hide my entire wall of storage. They can glide back and forth and nest behind one another. I think we will have a small tv inside so we can watch the news in the morning when sitting at the table, or when doing craft projects and things.





Annie finished painting the musical staff that my dad made and we hung it on the wall in the entry way. We also hung the picture that we bought in Middlebury in April on the wall in the dining room.


There is a roll-top hiding a cubby with outlets and a phone jack that we will use to keep cell phones and things that are charging out of sight. I really want a clean, uncluttered kitchen.



And a cabinet with vertical storage:



Here is my trash and recycling bins (I used to recycle in a paper bag under my sink)




And a personal favorite - the baking center. I am short so I find it hard to roll out pies and cookie dough on the counter. I used to use my kitchen table, but our new table will be wooden (instead formica) so I needed a lower counter area. But I didn't have room for a really large island. We designed a pull-out baking counter that extends the low counter-top for baking and pushes in when not in use. The cabinet below the counter is on wheels. I love it! It actually extends much farther than the picture shows, but it is not finished yet and we cannot extend it all the way, but you get the idea.



That's all for now! Annie and I are headed to the William Sonoma Outlet in Wrentham, MA later in the week to look for odds and ends.

Renovation - June 22

Today was a big day! The counter-tops
arrived! We picked out white quartz Silestone. What a difference it made in the kitchen! We also took the plastic protective covering off the windows. The lights are all working now, and WE HAVE A TOILET downstairs again. The small door pulls are on the rest of the cabinets too. The plumber comes tomorrow to connect the sinks, disposal, and dishwasher. We are still waiting for the rest of the appliances to be delivered. They say either tomorrow or Thursday.

I will be away for the rest of the week taking Kerry to her orientation at the University of Vermont, so no more updates until Saturday. But I will be busy in Burlington looking for things to decorate our new space.









The vessel bowl is not attached yet, but it looks like this. And the toilet is shown below.





























We got a black quartz top for the cabinets in the dining room area because we wanted it to look less like a kitchen in there. The door pulls are very minimalistic here too.

The wrought iron music staff and corner shelf were in my father's basement. I found them last year when we were cleaning out his house to be sold. He made them many years ago when he owned a wrought iron business (before IBM). They were all rusted, but my daughter Annie spent the afternoon yesterday sanding the rust off and she painted them today. We will use them somewhere in the kitchen/dining room and will remember my dad, who made this whole project possible!