Still Alive… Still Working on the Kitchen (but it is 100% functional right now!)

Happy 2012!  It’s been quite a while since I updated the blog.  November blew up with some client issues and December was consumed by the holidays, but I’m back at it and going to try to get back on a regular blogging schedule, or at least a more frequent schedule.  Life is a little more unpredictable with my jobs right now than it was a year ago when I started this blog, but I am committed to tracking the progress of updates at our house!  Which means this post will be covering about two months.

First, the countertops have been installed!!  They are beautiful!  I came home from work to find this waiting for me… 

New quartz countertops!

I’m really pleased with the materials and the color choice.  The countertops will wear well and I love that the colors disguise coffee drip spots J  The undermount stainless steel sink was installed at the same time as the countertops.

 Shortly after the countertops, my Dad came up to help out with some electrical and plumbing.  He was able to install the new pendant lights over the peninsula, the sink faucet and drain, and the outlet on the peninsula.  It sounds really lame, but for the first week or so, doing dishes was a real treat because you could do them in the kitchen!  Not surprisingly, that has lost its appeal…

Mini pendant lights over the peninsula.

Sink pic

Undermount sink with new pull-out faucet.

Since then, we got the oven reconnected to gas so that we could use the cooktop and started to install the hardware on the doors and drawers.  Reconnection of the cooktop meant a fully functional kitchen so I decided to take a “hiatus” from most home stuff for the holidays.  We did make a couple of fun purchases in the meantime though…

I found some solid wood counter height stools online that were delivered and I assembled so that we could eat at the peninsula instead of standing up.

New stools for the peninsula. There's another stool around to provide seating for up to four people.

We also bought a couch… much needed!  The old couch was a hand-me-down that my parents had bought over 20 years ago and it had seen better days. 

New red microfiber couch with chaise lounge. Love it!

We placed an ad and put a “Free” sign on the couch next to the curb hoping that someone would pick it up and they did!  The couch wasn’t great, but it worked and I’m so glad that someone else could get some use out of it instead of having to send it to a landfill (and pay for it to be picked up and brought there).

There’s still some tidbits that need to be done in the kitchen…

1)      The refrigerator enclosure and cabinet described here still needs to be tended to.  I have the materials and they are cut to size, I just need to implement.

2)      Toe kick installation.  Also cut to size, just needs installation.

3)      Finish hardware installation.  I got a few pieces done but not many…

Some cabinet hardware installed.

4)      Window trim.  Old trim pieces I got from a family member need to be refinished and cut to size before installation.

5)      Decorate!  With Christmas and all the extra décor that comes with that I put off the regular kitchen décor but I am looking forward to getting my treasures from Mexico out and on display!

6)      Patching of walls and holes, repaint.  Some damage was done to the walls during electrical work and general kitchen installation that needs to be cleaned up.

7)      New light fixture in “pantry”.  Rewiring the kitchen led to some rewiring in other parts of the house due to circuit groupings.  The pantry/stair light was impacted by this.  We need to do a little demo to be able to get an electrical box in place.

8)      Baseboard in kitchen.  I haven’t really thought much about this yet… it’s way at the bottom of the priority list.

What’s really great is that none of this is pressing and the kitchen is totally functional just the way it is.  It’s really nice to be able to just go about business without the major inconvenience of not having a kitchen and constantly feeling under pressure to get more work done to be rid of that inconvenience!

More Kitchen Progress: Cabinets Mostly In, Countertops Ordered

Since my last post, the cabinets have been installed to the point where countertops can at least be ordered.  No, they aren’t exactly all in place yet… arggggh.  So, I wanted the refrigerator enclosure, which has panels that are 96” high.  Great, standard ceiling height, right?  Of course, ours is not a standard ceiling at 99 ½” … the fix for this is going to include ordering some filler pieces to attach at the top.  I wanted to order some matching stain for quarter round anyway, so I just special ordered those materials, some stain, and another corner molding piece to match the cabinets the other day.   There had to be some further hiccup with the cabinets…

Kitchen cabinets mostly installed! Need some pieces special ordered to finish the refrigerator enclosure, but as you can see it's really starting to come together!

What’s left to install of the cabinetry is the cabinet that will go above the fridge and the other side of the fridge enclosure.  I think it will be much easier to take care of the height fix prior to installing these items.  Oh well, not essential to countertop installation or kitchen functionality in general.  The cabinets are still in need of hardware, but I haven’t seen the “perfect” hardware quite yet so we are waiting on that.  There are also a couple of accessories that need to be installed such as cutlery tray, spice rack, and sink storage shelf.

The peninsula cabinets have been put in place, shimmed, attached to each other, and attached to the floor using 10” carriage bolts.  My Dad cut to size and installed a 3/16” panel behind the peninsula so that it has a finished back that will go under the countertop overhang.  I finished installing the filler by the microwave and Husband-Elect built a 3” dummy cabinet out of plywood cutouts and a filler piece to go between the stove and the fridge enclosure.  My Dad installed the stove side of the fridge enclosure, too.  The completion of these tasks meant that we could finally order countertops!!

A shot of the peninsula (nevermind the clutter!) from the kitchen side. The doors and drawers that have been installed need to be taken out for the countertop installation. In the meantime, the plywood countertop is better than no countertop!

Just between you and me, I really hate when people go on and on about how great granite countertops are!  Sure, they’re better than laminate and you can put hot things straight on them, but they really are not the top dog of countertops!  They require periodic sealing and can stain!!  Ummm…  if I’m going to spend $4000 on countertops, I want them to be maintenance free and not leave a Kool-Aid stain, you know? 

That’s why I wanted quartz countertops.  They have many of the features that granite countertops do, but they are maintenance free and non-porous.  Bonus is that they are also microbial!  Another benefit that I didn’t notice until I brought the sample home is that the texture is smooth, but not smooth as glass; I was reminded what my friend told me about her granite countertops: that they are difficult to keep clean because of the extra shiny and smooth finish and show fingerprints.  I won’t have that problem based on the texture of the sample.

After some shopping around, we came across some clearance Silestone quartz at Home Depot.  We went with the rosa grey (you can see a sample of this color as well as others available here ).  The clearance price was $39/square foot—installed!!  Yeah, I’m splurging and letting someone else do the hard work on this one!  The other colors that we’d been able to agree on were upwards of $60/square foot and I had started to think maybe we couldn’t afford quartz right now.  I was so relieved when we stumbled on the rosa grey Silestone sale!

Sample of rosa grey Silestone countertop.

We went with a bullnose edge, which basically rounds off the edges, and that is something we wanted but were willing to compromise on based on overall price of the countertops.  Thanks to the sale, we were able to fit that in to our budget.  We also ordered a stainless steel double kitchen sink that will be undermounted.

We learned that our formal kitchen measurement will be scheduled within the week and that we needed to have our sink faucet available for it (that turned out to be not true–but whatever!).  I had done some shopping for faucets and found a Pfister model that I liked with a mixer valve and pull-down spray option.  I had also compare shopped this faucet with local retailers… only one local retailer sold it and it was over $190 more to buy it there than it was to buy on ebay!!  Plus, ebay had the bronze finish faucet!  Free shipping, too! 

Bronze faucet with pull-down spray nozzle and mixer valve (you can see what it's supposed to look like installed in the drawing in the picture).

Originally, we thought it was going to be about a month and a half until the countertops are installed, but after the measurement appointment on Monday, we have it scheduled for Monday, November 7!!  Three weeks is much better than the six we were originally told!  In the meantime, I’m going to tend to a few details like hardware shopping!

Almost Three Weeks of Progress: Cabinets!

Oh hello, blog.  Long time no see.  No, I didn’t forget about you the past three weeks… I’ve just been really busy and… it’s not you, it’s me.  Let’s get back on a regular schedule when the kitchen is back in working order, okay?

We started installing the cabinets three weeks ago.  My Dad has come up two Saturdays to help out with this and those always end up being the most productive days because 1) he knows what he’s doing and 2) it’s a whole day dedicated to kitchen instead of the rest of the week when there’s work, social commitments, meetings, workouts, catching up, packing lunches, etc. etc.  As things stand right now, there’s only three cabinets and some filler left: two cabinets that will make part of the peninsula and the over-the-refrigerator cabinet with enclosure and filler by the microwave, stove, and peninsula corner.  Instead of talking about everything that still needs to be done though, let’s talk about everything that has been done!

The first Saturday that we started installation, we hung five of the wall cabinets, starting in the corner.  Dad mounted a 2×4 to the wall at the desired height and then we balanced the cabinets on here while he used his impact driver to get the cabinet screws in the studs.  Side note: impact drivers  are really neat!  They are basically like heavy duty drills and make it so you don’t have to push as hard on the screw like you would with a drill, which is really great for my Dad since he has had some shoulder injuries.  Then we used drywall screws to connect the cabinets to each other.

Some wall cabinets in after day one of installation.

The most difficult wall cabinet was the one over the stove because it needed cutouts for the microwave/vent ductwork and microwave outlet.  The microwave came with a template that we used for the bottom, but the top needed to be manually measured because the old duct (which we are reconnecting to) is centered for a 36” hood, but ours is 30”.  The shelf in the center also had to be cut to size, at a point that was equally between the top and bottom holes.  We will be using a flex tube to make the connections.  More on that when we finish it!

The following two weeks, Husband-Elect and I installed a couple of the base cabinets.  Getting the corner cabinet in was a “treat” with 32” wide doors.  I created a cardboard cutout to help figure out the best way to bring it inside.  After the base cabinets were shimmed in place, they were screwed to the studs in the walls and then screwed to each other.

We also put the doors back on the installed cabinets and put the shelves in place.  I even put a few things away, at least in a temporary spot… we had a big blue tote bin in the doorway of the spare bedroom (pretty much the only place to store it) with a bunch of dishes in it and it was a huge mess!  I was so glad to get some things in to a more logical location.  We also got the new microwave/hood installed, which took a couple of evenings: one of reading instructions and strategy, another of execution.

The second Saturday that my Dad came up to help, we made the appropriate cutouts in the sink base and got that installed after some adjustments. 

Then I measured a gap for the dishwasher and started shimming the next cabinet along the line while Dad did some electrical work for the microwave and reconnected the oven.  It’s so nice to be able to bake again!  We will have to wait a little while longer on the gas cook top since most gas connecting hoses are one time use and the oven probably will need to be moved for countertops and possibly for constructing the refrigerator enclosure.

Sink base under the window, gap for dishwasher.

We got some filler in place for the kitchen facing corner of the peninsula and built a base for the cabinet that goes in the corner of the peninsula, facing the living room out of 2x4s and a 1×8.  This cabinet was actually an extra deep wall cabinet because the brand of cabinets we got doesn’t make a base cabinet without a drawer, which was needed since this cabinet will have to be accessed from under the countertop overhang.  This cabinet required some extra shimming and of course the baseboard had to be trimmed of to allow for the door to move, but this cabinet is now in place and even with the others.

Peninsula corner base cabinet; homemade base makes this wall cabinet the same height as a base cabinet.

Since knocking out the wall in June, my house plants have been in the three season porch with the old bookshelf, which was fine for the summer since they are tropical plants and like the heat, but now that it’s getting colder (and we’ve already had a freeze warning), the three season porch is no longer a good place to keep them.  I’ve been thinking of a shelf solution to the missing bookshelf for some time… The plants must be up high enough that the cats can’t reach them because they will eat them :/  I wanted something mounted over the TV bench and preferably substantial enough to hold lots of plants and maybe some pictures or something.  In my mind I was picturing something that’s like cabinet depth, with a double shelf or possibly doors.

I was browsing the Ikea website and came across a bookshelf that I really liked the look of and thought it would coordinate with the TV bench… I came up with the idea of mounting the bookshelf to the wall on its side.

My "plant sanctuary" over the television bench.

It’s being held in place with four L brackets, securely mounted in the studs.  The shelf alone weighs something like 70 pounds but the L brackets are solid.  I love the way that this turned out and that it holds all of my plants with room for more!

Up next: finish cabinet install, micro/hood ductwork, countertops, finishing touches!

 

One final pic of how the kitchen appears today (September 29, 2011). It's really starting to come together!

Two Weeks of Progress: Finally the Kitchen is Painted!

As usual, my last post was really optimistic about what I could get done!  This time it was partially because evenings got hijacked when we needed to purchase a new vehicle last week and partially because I grossly underestimated the amount of work involved with mudding, taping, and sanding!  It took a few coats in some places to get it looking right.  Then we’d sand, put another light coat on the spot, and repeat.  Husband-Elect even got in to the OCD/perfection aspects of it.

I did learn that when mud falls on your newly refinished floor (even when it dries) it is easily cleaned up with water and a rag—so don’t freak out about it!  I also learned that, unless you want to spend months getting some of this perfect, joints where plaster and sheetrock meet are difficult and might not be perfect *but that’s okay*  Also, I learned to prioritize my time and efforts… no, the mud for the joint that will be behind some wall cabinets does not need to be perfect and if you can see some of the mesh tape lines it’s okay—no really, it’s okay.  Breathe.  It may not be perfect/professional grade work, but it will do its job.  And I certainly improved at the whole tape/mud process while working on this kitchen.

I also used the mud to kind of fake out some ridges that had been developed from previous ceiling paint jobs where the old soffit was.  It worked out pretty good.

Mudding and taping done. Ready for paint!

So I finally got to the painting portion of our project after I took down the flush mount ceiling light fixture (which of course was hooked up black to white, white to black—ugh figures) and it also appears that some ridges were left behind from painting around previous kitchen light fixtures (also figures).  I’ve decided to move on because I like the flush mount fixture in the center of the kitchen so the ridges will not be exposed.

When I pulled the old light fixture away from the ceiling, I noticed the old fixture had been wired incorrectly (black wires connected to white, white connected to black). Why am I not surprised?

First, walls, ceiling, and chimney needed to be primed.  I could just use regular primer for the walls but I had to dig out some special primer I had purchased to prime the metal back door to use on the chimney.  Painting brick was something I’d never done before and it used a lot of primer due to the porous surface.  We are thinking about what we’re going to do with that chimney later (eventually it will be removed but for now we’ll be painting it).  I actually think it looks really good with just the white though.  Plenty of time to worry about that later!  Sorry, I didn’t get a picture of that–yet!

I had to paint the ceiling in the kitchen since the ceiling patch where the old wall was had been mudded up and it needed a refresh anyway and it was easy to paint this ceiling because it did not have popcorn on it.  Painting a ceiling is hard work though!  After the ceiling was done, I painted the walls the same yellow as the living room.  Having the same color on the south wall especially really made the room (kitchen-living room) feel more cohesive and also disguised the plaster-sheetrock transition quite nicely.

Ceiling and walls painted! You can barely see the transition from plaster to sheetrock!

We originally weren’t planning on using the yellow paint from the living room in the kitchen, but since there was so much left over and our theme is Mexican, we thought it would be nice to have a soft color on the walls that are exposed in the kitchen so that it’s not too busy looking.  The nice thing about paint is that it’s (relatively) easy to change when you change your mind

Finally, just a helpful tip… I was really concerned about protecting the newly refinished wood floors during painting, especially when painting the ceiling.  I had enough drop cloths (old sheets) to cover most of the floor but needed something to weigh down the drop cloths so they stayed in place.  Old textbooks really do the trick!  I used old law school casebooks–the most action they’ve seen in a while!  They are heavy enough to hold down the drop cloths and getting a little paint on them won’t hurt the inside.  Plus, paint landed on the front or back cover, not on the binding, so on a shelf, they look as good as ever!  haha.

Cabinet installation begins this weekend!

Two Weeks Progress: Taping, Mudding, Patching

It’s been another two weeks of slow progress in the kitchen… obviously, one of the major pitfalls of DIY projects is that they kind of depend on you having time to do them.  Between a family reunion in Oregon, making up missed time at work, and my law office, I’ve been a busy bee!  Just not so much at the house…  Which is really starting to get to me!  The little time I have been home, I get stressed out about what a mess it is and how much there is to do.  waaah waaahhh Debbie Downer.

Anyway, I have found some time to get a little bit of taping and mudding in.  I am definitely done with the first coat of mud (aka joint compound) throughout the kitchen and in some places I’m done with the second coat.  I have very minimal experience with the taping and mudding process and most of what I’ve learned has been from watching my Dad when I was a kid.  In fact, last time I faced a drywall project, I appealed to Dad for help… but this time I had to put on my big girl pants and dive in myself!

For the tape, I like to use fiberglass mesh tape.  It’s more expensive than the traditional paper tape, but it’s easier because it’s self-adhesive and I like that!  I also use the premixed joint compound because it’s also easier.  Again, it’s slightly more expensive than the stuff you mix yourself, but I am willing to pay for that level of convenience.  I have been working with the “lightweight” joint compound that supposedly isn’t as dusty (I’ll let you know how I feel about the dust situation when I get to sanding).  I’ve used two brands during this process so far and I don’t really have a preference as to one or the other.

Since the mesh tape is self-adhesive, I went around to all the joints and taped them before even taking out the joint compound.  Some portions of the walls (especially where the old plaster met the new sheetrock) had large holes or gaps so I had to use a sheet version of mesh, which is identical to the tape, just in sheet form.  Another benefit to using the mesh tape over paper tape was that it was easier to cover some of the larger gaps that formed at various joints due to irregularities in an old house that one might not encounter in new construction.  There were also some holes in the wall left behind from some plumbing venting back when the cleanout was installed.

Ceiling patch to fill in where the wall that was torn down was. We used sheetrock scraps to fill in most of the gap and mesh tape with joint compoud to create a solid surface. Whether it will look even is yet to be determined!

I put a manageable amount of joint compound in my tray and stirred it with a plastic putty knife; sometimes I put a couple of drops of water in just to make the consistency smoother.  The stir also makes the compound easier to work with and apply to surfaces.

Premixed joint compound. I like to put it in my tray and stir it for a creamy consistency... think buttercream frosting!

I really couldn’t be more pleased with the results (so far) especially in places where patching was necessary.  Husband-Elect put some old lathe scraps in the gaps to bring the surface closer to the plaster and then I put mesh sheet over it, reinforced at some points. 

Holes left in wall after plumbing venting installed. First, we filled them in with lathe scraps to bring the surface closer to the plaster surface (see lower gap). Next, we put a self-adhesive mesh sheet over the holes (see upper gap).

After the mesh I just layered on the joint compound.  Admittedly, it will not be perfectly smooth, but it will do the trick!  Interior corners where plaster meets sheetrock were also tricky, but look surprisingly good after just one coat.  There was also a corner that was almost completely broken down, but some metal corner bead and a lot of compound seems to have really solved that problem.  I’m very excited that this is going smoothly and not outrageously time consuming or frustrating.

The gaps are looking much better after one application of compound. Now just a few more...

Speaking of corner beads, I had a chance to work with two different kinds during this project.  The first kind is called Aquabead which is made of plastic; you spray the inside of the corner bead with plain water (after it has been cut to size) which activates the glue on the inside, put it on the corner then hold it in place until it dries enough to stay on its own.  So easy!  I also used a metal corner bead that is attached to paper tape and you mud it in to place.  This wasn’t exactly difficult, but it was trickier and required more prep to spread the compound on the corner and the corner bead before application.  I only used part of the corner (to patch above mentioned deterioration) so it wasn’t too difficult, but I think doing a full-height metal corner would have been harder.  The metal corner bead was the right item for that application, but for general purposes, I prefer the ease of Aquabead.  Another bonus about Aquabead is that because it’s plastic, it flexes a little bit, which made getting a 10 foot piece in to my Ford Focus a breeze!

Another thing I discovered is that your tools matter.  Last time I tried taping and mudding, I was using some plastic, disposable tools but this time I used a metal, flexible 6” knife for the first application and it made the process so much easier!  The handle was more comfortable and the metal blade made the joint compound smooth with ease.

Once all the joint compound has been applied and dried, I will sand the walls, then prime and paint.  I was really hoping to be at the painting stage by now in my last post, so fingers crossed that I can make it to that point in the next week!

Another Two Weeks of Progress: Minor Kitchen Stuff, Gardening

Oh, hello blog!  Once again, I’ve been neglecting you.  There, there–you didn’t miss much.  No, really–you didn’t.

It’s been a great last couple of weeks for a variety of reasons.  Because we’ve made spectacular progress in the kitchen is not one of them.  The last couple of weekends were filled with fun celebrations of birthdays and the six year anniversary of meeting Husband-Elect.  Since all work and no play (even though I do love working on the house) makes Celeste a dull girl, I wasn’t about to ditch out on the fun to work on the kitchen!

So, what have we done the last couple of weeks?  To be honest, I haven’t done a whole lot; I recently had an increase in clients, which took some spare time in the evenings, and I also got around to getting a domain for my law office’s website (shameless plug: www.hollerudlaw.com –it’s not much right now but it is a work in progress). 

I have been spending some free time out in the gardens, picking veggies and weeding.  So far, bell peppers, zucchini, summer squash, peas, and radishes have been harvested.  The tomatoes will be along any time now–and I will be invading someone’s house to use their kitchen for canning!  There’s some eggplant growing, watermelon, and several pumpkins.  I also hung up some fun solar patio lights (see here) on the back patio and got a super cute lady bug garden stake from a random store when we were out and about on our anniversary that I put in one of my flower beds.

Husband-Elect has been working 10-20 hours of overtime a week most of the summer so his time has been sparse, too.  However, he did manage to get the remaining sheetrock up in the kitchen (some small pieces at the floor and near the back door) after I finished up the insulation by the back door.  No pictures this week because, overall, things don’t look all that different!

Next up on the agenda: finish patching some holes in the kitchen walls, tape/mud sheetrock, sand, paint AND THEN cabinets.  The goal is to have the taping done by the end of next week so I can get to painting the following week.  Looks like it will still be a while until we have that dream kitchen…

Three Weeks of Progress: I’m Still Alive! The Kitchen is Coming Along

Holy smokes!  The past three weeks have just flown by!  Since my last post, my Dad put some new electrical in the kitchen.  There will now be 12 plug ins on the kitchen backsplash as opposed to the 4 that there used to be!  There will also be an outlet on the peninsula, but that would be added until the cabinetry is installed and it will hook up to a junction box in the basement. 

The under cabinet lighting wiring is all set up and wires have been ran to update the knob and tube wiring that was exposed after kitchen demo.  Of course, the knob and tube wiring was connect to the basement light, kitchen light, back bedroom light, and stairway light.  *Insert eyeroll here*  Thanks for the hokey electrical work!  In all fairness, that might have been standard at the time, but it’s really annoying now that we’re trying to update things!

I learned a lot about getting electrical up to code during this project.  For instance, outlets on the left side of a kitchen sink cannot be on the same circuit as those on the right side.  And appliances should be on their own breakers unlike the old electric set-up which included the refrigerator, range hood, washing machine, and water softener.  I am impressed we never popped the breaker!

There was also some plumbing venting to tend to so that the kitchen sink was better prepared to drain a dishwasher.  I’ve learned that old houses are sometimes not vented properly with respect to plumbing.  I know our bathtub isn’t vented right.  I guess plumbing has evolved over time.  Our kitchen sink was actually vented, but the vent was far away from the sink because it appears the kitchen sink used to be on the opposite side of the kitchen. 

We installed a vent that goes through the exterior kitchen wall and connects to the “little stack” in the attic.  I am not sure if all homes end up with two drainage stacks like ours, but it’s really nice to have both and it was so much easier to tie in to the little one rather than the big one.  Husband-Elect just cut right through it using a hacksaw and a reciprocating saw.  I think we would have needed professional help with the big stack since it’s cast iron.

Another thing that I started thinking about during demolition was that the window in the kitchen was a hunk of junk!  It was a vinyl replacement window, installed in the box of the original window.  We decided to replace it, but used a new construction vinyl window instead of a replacement, partially because of sizing, partially because the condition of the old window box.  Husband-Elect framed out the window with some scrap 2 x 4s and we installed it in an afternoon.  It still needs exterior trim, but flashing has been installed so it’s not an immediate concern.  It doesn’t look very different, but it is a little wider and I’m really glad we took the time to do this before putting in our new kitchen.

Husband-Elect working hard installing the new kitchen window!

Next up was installing insulation in the exterior wall.  I’ve only worked with pre-wrapped insulation before so at first I wasn’t very careful, but I quickly realized what a scratchy mess that fiberglass insulation can be!  Insulating isn’t very difficult, it is just tidious to do around all the electrical and plumbing.  Next was vapor barrier which I nailed in at the ceiling and then worked down, covering each stud with lathe leftover from demo.  The lathe isn’t always part of installing vapor barrier, but we needed to build out the wall so that sheetrock would match with plaster further down the wall so I decided to consolidate stapling vapor barrier with attaching lathe.

Insulation and vapor barrier installed.

Side note: during the time that the exterior wall was exposed, we started having an ant problem!!  Eeek!  The problem is now mostly resolved but I wanted to share that vinegar is a safe but effective way to kill ants!  Put away the Raid and don’t spend extra money on something else when you probably already have vinegar in your house!  Just put it in a spray bottle and spray the pests directly!

While the walls were exposed, one thing I wanted to do was leave behind a little souvenir or “time capsule” about who we are.  Remember when I found that newspaper article in the bathroom?  I have to admit that I’ve felt guilty about not putting something similar in the walls of the bathroom ever since… decided to make up for that this time!  We put a lot of goodies in there including a couple of our favorite recipes, a recent newspaper regarding the Minnesota state government shut down, a local advertisement, an empty bottle of our favorite wine, a picture of us, and a letter explaining it all.  I put stuff in there that I knew I’d be excited to find.  What a fun thing to do!

"Time capsule" items--put in the kitchen wall prior to sheetrock!

The next step was sheetrock on the walls.  Thanks to some assistance from my Dad, we got the majority of the sheetrock installed in one day.  All that’s left is by the back door, scraps by the floor (since our ceilings are just a few inches more than 8′–ahh irregular old homes!), and some patching.  Once those items are taken care of, I’ll be able to begin the taping process…

Most of the kitchen is sheetrocked and waiting to be finished off with tape and mud!

Another thing I had to do to prepare for the taping process is scrape some popcorn ceiling from the living room.  Why do people use this stuff?  Sooo ugly!  And it yellows over time…  F%&#!!!  Anyway, using water in a spray bottle and a metal scraper made the task pretty easy.  I had read some how to’s on the internet with respect to scraping popcorn ceilings… either I’m completely desensitized to “hard work” (especially anything concerning scraping… see this and this) or they’re a bunch of whiny b****es!  It really isn’t that bad, just time consuming and messy.  But it’s a great arm workout!!   I only scraped the part of the ceiling near where a patch will be so the joint compound can be applied and evened out.  I’ll tackle of the rest of the popcorn ceilings some other time… I’m thinking winter project! 

Goodbye popcorn ceiling! Or at least some of it!

One final thing to mention that I forgot to before is that we finally have closet doors–hooray!  Back in March, I realized the closet doors I had bought and finished were just slightly too tall for the opening with the hardware added (why didn’t I realize that earlier?–ugh).  So my wonderful Dad took them home and cut them to size… back in March.  Transporting them back to my place was the challenge because they didn’t really fit in my car without a bungee strap on the trunk and I just wasn’t comfortable driving like that for an hour and a half after visiting them.  So, installation waited until June when Mom and Dad could bring them in their Explorer.  They look great though!  I love the knobs I got for them–they are little glass pulls meant to look like the glass door knobs on the regular doors in the house.

New closet doors--INSTALLED!

We need to finish the drywall aspect of the kitchen and paint before cabinets can be put in so it will probably be at least a couple of weeks before we get to that.