deanna Meyer – Meyer Meyer Pants on Fire

Foodie

Pushing it to the limit

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted mostly because we’ve been in a sprint to get things done in the kitchen. We are 2 days before Thanksgiving and my kitchen is still incomplete. Did I mention that I was hosting it this year? OY! Who cares about all that…I know what you’re looking for….so let’s get to the good stuff!

First up…we’ve been painting the walls to prepare for the final steps. I carried the same color through from the adjoining walls because I knew it would match really well with the new counters. It looks so much warmer now in the kitchen. Sort of, cozy, if you will.

Here's a sample of the countertop next to the new paint. See how the color pulls out the same shade in the counters? can't wait to see it all installed!

Here’s a sample of the countertop next to the new paint. See how the color pulls out the same shade in the counters? can’t wait to see the paint with the counters because it’s going to look GORGEOUS!

After painting was done, we changed out all of the plugs and switches to something a bit more transitional. This particular one that Keith is working on was the last one and biggest pain in the rear! For some reason, when I pulled out the screws from the old switches, it ended up that the screw holes were stripped, so it was holding nothing! After an hour + of struggling with it, we had to call in the big guns….so we called my Dad on Skype so he could assess the situation and help!

He gave us some tips that helped temporarily fix it, but after an hour with him, it was decided that we have no choice but to ask the electrician to replace the box. UGH! Best part is, somehow the range hood is tied into these switches and now it doesn’t work! Seriously?!?!?!

But, all of the other switches and plugs are fine and look great with the new switch plates and counter sample. Don’t you agree?

Today is countertop install day!!! Pulled the stove out in prep for counters…

Last look at the old sink and counters….good riddance I say!

They had the counters pulled lickety split!

And here it is! A close up of the counters. This is a quartz slab called Tobacco

And here it is! A close up of the counters. This is a jumbo slab of Quartz called ‘Tobacco’

This is one giant piece! There are no seams at all in this kitchen. Beautiful!

My beautiful new sink! Can’t wait to hook it all up and get this phase of the project complete!

Although there are a few things that will have to be adjusted and tended to, we are in the home stretch now of this project. I have a punch list started so we don’t forget anything. Biggest thing is that I need to be able to cook a Thanksgiving meal….after we leave everything to dry for 24 hours, it will be go time to get the sink hooked up and on our way. Turkey will wait for no one! 🙂

November 24, 2015 By deanna Meyer

Foodie

Electrical, Countertop prep, etc.

It’s been somewhat busy around here this last week or so. I’ve been painting as much as I can (ceiling is done!) and cleaning out cabinets, etc. Everything is so dusty now with all of this construction. I have to purge the dust! I think if I get the majority scrubbed, the last little bit won’t be so bad. Anyway, the electricians have come and started the install of the switches:

Mess of wires, but getting there…

We finally have light in the tray ceiling! It’s awesome!!!

Apparently I have to ‘keep off’ 🙂

The ugly oak backsplash (if you want to call it that) has finally been removed. It’s already made a difference at cutting the oak look down!

Another view without backsplash

I hinted in my last post that I was going to be doing something with lace. Well, my Mom had given me a bag of lace that my Yiayia made (I believe for decorating pillowcases) but I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Well, as a nod to my Greek heritage, I decided to use this lace in a different way. You see, in Greek kitchens, you would typically find lace decorating shelves, so I thought, why not have a little of that in mine too? I think my Mom would approve! Take a look:

Doesn’t the lace look beautiful with my blue dishes?

Close up of the work….so much detail!

Now look at it with the glass doors on!

Swirly detail of the glass. Now I can’t wait to get the hardware for them!

The countertop template process begins….

They create the template with these plastic sheets. It’s interesting. I’ve seen it done with lasers and all computerized. These guys are quite old school. Eh…I’m okay with that.

Thankfully, this sink is going away! I will have an undermount sink when we’re all done. I’ve asked for the sink to come forward as much as possible so my back doesn’t hurt anymore. Washing dishes in this sink is horrible! That’s all about to change! So, things are winding down here. Counters will be installed on the 24th…so I have 2 weeks to finish up the painting and try to get some things in order. I’m looking forward to having my kitchen back, that’s for sure!

November 9, 2015 By deanna Meyer

Foodie

Painting, Moving & Sneak Peek

It’s been a week or so since I’ve had a chance to post. Not a whole lot has been happening because I’ve been so busy painting. That may sound like an easy task….and to be honest, it used to be for me since I’ve painted every wall in this house over the last 10 years….but since I started nursing 2 bad knees, crawling around to paint has been difficult to say the least. I can only get so far going up and down on a ladder and then I have to rest. That’s not an excuse…it’s a fact I have to live with now. Boooo. Boo I say! But, the ceiling is done which was the hardest part. The walls will be tedious but much easier than working overhead. The consolation is that the ceiling is probably the most properly prepared surface in this house. You see, when my house was built, apparently they decided to cut corners and NOT prime the walls before painting. That means that now, when I try to paint over the existing paint…no matter how much I properly prep them…the paint will eventually peel off the wall! Perfect…NOT! The ceiling in the kitchen on the other hand has been properly coated, primed and painted. Anyway, because I’ve painted the area the fridge will be going into, it was finally time to move that into place. HOORAY!! Let’s take a look:

It’s time to start the move. Water is hooked up and now the testing begins

We are supposed to run the water for 4 minutes to ensure all of the air is purged from the line. Souvlaki looks on as she supervises the process

Last 30 seconds….all air is purged and water is flowing well. Keftedes now comes in the kitchen to check out what’s going on. 🙂

Keith is so excited that he won't have to make ice anymore, he gives the fridge a hug!

Keith is so happy that he won’t have to make ice anymore, he decides to give the fridge a hug!

Protective plastic is all removed and fridge is pushed in place. It fits perfectly!

Another step towards completion. I like it. We’ve purchased some new plugs and switches and will start changing those out this weekend. I will also work on more of the painting and another small project. Can you guess what I might use some of this for?:

My Mom gave me a pile of this beautiful lace that my Yiayia made. I think they were originally made for pillowcases, but I have other plans....more on this soon.

My Mom gave me a pile of this beautiful lace that I believe my Yiayia made. I think they were originally made for pillowcases, but I have other plans….more on this soon.

Hoping to make more progress this week. Another post soon…….

November 2, 2015 By deanna Meyer

Foodie/ Uncategorized

More than over halfway there

It’s been a busy week around here. It was rough for the last few weeks with all of the normal construction (dust, mess, etc.) but I think we’re just about over that hump. Electricians were here on Monday….which means WE HAVE LIGHT! Only thing that didn’t get installed were the LED lights. The ones I bought were the wrong ones, so I had to return those and get a different type. The electrician will come back when those are ready.

They installed the can lights, ran wires for the future under cabinet lighting and hung my beautiful chandelier.

Wanted this little beauty to add some flair and fun to the kitchen. As soon as you walk in the house, it’s in your eye’s view…so I wanted something pretty to look at. I picked it because it will match nicely to a chandelier I will be adding to my entryway….an heirloom that belonged my Grandparent’s and then hung in my parents home for many years.

The stove is in!

Once the new counters go in, it will look even better.

The inside…look at how much room I have to cook and bake!

Saying hello as I take a close up of the digital controls. Neat!

Although nothing is really in place, you can see the kitchen starting to take shape. when it’s all done, I think it’s going to be exactly what I envisioned. YAY!

Next up, trying to get some things back in order.

October 22, 2015 By deanna Meyer

Uncategorized

Progress…it’s happening

Things are moving along around here….although Keith wished it was moving a little faster, each day there is progress being made. Since my last post, several things have been put into place and you can start to see things taking shape. Let’s have a look:

The molding is on and just needs some primer and paint.

Can’t believe how much this little change has opened up the look of the kitchen!

A full view of the ceiling almost done.

The old range hood is out! Good riddance to bad appliances!!

The new hood is in!

I think this hood is going to work really well with the range when all is said and done

I think this hood is going to work really well with the new range when all is said and done

Now, the hood will be exhausting out of the kitchen instead of back into it. Who designs a hood to recirculate back into the kitchen? Seems silly.

Now, it will be exhausting out of the kitchen instead of back into it. Who designs a hood to recirculate back into the kitchen? Seems completely silly.

Look at how much light this hood puts out! WOW! I just love it.

Although not a great view, here is a sneak peek of our upper cabinet glass…it’s going to be so pretty!

The old dishwasher is out! The new one is on the way.

The new dishwasher arrived! She's a beauty, right? And oh my goodness, so quiet! And has THREE trays inside!! LOVE!

The new dishwasher arrived! She’s a beauty, right? And oh my goodness, so quiet! And has THREE trays inside!! What a complete 180* turnaround from what we had…I love it!

Today I am going to get some primer and paint on the ceiling and tomorrow, the electrician will be here to install lighting. That will definitely bring a huge change!!

October 18, 2015 By deanna Meyer

Uncategorized

Cabinets, LED’s – Oh my!

We had a little bit of ‘homework’ to get done, so Monday was the day to do all of our running around. We went to the glass place to order glass for our cabinet doors and bought the LED strip lights we needed for the tray ceiling. Then I came home yesterday evening to find my cabinets back and in place! That was darn fast….and it’s amazing how much more counter space I have next to the stove now! I visualized it in my head, but it’s even better than expected:

Even with a makeshift top, you can definitely see the great space we will now have!

The cabinet doors are back too! Can’t wait to see them with the glass we picked. It’s going to be beautiful once it’s all done!

Today the primer went up on the ceiling and tomorrow the crown molding will go up. Behind that crown molding will be LED strip lights. They come in a reel and you just stick them down. Here’s what they look like:

It’s amazing that this reel of lighting will give us a ton of extra light in the kitchen! And we’re making them dimmable so we can use it as soft lighting as well.

Then, once the crown is in, I get the fun job of painting it all. Wheee! Plus, our dishwasher has now been ordered and will be delivered on Friday. At some point, the electrician will be coming in to get the can lights installed as well as run all the wires. This construction zone is definitely a dirty area, but we’re doing our best to keep things as clean as we can. Plus, we’re enjoying the process of the project.

I love this kind of stuff!

October 13, 2015 By deanna Meyer

Foodie

To Tray or not to Tray

Living in this kitchen for a long time, I’ve had time to really think about what I wanted things to look like. The lowered ceiling is a feature of the 80’s for sure and makes things feel closed in…and not in a cozy kind of way. Between our limited budget and actual limitations of how high we could raise the ceiling (if we wanted to), I thought it might give the same effect for less cost if the fluorescent light fixtures were pulled, the opening made slightly bigger and a tray ceiling was created. My handyman was pretty skeptical about it, but I had a vision. I knew that this would be the right decision. So, I came home from work the other day and found the work started on this part of the project:

As a reminder….this is what it looked like before

I had him make the area about 6 inches bigger to create a more even look

It’s already looks bigger!

Next, the last light will come out and the mud will come in…

It’s starting to come together….

What a difference already!

And once we get some lighting back in the kitchen, it will be even better!

October 10, 2015 By deanna Meyer

Foodie

Work Begins

Within a week, the kitchen spiff is underway! Some of our appliances were coming in, work was happening, cabinets were starting to come out….lots of activity! Time to take a look:

First, the floor protection goes down…

At the same time, the fridge and stove arrives! It was amazing to watch how they brought it into the house. Nuts!

At the same time, the fridge and stove arrives! It was amazing to watch how they brought the fridge into the house. The delivery guys just used straps and walked it in like it was nothing. Nuts!

My new fridge! We've kept the plastic on until it gets moved into it's final spot. It's temporarily living there.

My new fridge! We’ve kept the plastic on until it gets moved into it’s final spot. It’s going to temporarily live there until some other things get taken care of. The stove will not be installed until the countertops come in. That will be weeks yet so it will be hanging out waiting…..

We’ve prepared the desk area for the cabinet guys to come in and remove it. The lower cabinets will be adapted to fit into the spot where the old fridge used to be and soon this spot will be where the new fridge will live making for a much better work triangle.

Moved the microwave to the other side of the kitchen temporarily

Next day, the cabinet guys arrive and pull what they needed to start that process:

Desk and upper cabinets are out!

Upper cabinet doors are pulled to cut out panels in preparation for glass inserts

Next up….ceiling work!

October 10, 2015 By deanna Meyer

Foodie

Preparation

After getting bids, doing research and talking to people, it was finally time to move things forward in the right direction….towards the long awaited kitchen spiff! We’ve had to come to the harsh reality that we wouldn’t be able to get everything done at one time like we wanted to, but the majority will be done and then we will save up our money to finish things out in phase 2. First, let’s take a look at what the kitchen looked like at the start:

Looking straight into the kitchen, here is what you see. Hello 1980’s! How about that dropped ceiling and fluorescent light? Lovely, right?

My sink area. A beautiful view, but hard to move around in at times.

My sink area. A beautiful view to the backyard and lovely sunsets, but hard to move around in.

A decent amount of counter space in this kitchen but poorly laid out.

A decent amount of counter space overall in this kitchen but poorly laid out.

This weirdly open space is supposed to be…I’m not sure what. But this is where the dogs live during the day while we’re at work, so it’s okay for us.

And of course, every 80’s kitchen would not be complete without a desk…that NO ONE USES!

There are many changes coming…finally!

October 6, 2015 By deanna Meyer

Foodie

It all started with a refrigerator

I’ve lived in my house for 10 years now. 10 years! I’ve hosted many gatherings during that time, struggled with the kitchen layout, the aging appliances, etc. yet somehow, I was still able to turn out some pretty great food. Cooking/Baking helps me unwind when I’ve had a bad day. There are times I think about making something, look up a recipe or two and then just wing it in my own way. I would say 95% of the time, my experiments come out great. The other 5%? Well, those are the times I probably shouldn’t be in the kitchen anyway. I truly wish I had more time to experiment in the kitchen….but there are never enough hours in the day.

This summer has been super hot. The hottest it’s been in the 12 years I’ve lived here. Because of this, we’ve realized just how bad our refrigerator had become. You see, it really never worked as well as it should have from the moment we stepped foot in the house. I’ve had repair people out to fix it…twice…to no avail. It was so bad this year, we had to keep a frozen bowl of water in there just to keep things cold enough! The freezer, though, worked great! We thought about getting a new fridge years ago, but were discouraged when we realized new refrigerators were about 3 inches wider than our current space. I will NEVER recommend ‘building in’ a refrigerator. This is what you have to contend with when you do…UGH! Because of this we’ve put up with it. Recently the dishwasher has been starting to struggle as well….so I decided it was time to start figuring out what could be done with our 1986 vintage kitchen.

We have a VERY limited budget, but we’re only going to do this once, so I want to make it count and put our money where it makes the most sense. And there are certain things I will not give in on. So, after months of thinking things through, it’s time to start making this project a reality!

More to come….

October 5, 2015 By deanna Meyer

Older Posts