Kitchen Project Underway - Day 10

Today we have a bit more progress on the floor. The freezer has joined the fridge in the breezeway, and tomorrow the plumber comes to temporarily un-install the water heater. Hopefully it will be re-installed later tomorrow afternoon, after the floor goes down under it.

(the wood floor now goes all the way to the back door)

(the full-on view)

(and the other side)

(and we have cork in most of the pantry/utility room/laundry room)

(including under the washer)

(Day 10 is Monday, February 8th... in real time this works out to Week 3, Day 1 :). )

Kitchen Project Underway - Day 9

Friday 2/5 (Day 9) we got a lot more cork down (it's everywhere except the entryway coat closet and alcove (where the bulk of the flooring is stacked); under a few of the appliances; and the pantry/utility room/laundry room and the half bath.) and got a good start on the wood floor. It will probably be Wednesday before it's complete. 

Monday we'll lose the stove, sink and dishwasher (and washer and freezer as well) for a day or two so the floor can go in underneath all of them. On Friday we also moved the fridge out to the breezeway. I'm happy to report that so far the raccoon has not gotten into it! 

Kitchen Project Underway - Day 8

Corkedy-cork-cork. Yes, today we have a lot more of the cork underlayment installed. Hurray. Tomorrow (Friday) should be one with a lot of pretty pictures as we see more and more of the wood installed!

(the foyer is half done)

(hallway section is done)

(kitchen is 90% done)

(...and we have a strip of wood down in the kitchen... it'll give them a good base to work from on Friday)

(and here's a bit of the wood. the 4 smaller pieces are not attached yet, just there for show)

Valentines Cookies

Every year I bake special cookies for the Tallahassee Alumnae Panhellenic Scholarship Luncheon and Silent Auction. And this year, Thomas' class is having a cookie exchange. He'll take 25 cookies to share to school on the 12th and come home with 25 (different) cookies. We'll be baking a lot in the next week in our makeshift kitchen!

The recipe is the same as our favorite Christmas cookie dough. It comes from a recipe contest that was printed in Taste of Home magazine in the late 1990s.

"White Velvet Cutouts"

2 cups butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour

Cream the butter and cream cheese, then add the sugar and cream until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix until fully combined. Add flour gradually, and blend until just combined. Split dough into 4 parts, wrap each one in plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours (overnight is better).

Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll out dough to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness, cut into shapes and bake 10-12 minutes until lightly golden brown.

Frosting is powdered sugar and water, mixed together to a nice thick, but spreadable consistency. Add vanilla (or other flavor) and/or food coloring as you like.

Kitchen Project Underway - Day 7

floors, floors and more floors! (and maybe a paint color or two)

first the linoleum is up (ok mostly up) in the pantry/utility room/laundry room:

and the cork underlayment is down on the "eating" side of the kitchen:

Another view. Tomorrow this will get the actual wood floor laid on top of the cork and then it'll look amazing! Can't wait!!! It will probably take until Tuesday to get all the floors in. We're moving the refrigerator and the chest freezer out to the breezeway and we'll probably be without the sink and dishwasher for a couple of days.

And finally colors!

That's a section of the floor as the background with a sample chunk of our countertop (which is now ordered, yay!) and what is (so far) my favorite family of paint colors. They're all in the gray-beige range. I'm thinking we might use different tones in different spaces... like the pantry room and the half bath might be different shades than the kitchen and entryway. Lots of thinking still to do on this topic!

Kitchen Project Underway - Day 6

The guys worked on the cabinets at their shop yesterday so we had nothing to report for Monday, but tons of progress on Tuesday!

First, the "doorway"/entry to the kitchen was widened today, and I can't believe how much it opened up the whole room. Here's the process - first removing the trim and sheetrock,

then moving the light/fan switches and wiring... and the framing... and voila!

Now you can practically see all the way out to the swimming pool when you come in the front door!

Second, we made a lot of progress on the cabinets and where they will all go, including the island, which is temporarily blocked out on the floor:

another view:

Third, lots of progress on the flooring. As you can see in the photo above, they've been working on leveling the floor in the kitchen. Also, the flooring materials were all delivered today:

Aerial view (yes, the box on top is open):

And a little bit set out on the floor (sorry it's already managed to get dusty!):

Tomorrow, they'll lay down cork everywhere and Thursday start laying the floor!

(fyi I have to decide how to number the days... it's the 2nd day of the 2nd week now but the 6th day work has gone on at the house... so technically 9 days since we started work... lol only I would worry about the numeration)

Appliances...

Refrigerator: current pick GE Profile GSCS3KGYSS (this is essentially the same fridge we have now (it's 12 years old) in stainless instead of white)

Dishwasher: current pick Whirlpool 24" GU2275XTVY

Double oven: current pick KitchenAid Architect Series II KEBS208SSS

Gas Cooktop: current pick Electrolux EW36GC55GS

Hood: current pick Broan Elite Series E549OSS 36" Chimney Hood

Still looking for a built-in microwave and an under counter beer fridge... both should be fairly easy!