...Still putting it back together

But it's slow-going...

The slider basket shelf thingies (for the narrow cabinet) didn't arrive, as expected - so I'm still "down" one cabinet. And Rog doesn't want to install the under-sink sliders 'til after Christmas (so technically I'm down TWO cabinets - but the under-sink cabinet was never very useful in the first place!).

I've ordered some Rubbermaid Drawer Organizers and a Plastic Baggie/Foil Rack thingie that mounts to the back of a cabinet door (Another item for the "Honey-Do" List!).

And I'm still waiting for the new Toaster-Oven...

So things are still a bit of a shambles. The kitchen looks great - but the garage is still pretty treacherous! (Although I did manage to clear off the Manly Workbench and Not-So-Manly Washer/Drier)

(Now if the Laundry-Faeries would just make an appearance!!!).

I made a Storage Locker run on Friday and offloaded a fair amount of sh*t (Boy is THAT getting disorganized! That's another project all by itself - and NOT one that I'm looking forward to!!!). And I'm starting a new Goodwill Pile.

Good thing about tackling this whole Kitchen Re-shuffle at this time of year is that there are tons of "Food Drives" going on. They had some big barrels set-up at the office for donations so I took advantage of 'em. That worked out well b/c I found tons of stuff that we're NEVER gonna eat (and no, it wasn't "expired" - the expired stuff got tossed!). So I got rid of lots of canned and dry goods.

(Hmmm... Maybe I can let go of some Pasta-Roni and BBQ Sauce, too???)

* * * * *
In Other News: The Living Room got cleared this past week, so I was able to shift the furniture and make room for a Christmas Tree (Yay!). Tree is "up!" (Just finished that, mere moments ago). We went for a smaller tree than usual this year (6' Douglas Fir). It actually works out better to have a smaller tree - but I've got waaaaay more ornaments than the tree can support! So I've stuck with a mostly-tropical theme this year. Goes well with the new Living Room :-)

Yard decorations went up a couple of weeks ago - we stuck with Blow-Up "Santa-on-a-Harley" out front (Last year, it was "Tropical Santa" - but my poor mini-palapa kept blowing into the neighbor's yard!).

I think, pretty-much, we are READY for the Holly-Daze!

Life is still Good...................

Putting it all back together!

Okay, I'm starting to reclaim my living room so that - maybe, just maybe - we can put up a Christmas Tree!

Putting stuff back is proving to be even *more* challenging than I'd originally anticipated. I'm finding it's a lot like when you dig a hole in the yard: You can NEVER fit ALL the dirt back in it!!!

HA! That's probably not a very good analogy, is it?!!

When I first started putting stuff away, I started by tackling the spices /flavorings/baking-materials (flour, sugar, baking powder, yada-yada). I emptied one box and got it all loaded back into the designated cabinet. I stood back and admired my handiwork and thought to myself "Wow! Painting the insides of the cabinets was a GREAT idea! It looks like I've got TONS of space!!! It doesn't look 'crammed' at all!!!"

Well, it turned out I still had one more FULL box of spices/flavorings/baking/cooking-materials to stuff back in there! (And I *do* mean "stuff!") :::sigh:::

Oooooops!

Actually, I think we "netted" slightly less storage space, than before. The Lazy Susans - while EXTREMELY convenient - definitely do not offer as much "space" as the plain ol' shelves did. So all of my bakeware (that required a complete purge of the lower cabinets, and crawling into the far back corner - on my hands-and-knees - in order to access it!), needed to find a new home...

"Prioritize By Need!"

I really don't "bake" all that often - to tellya the truth. But I *do* bake often enough that I do want the stuff "here" - not boxed-up in storage. So the Roaster-stuff and Baking Pans and whatnot now live over the fridge. Yeah, it'll be a PITA to get to 'em - but no worse than purging and crawling (Boy, that sounds downright NASTY doesn't it?!). And the oven is still acting as "auxiliary storage" for the cookie sheet, a pie pan, and my wok. That's actually not too bad...

I still need to re-jigger things a bit, but at least the majority of stuff *is* put away...

Unfortunately, we'll still be relying heavily on the "pantry" in the garage (which is now a complete SHAMBLES!!! AAACK!!!).

One thing that I definitely DO like is the pull-out drawer thingie inside the lower cabinet - next to the stove. It's on full-glides - that pull out ALL the way - and it's pretty heavy-duty. I was able to store ALL of my "frequently-used electrics" on that. Crock-pot, immersion blender, hand-mixer, coffee-grinder, contact-grill... I was even able to stash some mixing bowls in there. Freaking Awesome!!! LOVE IT!

And I ordered some pull-out baskets that will go under the sink. Unfortunately, it looks like the "trap" hangs a little low in there, so we may have to dremel the "back-wall" of the slider-basket so it's short enough to clear it. But it'll be nice to have fairly easy-access to all the cleaning crap (Rog gets to install that this weekend).

We're still waiting for the chrome slider-pull-outs for the narrow cabinet next to the sink (hopefully they'll be here Friday?). So all the plastic bags, foil, wax-paper stuff is still waiting for a home...

Oh, and I ordered a new "Space-Saver" under-cabinet-mount Toaster-Oven. So that should be arriving soon, as well.........

Yep - it's all coming together now! Yayyyy!

So next weekend, we'll get the tree set-up and I think we're Good-To-Go for the Holly-Daze! Christmas Dinner (à la Bah-ston Mah-ket!) will be here this year!

Life Is Gooooood!

Day #5: No More Brady-Bunch Kitchen!!!!

I present to you our "New and Improved" Kitchen!!!

The Sink Area - "Before and After:"

I just *had* to throw in the "Before and After Shot!" Ya gotta have the "Drama!" Check out my earlier blog post for more "Befores."

Sink and Stove Area:

Stove and Fridge Zone:

And detail-shot of new Crown Molding:

The molding actually *does* match the cabinets. I think it's just the angle of the shot that makes the molding look darker. I *really* like the molding! "It's Clee-Assy!"

(And yes, I know the ceiling needs to be repainted - that's an old stain from before we replaced our leaky roof! ;-)

* * * * *

All told, the job took a bit longer than anticipated (five business days - as opposed to three). But then again, it *was* three weeks' ahead of schedule! (Okay, maybe it ended up being two weeks)
("Under-commit and Over-deliver" is a tactic I use, myself, at work!) (It's served me well!)

Anyway - it's all done except for one of the under-cabinet-pull-out thingies. We'd wanted to replace the narrow lower-cabinet (next to the sink) with one that would pull straight-out with built-in-shelves. Turned out that wouldn't work, so we're getting baskets on sliders instead. They should be installed on Friday

All-told. I'm very satisfied with the work. So - if you're in the SanFran Bay Area - I definitely *would* highly recommend Kitchen Tune-Up in Fremont (No, I get NOTHING for the recommendation! I'm just a legitimately happy customer!).

They didn't try to up-sell a bunch of crap we didn't need/didn't want/couldn't afford; No "High-Pressure Sales BS" ("Sign TODAY for the Yaya Bonus"); They answered questions honestly and in a timely manner; They sold us What-We-Wanted for a Price-We-Could-Afford; They cleaned up, every day - and minimized the chaos in the house (Most of the chaos was self-induced!!!).

BTW - They would have "re-faced" without requiring a complete "purge" of the cabinets. But I wanted the interiors painted white (something I would highly recommend if you have soul-sucking dark cabinets like we did!), so the "purge" was necessary (and ultimately a Good Thing - when you consider how much "expired" stuff I found - and had to dispose of!!!)

What was amazing was: I'd planned on taking half-vacation-days through "the ordeal" (and I'd blocked three "No-Meeting" days for the scheduled duration), but it turned out I didn't have to! I was still able to work on my work-stuff alongside the workers who were refacing the kitchen. Most of the work was pretty quiet (Okay, there were a couple of days where the pneumatic nailer got to be a bit much!). But they were also very flexible. When their work ran-over (into Monday-Tuesday of this week), there were several times where I had Client Conference Calls scheduled... I simply asked them if they could avoid using the nail-gun for those specified hours - and they worked with me on it! All-told, it was about as painless as it could be!!!

My final "plug" for Kitchen Tune-Up Fremont: They Did What They Said They'd Do - When They Said They'd Do It! (Gee, what a concept!). And Isaac, the owner, is just an All-Around Nice Guy!

It seems almost weird that what should be considered "Basic Common Sense in Business" strikes me as being such a rarity these days!!! (It really does - particularly after all the pure bullsh*t I went through while I was gathering bids!!!).

Bottom Line: I am a Happy Camper!

Now, if somehow all of this crap would find it's way back into the cupboards.................

:::sigh:::

(There's just no pleasing me!!!)

Day #3 - Not *quite* done yet!

...But definitely getting there!

It occured to me that my "Living Room" shot from the other day didn't truly capture the Pure Pandemonium we are enduring right now. So let's try that again, shall we?

Honestly, it's getting to where *I'm* feeling frazzled - and I am normally pretty "flexible" where this kinda stuff is concerned! I am READY for this to be done already!!!

But, alas, it's not!

WorkBee-V showed up again bright-n-early this morning, and immediately got started with ripping out the bottom of the under-sink cabinet. It looked pretty nasty down there, but it wasn't wet or rotted (but it definitely HAD been extremely wet at some point!). Anyway, we now have a shiny new base down there (and yes, they're going to paint the rest of the interior white).

Here's a "during the destruction" shot:

By the end of the day, WorkerBee-V had "faced" everything. The doors and drawer-fronts aren't up yet, and they need to paint the "inside edges" of the cabinets (I took a door to Home Depot and got a quart of "color-match" paint). They'll also paint the undersides of the cabinets to match...

Here are some more pics of "End-Of-The-Day."

Upper-Near-The-Sink Cabinets:

Lower-Near-The-Sink Cabinet (and pretty white base!):

One more shot "most of the kitchen" at the end of the day.

It's already about a bazillion times brighter in here!!!

I was hoping I could spend the weekend re-stocking the cabinets and reclaiming my living room. But since I've got shelf liners I want to put down (NOT contact paper! Rubbery-Grip stuff), and since there's more painting to be done (and I don't want the liners painted!), I think it's best that I just buck-up and deal with the mess for a few more days....... :::sigh:::

Monday, they come back and finish the job - Yayyy!!! (I am sooooo ready!)

Day #2 - Not much has changed...

Not even worthy of add'l pics, I'm afraid!

WorkerBee "V" showed up today and put a second coat of paint on the cabinet interiors - so they're much brighter now! (Of course, photographically, they'd look about the same as yesterday's pics!)

He also installed the drawers (no drawer-fronts - yet). They're on FULL glides so they open ALL the way and you don't have to wrestle with 'em!!!

The actual re-facing materials were on a truck, all-day, en-route to San Ho-zay. They finally arrived around 4:30 this afternoon, but that was long-after WorkerBee-V had departed.

He should be here bright-and-early tomorrow morning and I have a sneaking suspicion that the job will be COMPLETE before he leaves - Yayyyy!!!

Better still - all of my "stuff" should arrive tomorrow, as well. So I can put the "grippy" (but non-sticky) shelf-liners down and start re-filling the cupboards this weekend! I also received my Mini-Lazy-Susans (for the "back" of the upper cabinets). I think I'll also receive my "under-sink" shelves that I'll have Rog install (after WBV replaces the Sink-Cabinet Base).

So far, I gotta say, I'm very pleased with my decision to go with Kitchen Tune-Up Fremont. The whole ordeal has been surprisingly painless! And amazingly non-disruptive. I didn't even have to move my "office" into Rog's territory (:::whew::: No Masking Tape Needed!) and I've been been able to keep working "full" days (although I do dash outside to the backyard whenever my work-cell rings).

I definitely plan to send 'em an unsolicited Letter-Of-Recommendation to top it all off!

Yep - I'm a very Happy Camper, so far................

Stay tuned! Hopefully, tomorrow, I can post some Bona-Fide "AFTER" shots!!!

Day #1 - So far, So Good!

So Worker-Bee "V" showed up promptly @ 9:00am! That's a *very* good sign, IMHO!

Here are some random shots of "progress" taken throughout the day...

Doors removed most speedily:

Cabinet base interior painted:

Old Water-Damage under the sink (Bottom will be replaced and interior will be painted):

And 'lest you think this was all a "Walk-In-The-Park" - here's a shot of my Living Room AFTER the "Final" kitchen purge!!!

Here is our new Lazy Susan:

And more End-Of-Day Shots:

And another:

So far, I'm *very* pleased with the progress!!! Yes, there's still more painting to be done and No, we still haven't received the Cabinet Material - but it's still progressing quite nicely!!!

More to come... Film At Eleven..! =-)

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

The Kitchen Refacers are supposed to arrive, tomorrow morning, to start painting the cabinet interiors... And - better still - IF the "materials" have arrived - they'll start the whole re-facing job as well!

Yayyyy!!!

All cabinets are all 100% completely EMPTY!

Can't say the same for the living room and garage, however! (Can you say "War Zone?!!").

Yeah, I heard a fair amt of b*tching from the spousal-unit this weekend when he couldn't find stuff... I'd pretty much emptied EVERYTHING - but reserved a couple of coffee-mugs, 4 drinking glasses, a buttload of paper-plates and plastic-cups, and the "most-used" items (couple of pans, crock-pot, couple cans of soup, plastic baggies/twist-ties, and pancake syrup) and shoved them all into two cabinets (one upper and one lower - next to the sink)...

"Do we have any cereal?"

"Nope. There was one box with 1/4" of crumbs in the bottom. I tossed it!"

GrumbleGrumbleGrumble - as he opens the freezer and pulls out some Eggo waffles...

"Where's the toaster oven?"

"In the living room, next to the piano." (Where else WOULD it be?!!) (J/K!)

He grabs the toaster oven, brings it to the counter and plugs it in...

"Where's the syrup?"

"In the upper cabinet, next to the sink."

He proceeds to open EVERY cabinet *except* the upper-one, next to the sink...

"I can't find a #$%& thing!!!"

I repeated "The UPPER CABINET NEXT TO THE SINK!!!"

He found it.

"Where's the butter?!!"

:::rolling eyes:::

"In the fridge." (Mind you, I haven't touched the fridge - other than my normal weekly ritual of "eradicating the science projects.")

Engineers HATE disarray!!!

I'm not overly fond of it - but I can adapt....

Then again, Roger's never been what you'd call much-of-a "Morning Person" so I s'pose this is to be expected! Best not to f**k with his morning routine (I learned THAT early-on!!! And yes, COFFEE is still readily accessible!)

Anyway - he's out of town right now - so he doesn't have to deal with the Final Stages of the "Kitchen-Purge Project!"

Unfortunately, he'll be home tomorrow - AFTER the work has begun (and certainly WELL-before it'll be complete!).

I can hardly WAIT for his reaction! (Methinks it'll be a "Take-Out" week!!!)

Add-to-that: The fact that I'll be working half-days from home - while all of this is going on (I'm taking half-vacation days) - and "My Office" is Smack-Dab in the middle of the kitchen! He did leave me his Extra-Long Network cable - which is *just* long enough to reach, ummm, HIS desk in the bedroom! This means that I'll be moving the work laptop into *his* territory!!! And yes, this means I'll probably have to :::gasp::: MOVE some of his stuff in order to be able to work.

This is gonna be interesting!!!

I think, maybe, I'll put masking tape down on his desk to outline his "stuff" before I move it - so I can make absolutely CERTAIN that I return it to it's original spot (I wish I was kidding about this! I'm NOT!!!) (He freaks out every time Aida, our maid, comes - b/c she MOVES his mouse and keyboard! I sh*t you not!!!) (Love him dearly - but he's definitely got his "quirks!") (and Gawd-Knows, I *don't!!!*).

The good news - particularly since I'm only working half-days - is that I'll be able to "clear-out" of his space well-before he comes home!

The more I think about it - the more I like the masking-tape idea... Must dash to the garage and make sure we've got a roll!

BRB....................................

...........................................

Back! Whew! Found it!!!

Okay, so I'll outline his monitor-base, keyboard, and mouse-location and HOPE I can make enough space for my laptop. Thankfully, his printer is identical to mine so it's conceivable that I'll even be able to print stuff...

Anyhoooo... Pandemonium OFFICIALLY begins tomorrow. I've got quite a few "Before" pictures. Hell, I oughtta post 'em now (kindly excuse the mess - I had a bunch of crap piled on the countertops when I took 'em!).

I now present to you our indescribably UGLY, Vintage-1973 kitchen... Cue the 1970's porno music, please (Right-click and "Open in New Window" so as not to navigate away from my blog).

...BTW - I'm partial to the "Debbie Does Dallas" theme (but choose whatever best-suits *your* vision of the '70s Vibe)!

(And no, there's no real porn there - just music!)

...Take your time - I'll wait!!

Okay, now where were we? Oh yeah, Our Kitchen! About the only thing missing is Avocado-Green Appliances!

Kinda blurry shot of the dishwasher/sink area:
To the right of the sink... The new(er) range and hood:
And lastly, to the right of the range, the Fridge Zone:
My desk is in the foreground, on the right. And yes, it is a FEMA-Certified Disaster Area (but *I* know where everything is!!!).

Anyhoooo... Those are the "Before" shots. Tomorrow, I'll start snapping some "Durings" and - with any luck - by Friday I'll be able to post some "Afters!"

I'm pretty damned excited!!!