Are We There Yet?

This past week marked the end of Week 5 of Project Kitchen Renovation.  And we're ALMOST there.  ALMOST isn't really any consolation when you've been doing your dishes in the bathtub for 35 days, though.

Because we're getting closer to the end, I don't want to spoil the big reveal with full room pictures at this point, so we'll just do some closeups to tide you over!

First up- the countertops are in!  I worked last week sealing the undersides of the countertops at night after the contractor left for the day.  They stunk up the basement for a few days, but I wanted to make sure that all 6 sides of these beautiful walnut countertops are sealed against the elements as much as possible.  I won't bore you with step by step details on how to seal butcherblock countertops, but here's the link to the best tutorial I found on DIY sealing.  The product I'm using is called Waterlox- I did my research, and found it to be very highly recommended for sealing butcherblock countertops with undermount sinks. 

Umm...amazing, right?

My contractor installed the countertops after the bottoms were sealed, and now I've been working to seal the tops at night to give them ample time to cure before work begins the next morning on other parts of the kitchen.

Sink's in!  Too bad there's still no water hooked up to it.  I got a 10'" deep sink.  Couple that with 2" thick countertops, and one short gal, and you'll probably find me head down, bum up on multiple occasions as I fall into the depths of this beautiful piece of sinkdom.  (Not. Even. A. Word.  Really, though, who cares!?)

Look at all that extra counterspace!!
Think of the smorgasbord of food that can be lined up
in Pinterest worthy shots that will drive everyone mad
with jealousy! (Or not, if you're not into that sort of thing.)

The tile is also in the process of being installed. 

Yes, siree, I asked the contractor to tile behind the entire fridge.
You'll never see it after this picture, but I know it's there.

My open shelves are also starting to get their coats of sealer...look how beautiful they are!!  Quick shoutout to my brother's friend Steve King (yes, that's his real name) for making these beauties for me on super short notice so I could haul them back with me from New York last month.  He's such a gem!

Bottom shelf with one coat of sealer.  Others are still raw walnut.
So pretty!!!

That's all you get, folks.  A few quick snapshots before this project gets wrapped up!!  (And by wrapped up, I mean that my contractor is going on vacation in a few days so the project completion date is getting delayed.  It was supposed to be done before he left.  Sigh.)

Slow and Steady Wins the Race...and makes me impatient.

I'm sure you're all waiting on pins and needles for something exciting and dazzling to happen with this kitchen.  So am I.

This past week, we passed the electrical, plumbing, and mechanical rough inspections, which means the walls are now being closed up.  While that means we've been making good progress, it isn't especially exciting in terms of how my house looks.  It just means more tarps are now draped across my doorways.

Should there be a tarp on that chair?
Yeah, probably.

How is it possible that this space looks even smaller
WITHOUT the walls???

I'm stuck.  Can't use the front door, can't use the side door, and while the guys are working, I can't even get into the dining room to heat up a cup of tea.  Life's tough when you're lucky enough to be getting a new kitchen, right?

Even though I've been banished to the back of the house, and there's nothing pretty to show quite yet, we did find something interesting!  Stapled behind the door jamb were two of the original permits to the house:

Sorry online creeps, I photoshopped out my address.
You'll now have to do 1.5 seconds of sleuthing work to find it.

Pretty neat, right?  Even though they are old and tattered, I plan to frame them and keep them in the kitchen- I think this old house deserves to keep her historical documents, don't you?

By the end of this week, the floors (and maybe the cabinets!) will be going in, and I'll have some fun pictures to share...eek! 

Whatcha doin' with that Washi Tape?

Every time I stop into a craft or office supply store, it's there.  Rows and rows of beautiful washi tape, the colors and patterns a visual feast for the eyes, whispering, "Take me home.  Please.  Just take me home."   For a few bucks, I'm more than happy to oblige their quiet longing.

If you're not familiar with washi tape, get on the bandwagon- you can use it to decorate just about anything!!  It's really just glorified masking tape, and it's pretty sad that TAPE makes me gleeful these days, isn't it?  I'm really getting old.

Let's just hop right to it- here's some fun things I did recently with washi tape!

Picture frames!  

I contemplated painting these cheap black frames that I've had since college, but a strip of gold tape did the trick!  (Prints are a greeting card print from Alaska, and a postcard of the Merchandise Mart Building in Chicago).

Computer monitor!  

Can you tell that I taped up my laptop screen, too?  There's too many big black boxes on my desk...they needed some cheap glamour.  I might have gone a wee bit overboard.

Linen Closet Shelves!

So much white in this closet...it needed a little visual eye candy surprise.

Lamp #1!

Lamp #2!

I've seen a bunch of lamps lately that have a mix of gold and silver on them, and as these Ikea lamps are PERFECTLY FINE, I added a wee bit of tape to jazz them up.  This *slightly* satisfies my urge to buy fun new lamps that have the vintage cloth cords on them- have you seen them anywhere?  They're adorable.

I also have decorated quite a few packages with the tape- it looks really cute around brown paper packages!  No one is ever upset to get a pretty package in the mail, am I right?

If you're a sad sack like me who gets excited by tape, go buy yourself some today.  It's fun, it's cheap, and it's not permanent.  Tape, tape, tape it up!


I really hope you're now singing, "Pump, pump, pump it up" repeatedly, because who knows any of the other lyrics, right?  Also, did anybody notice that my office is now white?  Woot woot...it's coming together!  I'll do my next post  on all of my office DIY's when it's cleaned up and dust free:)