The Painted Wall

Here's a close look at the newly-painted wall in our great room.  And on the right are new vertical blinds. They replaced insulating shades which got old and hard to use.
This wall is now a grayish-tan color. We had a hard time choosing it. We tried a tiresome number of paint samples. Off-white was too bright when sunlight floods into the room (which is all day long). A beige that looked good on a paint chip turned out to look like a flesh-colored crayon on the wall. (Yuck!) Other beiges were disappointing too. ("That's funny, it didn't look lavender in the store.") On the fourth (fifth?) trip to Lowe's we selected this color, which Frank says is light brown but I see as a warm gray. It looks good in warm light but depressingly gray on a cloudy day (to me). 

We used a low-odor paint and even a low-odor primer. They covered very well considering how porous and dry the old barn wood is.

Saturday the new blinds came and they make the paint color look better. A young lady installed them but discovered that the headrail on one is damaged so it will have to be replaced. For now they work with a little extra effort. The blinds are textured off-white, not the bright white that you see in the picture, in which they are reflecting the sunlight.

We bought them from Budget Blinds this time, after an unsuccessful attempt to buy them from Penneys. I've learned that hiring people to do remodeling projects is just as likely to involve problems as doing it yourself, and more likely to involve extensive delays.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

While we were on vacation, our replacement cabinets arrived and were installed. So I'm going to tell you about them and let the remaining Assateague photos wait for a while.

When we got home, we saw how gorgeous the cabinets look. They replace the ones that were too wide for the new space between the windows. Unfortunately, there's a problem with them. The trim around the doors is not identical to the trim around the other cabinets in the room.

So our designer has arranged for the cabinet doors to go back to Hagerstown Kitchens to be fixed or replaced. In the meantime, here's a look at the view into the kitchen from the dining area. Looks nice, if I do say so myself!


And here's the view as you come through the entry. The dark paneled wall has been replaced with a half-wall.

You may also notice that the brown paneling on the far wall has been painted a light color. Frank painted that wall before we went away. So far we are leaving the other walls in the great room a dark brown. 

Frustration with Penney's Home Decorating

Allow me to vent again. This time it's about vertical blinds that we did not receive.

We have two huge sliding glass doors that give us a nice view of the mountains. When we bought the house, it came with insulated shades that cover the windows at night -- very old insulated shades. We got tired of them coming out of their tracks and decided to replace them with vertical blinds.

Frank wanted to just buy a few sets and put them up but I really wanted them professionally done. I haven't been happy with vertical blinds in the past because we crimped the tracks slightly during installation and that made them hard to pull open and shut.

So we arranged for a home decorating visit from JCPenney's. After some initial confusion with their national office, a nice lady from the Winchester store came out in late winter and measured carefully and showed us countless samples. Finally we agreed on something and placed an order, paying half as a down payment. The installation date was set as the week of April 21.

I called JCP's the week before that and left a message asking when they would come. Got no answer and called twice the week of the 21st, getting an answering machine and leaving a message. When we still did not hear back, Frank called the store manager. After that the decorator called us and said she would call the installers. Later she called to say she left a message for them and would let us know.

The next week I called her cell phone and she said she would call them again. This was repeated several more times.

Four weeks after the original installation date, the supplier called to say that the blinds had been delayed and would be ready in July. "What!" I exclaimed. "That's two months from now!"

And three months late... so we canceled the order. Now we are back to deciding what to do about covering the windows.

But the kitchen sink...

I'm not real happy with our new kitchen sink. We accidentally bought one that's extra-deep. I did not want that kind because it strains my back when I lean forward far enough to reach into it, but I didn't see the depth until it was installed. When we saw it displayed in Lowe's, it was ten feet up on the wall and did not look particularly deep. I liked the shape and it met our requirements - double sink, stainless, suitable for a laminate countertop.

Installing it was difficult for Stad the plumber because the cabinet door was narrower than under most sinks due to it being in a corner. And I don't like the way the countertop is cut in front of it - those little angles jutting out are not comfortable. 

I hope I can get used to all this because redoing the countertop and sink would be expensive. Not as expensive as moving though.

About the kitchen and our carpenter

Our kitchen is functional again. The remodeling is not complete; we must wait for additional trim and two replacement cabinets to be delivered. Yesterday Ken and Helmut cut travertine and glued it in place on top of the half-wall but did not grout it. They will do that when the trim arrives. (This is polished travertine that the previous owner of our house left in the basement.)

Helmut mentioned to Frank that he got training in building trades in East Germany. Intrigued, I got him how he came to the west. He and his mother were in the part of Germany that was given to Russia at the end of World War II. After his training, he worked in construction but a bad winter and floundering economy put an end to building projects.

One day he told his roommate, "If I don't come back, you can have my motorcycle jacket." That night he and his mother crossed the ice-covered Elbe River to reach the west. They succeeded but it was risky - not far down the same river, a group of people were shot trying to do the same thing.

When I commented that his story was exciting, he said that his mother's was more so. During the first World War, she fled her home as the Polish army approach. During the second World War, she fled again as the Russian army marched towards her town. And then eventually she risked her life with him to reach freedom.

Frustration on the Remodeling Front

The kitchen is coming along. None too soon - it's been out of commission for over a month. It's going to look good but a lot has gone wrong. 

That single wall cabinet will be replaced by two cabinets slightly smaller because our contractor misunderstood the dimensions on the window and made it a bit wide and set it a few inches to the left, so the 30" cabinets that arrived did not fit in the space between the windows. We are now awaiting 27" cabinets, but it takes about a month to get them.

The wall cabinet on the far right was 12" deep and blocked the window. Frank had the contractor cut it down to 8" deep and it looks much better.  Not seen in this picture are three more cabinets with problems. All were too tall so various adjustments were made. Considering we had an experienced kitchen designer, I was surprised at the number of errors.

The cabinet makers failed to drill holes for the handles so that had to be done by our team today. Also one of the cabinets got cracked during shipment.

Note that the sink touches the backsplash. Actually it overlapped so we had carpenter Helmut cut into the backsplash just enough to fit.  And the pretty faucet from Lowe's turned out to have a diverter missing so the water did not get hooked up today, although we paid plumber Hirsch a lot of money for his time spent doing what he could, struggling to hook up the sink through a rather small cabinet door. 

Out of the picture to the right is a closet. Our contractor did not built it as high as Nancy specified so he had to build up the wall. We did not insist that he tear out the closet ceiling so now the door is shorter than we desired. Not a big problem, just not ideal.

But what upset me was the flooring. A guy from C&S Floors in Mt. Jackson measured the space and somehow underestimated by 20 square feet. Now we have to wait for another box of laminate to come to the store so the floor is not finished.

So we had more big errors than we had on the last kitchen which we did ourselves. This one will be prettier though.

Ken the Contractor

Progress in the kitchen

Most of the cabinets are installed. There were problems with a couple of them so they will have to wait. One was cracked during shipment and another won't fit because the new window was made a bit too wide.

That space is where the dishwasher will go. I got one with the option to wash half a load (upper rack only).

A countertop technician came today and measured for laminate. On Monday the electrician will come and hook up the new stove. So progress is slowly bringing us a wonder-kitchen.

The New Window

When we went out this morning, Ken and Helmut had were sawing through the siding. I've drawn a red arrow to show you the saw blade coming through.  We picked up a new dishwasher at Lowe's in Woodstock, had lunch at Cracker Barrel, and bought some housewares and goat milk at Wal-mart. When we returned home, the new window was looking out at us. I'm posting a view from the inside too.

The new window really brightens up the room.

I expect the guys will install the cabinets tomorrow.

Frank and the Laundry Closet

When we moved here, the washer and dryer were in the little basement room and I had to go outside and walk around the house to do laundry. Knowing this would be uncomfortable in the winter, we had a pantry next to the kitchen converted to a washer-dryer closet.

As part of the kitchen remodeling project, this closet became a bit smaller. This weekend, we installed vinyl flooring in there. Today our contractor put the washer-dryer back in the closet so that we can at least dry clothes. The washer isn't hooked up yet but we still have the old one in the basement and I've been using it again.

After Ken left this afternoon, Frank did some painting. (We picked up some low-odor paint on Sunday from Sherwin-Williams.) Below you see Frank standing on top of the closet getting reading to paint the wall behind him. There's a new window going in tomorrow on the wall where the drywall has been cut out. And in the foreground you can see the new half-wall that replaces the old brown wall and then wraps around in a peninsula.

The View from the Apartment

I've been fixing many meals in the garage apartment because we don't have a stove in our house. We don't have a kitchen even. In the apartment I have a hot plate, a waffle iron, a George Foreman Grill, a microwave, toaster, coffee pot, fridge, a counter, and a kitchen sink. And a view.

Tired of Shopping

We are finally close to having everything we need (or at least ordered) for our new kitchen. I think all that's left is the flooring. We have an attractive laminate in mind; it looks like a very pale slate. But Frank is concerned that it can be damaged by puddles of water seeping in through the seams. Now he's talking about getting ceramic tile, even though until now he has been strongly opposed to ceramic because it is hard and cold. He prefers vinyl but I don't like the odor - I figure anything that smells like chemicals is probably giving off fumes and who knows when someone will prove that it's bad for you.

Today we bought a sink (double, stainless), a faucet set, and an exhaust fan. The last item was surprisingly hard to find. Hardware stores don't carry kitchen fans, although they have plenty of bathroom fans. (A kitchen fan has to be fire-resistant because you don't want a grease fire to turn it into a flame thrower!) We checked with at least four small hardware stores and both the big-box home improvement stores around here, plus some appliance stores. Could have bought a fan online but waited too long. A clerk at Lowe's suggested an RV supply store, but I figured we'd check some electric supply stores first since we had to go to Harrisonburg anyway for an appointment. One didn't have it but Eck Supply and Lighting on Route 42 had one (and only one) in stock so we bought it. At least the limited selection meant we didn't have to debate which model to buy.

Why not get an exhaust hood? The stove will be in a corner between two windows and we don't want to block the light.

We are difficult shoppers. We are both picky and opinionated and are tastes are different so it takes a while to agree on what to get. Also we are frugal and comparison-shop until we are beyond exhaustion. All too often we leave stores without buying anything. So serious shopping is a frustrating ordeal.

The Cabinets Arrive

Today our new kitchen cabinets were delivered. We haven't unwrapped them yet except to peek at them. The wood is alder and is very pretty.  They were made by Hagerstown Kitchens.

Our contractor won't be installing them quite yet -- he is still working on the walls and such. 

Demolition Man

Frank has demolished about 80% of the kitchen. Our contractor showed up today and removed the plywood that was under the tile and took a load of debris to the dump.

We've Started the Kitchen Project

We are remodeling the kitchen. We've talked about it for over a year, and worked with a designer since last summer. But we didn't go ahead and order the cabinets until about a month ago. They will be here in April.

Frank is doing some of the demolition of the old kitchen himself. Then our contractor will come in to build the half-wall before the cabinets arrive.

Today we moved the fridge out of the way, got the "secret house" ready to use as a temporary kitchen, and removed a few boards. Tomorrow we start packing everything in the cabinets. Some of it will go up to the apartment and some we'll put in the garage.

Tomorrow I meet with Nancy again to try to finalize the selection of the countertop. We've selected several before but they turned out to be expensive. Frank and I are both somewhat frugal. (Hey, did I hear a snicker out there? Okay, so maybe we're cheap.)

I still haven't found the oven I want. I'd like a slide-in downdraft range with electric coils, self-cleaning and convection oven. We can actually get a Jenn-air with all this but the controls are just about impossible to read without stooping low and using a magnifying glass. Considering the high price of a Jenn-air, the controls should be legible. So we can get a non-downdraft with everything but the convection feature, which seems to come only on the glass-top ranges. I don't want glass-top because they scratch if you use cast iron cookware plus a lot of people are not happy with them because you have to scrape them clean.

A possible solution is to purchase the cooktop and oven separately and have a cabinet built to house them but talk about pricey... and as you know, we are frugal.


Left: Above the garage is an efficiency which the grandkids call the secret house and Marie calls the Fonzie apartment.

Our kitchen - a BEFORE picture

We have hired local designer Nancy Meyer to create plans for a new kitchen. The dark brown wall will go! The old scratched cabinets will be replaced, of course, as will the ancient stove and dishwasher.

All this will probably take a couple of months.

Too much water

It rained this morning. Then it poured! Usually when we see rain that hard, there's a hurricane nearby. But this was a thunderstorm on an unusually warm November day.

Plop plop! What's that sound? Uh-oh, water coming in from our brand new roof! I grabbed a picnic cooler and placed it under the leak but it was not wide enough to catch all the drops that were coming in around the eagle plaque which covers an old hole under a stovepipe. (Before the fireplace was built, there was a woodstove in that part of the room.)

Frank dashed out to the garage and brought in Guppy's wading pool. (I bought it for a dog bath.) I wiped up the puddles with a towel and Frank put the pool under the leak. It did a good job of catching the water.

Then he called the company in Front Royal that installed the new roof. In less than two hours, a crew arrived. Fortunately the rain had stopped so they were able to make repairs. In somewhat broken English, the leader explained that a collar around the old stovepipe had leaked and they had fixed it.

This was not quite the end of my misadventures with water. I drove to the post office, taking the "high road" to get there (up the ridge and then down Orkney Grade). The pond at Wetlands was flooded and muddy, and the tiny creek that feeds it had turned into a torrent. For the ride back I took the "low road" by the golf course, which is usually lush green and pretty. Today much of the golf course was under water. I eyed the dam a bit warily but it looked intact, and when I got to the bridge past the airport, I made sure the creek was still under (not over) the bridge. It was, but only by about ten inches.

Near the snack bar it was a different story. The road was flooded, and as I neared my turn, I saw that the creek was out of its bank and completely over the road. Recalling stories of cars swept away by small creeks that flooded, I started backing up. Then I saw a car come up behind me so I stopped. It was a state policeman. I rolled down by window and he pulled alongside. Do you think it's safe to drive through there? I asked him.

I'm going to find out right now! he answered. He drove through the water and it did not quite reach his floorboards. I followed him and made it across to higher ground, although there was a moment when I felt like I lost traction. Once across I made my turn and headed uphill to the higher drier land of our ridge.

New roof

We're getting our roof re-shingled. A team from Tidewater Exteriors of Front Royal came Saturday and removed the old shingles, but there was a problem with the supplier and the shingles did not come. Monday all this should be straightened out and the roof finished.

Our dogs were concerned when they heard men on the roof, but they only barked for a little while.