New Kitchen Flooring

The marmoleum was installed by Artistic Floors and Design today. The trim still needs to be added including the transition piece between the kitchen and dining room floors. It will be much easier to clean than the sticky vinyl tiles I had previously.







In other news, our dishwasher is not working. For those of you keeping track, yep, that's right, the sole reason I wanted to renovate this kitchen was to have a built-in dishwasher! So, it is funny (and not ha-ha funny) that it is the only thing that isn't working! The plumber says it is a problem with the appliance. Let's hope that Sears doesn't say it is a problem with the plumbing! In the meantime, Scott and I will hand wash our dishes and enjoy spending even more time in our new kitchen!

Note the temporary window shades! I found out about these from my friend Heidi when she moved into her new house. They are genius! You will also notice we used the scraps to cover the window on our back door. I am guessing our neighbors are bummed they can no longer spy on us at night! I am thinking that I will replace the temporary shades with the same white wood (faux) blinds I have in the dining/living areas but I am open to other ideas- thoughts?

Update in photos

My parents are on their way over so I don't have a lot of time to write an exstensive update. Here is the lowdown- cabinet/countertops are done, kitchen plumbing is done, electrician is here today, living/dining room painting is almost done.

Cabinets!

Today was full of ups and downs and I was quickly reminded of the stress involved in a remodeling project. The cabinet guys (2 of them) arrived a little after 10:00 AM as they had a 98 mile drive with lots of traffic. They were fast though and although they left around 3:30 PM, they were able to get most of it finished. They would have completed the job if it hadn't been for a couple of unforeseen problems. First one of the base cabinets was too long and in addition to trimming the sides down they had to cut into the beautiful trim Aaron created around the opening in the wall leading to the dining area. Second, in trimming adjusting the base cabinet it created problems for the countertop. I guess what people say is true about remodeling- it always costs more than anticipated and there are always problems!

Here's some photos but note that our camera lens must have some residual bread ingredients on it as some of the photos have strange spots on them.

View from dining area (with and without countertop):




View from the back door:


Close up of the countertop:


View looking at the range/microwave/refrigerator wall:

Kitchen Therapy

Scott's birthday present (purchased in October) must have been a sign that I would be craving time in a kitchen. On Saturday, January 10 Scott and I spent 4+ hours in a bread baking class at The Kitchen Window in Uptown.

This is the course description:
Join Jessica Anderson, renowned pastry chef for Nick & Eddie restaurant, to learn the secrets to baking the perfect loaf of bread – as well as other recipes straight from the restaurant. You’ll spend four hours learning bread basics from one of the Twin Cities’ premier bakers. The menu includes classic PARKER HOUSE ROLLS, a great introduction to quick breads. You can use this versatile dough for many variations. Next is a SEMOLINA BREAD, a great all around bread to have in your repertoire. Then we move on to master BIALYS, chewy yeast rolls similar to bagels. However, bialys are baked, not boiled like bagels. Finally, we finish with BRIOCHE, sweet dessert bread with a rich flavor and flaky texture. This bread is delicious on its own – and if you should happen to have any leftovers, it makes fabulous bread pudding. Don’t miss this chance to spend an enjoyable day in the kitchen learning from the best.

Ambitious, right? We made the dough for the brioche first and then we moved on to the bialy dough and then all hell broke loose because we were way off track with time. I could see the volunteer helpers getting frustrated and there was clearly a lack of communication between the pastry chef and the rest of the team. That being said, it was a lot of fun to learn the art of making bread dough by mixing it with your bare hand. You'll see Scott displaying his own take on kneeding dough- man meets machine I'd say.

I will be going back to the Kitchen Window someday but I will avoid classes that seem to take on "more than they can chew" (that's for you dad!).


We are working on the brioche dough. Apparently we were not supposed to add the full 4 cups of flour- which Jessica the pastry chef shared with us AFTER most of the class used the entire 4 cups of flour. Thankfully our dough came out OK in the end.



Brioche has lots of butter in it. It also involved fresh cream and fistfuls of sugar. I am thinking those calories didn't count cause it was therapy.



We didn't actually get to the Parker Roll recipe (above) but I learned how to make those cute little butt shapes.
We also listened to Jessica talk about Semolina bread and the only thing I took away was the fact that the "fancy" flour in the recipe can only be found at the Eden Prairie Cub Foods. Odd.

I do want to try out Jessica's restaurant Nick & Eddie. So, I definitely recommend taking classes at the Kitchen Window and soon they will take place in their remodeled space!

Painted kitchen and new appliances

Although Minneapolis had an all-day snowstorm, Operation Little Green House as Scott calls it was a success today. Both missions were accomplished: the kitchen painted and the new applianced delivered.

Since I worked from home I was able to capture the first paint strokes:


The finished paint job:




Even though it was a winter wonderland...


... the appliances were delivered!


Next to having a built-in dishwasher, the in door water/ice is going to be my favorite outcome of this renovation! I am thirsty just thinking about it!

Construction Schedule for the week of January 12

My Little Green House blog will likely be updated every day this week as there is something going on everyday! Here's the line-up:

Monday, January 12
- New appliances delivered; old hauled away
- Paint on kitchen walls

Tuesday, January 13
- Cabinets and countertops installed

Wednesday, January 14
- Plumber Phil will hang out and install the diswasher, sink, sink faucet, and disposal. We will find out what needs to be done for the ice maker/water dispenser because we can't move the new refrigerator into the kitchen until the floor is installed. Phil will also install the bathroom shower/tub faucet and remove the drain cover on the tub.

Thursdsay, January 15
- Electrician Harry will hook up the electrical for the dishwasher and microwave and then put the covers on all outlets and switches.
- Surface Renew will resurface our bathtub.

Friday, January 16
- Tile Guy Jed will seal the tile and do some other finishing work that I can't remember!
- Janelle and her parents will clean, clean, clean!

Weekend Update

It is an exciting time in the Nivens' household as projects are near completion! Aaron has been to our house both days this weekend- a sign that we're on a deadline! Now, I'll provide updates on all three projects with photos.

Bathroom


As of the 9th of January we had running water in our main floor bathroom!



The paper holder, ring towel holder and 18" towel holder on the wall are the same as what we used in the basement. After Aaron installed the 18" towel holder I started thinking I had him put it in too high. Hopefully after I put a towel on it I won't obsess about such minor details. The vent has caused me to launch an educational outreach program for all my friends living in older homes. My message: "Do no throw away your vent covers until you have a replacement!" Our vent is so odd sized that even Rejuvenation does not have an expensive option for us. I even froze my fingers at Bauer Brothers sorting through salvaged vent covers. Thankfully my friends at The Craftsman Home Connection make custom wood covers. After consulting my co-worker, Sharon and her discerning good taste, I decided on the simplistic Mission style. Fortunately, the cost will only be around $40. Which is high compared to an $18 floor vent but it certainly is cheaper than what I thought a custom cover would be! Since it will be wood, Aaron will paint it to match the paint color of the trim.

Kitchen


This photo was taken on Friday, January 9 after the trim was installed.



This photo was taken on Sunday, January 11 after Aaron sprayed a coat of paint on the trim.

I am really excited about the trim around our windows as they look pretty much the same as the originals.

Main Floor Closet

For the most part I painted this closet but I did have to enlist back-up for the trim. Chris the Painter is awesome!
The photo on the right is to show my patch-work on the drywall where the hammer went through! Not bad for a newbie!


On Sunday, January 11 Scott and I installed the Elfa shelving system. In theory, we will hang our coats on the left and store all of our linens, cleaning products and miscellany on the right. Originally I intended for the vacuum to be stored under the coats but I am not sure that will work. I will take another photo after I have "stocked" the closet! Thanks again Emily and Josh for the gift card to The Container Store!

Potty Humor

We have a toilet and sink on the main floor! No more middle of the night trips to the basement! Woo hoo!





In other news, the appliances have been ordered and will be delivered on Saturday. The flooring has been ordered and will likely be installed the week of January 19.

Remaining tasks:
- Find a vent cover for the odd sized vent in the main floor bathroom
- Buy switch plate covers for the main floor bathroom
- Call Surface Renew to schedule refinishing of bathtub
- Oh yeah and try to relax even though things are happening so quickly!

Oops I did it again!

Sorry if you are now singing the 2000 Britney Spears classic. Just a quick update on the Nivens household projects. As of yesterday I have another project in progress thanks to the ELFA sale at the Container Store. My sister, Emily and her boyfriend, Josh were kind enough to give me a Container Store gift certificate for Christmas so I couldn't pass up the sale. I am reconfiguring our main floor closet to maximize space. Instead of 5 shelves spanning the width of the closet, half of the small space will have a rod for hanging coats (a coat closet!) and storing the vacuum, etc. The other half will be shelves for storage (cleaning supplies, linens, medicine, etc).

Who knew that removing closet shelves would be so complicated? Apparently nothing in a 1948 house is straight forward. After realizing that the shelves could not be removed without first removing the pieces of wood they were resting on, I got out my trusty hammer and crow bar type tool. Armed with the confidence I have from two demos, I tapped the crow bar behind the wooden bracket. As I bent it to leverage the wood away from the wall, I created a hole in the drywall! Oops! Thankfully Chris the painter was at my house and he assisted me in removing a couple of shelves and taught me how to more carefully remove the wooden brackets. So, now I get to teach myself how to patch drywall AND I am going to use this closet as my first painting project! That means even more displaced crap in my home- what was I thinking?







Now for the good news, no news portion of the update. The good news is that the final wall in the kitchen and Aaron and Chris have started to mud. Also, I ordered the sink and purchased the faucet. The no news is that there is no progress on the bathroom. I am hoping the toilet and sink will be installed next week so that I can avoid trips to the basement in the middle of the night.

Here's the latest kitchen photos:



Aaron is going to put trim around the entry to the kitchen from the dining room. I think this will help the transition in paint colors from the dining to the kitchen.