Kitchen Nightmares: Somerville Edition

After 10 epic weeks without a kitchen, we finally got to move our stuff back in this past weekend.  The floor was refinished on Friday and the whole room got a cleaning on Saturday afternoon, after which Anne and I went into an unpacking frenzy.  By Sunday night we were ready for our first meal at home!  But there are still a few final details to finish up…

It’s been over a week since I posted so I’ll fill in the gaps.  Despite protective efforts, the kitchen floor looked pretty bad by the end.  George had planned to have it buffed and coated with polyurethane after all of the major construction was done.  Friday night the fumes were awful so we were happy to get out of the house for an amazing dinner at Salts.  Of course, Clyde managed to run briefly into the kitchen while the finish was still wet, so now we have startled kitty streaks right inside the doorway.  Tomorrow there will be another coat, hopefully fewer kitty streaks, and some fresh fumes.

Shiny floor

The dry bar has glass shelves, wood-and-glass doors, and LED lighting.  It’s looking pretty good but still needs a few last details, like stoppers to keep the doors from folding into the cabinet.

Dry bar cabinet with doors and shelves

LED light strips inside dry bar cabinet

A cleaning crew spent two hours on Saturday vacuuming, dusting, and scrubbing every surface in the kitchen.  By 5pm we were able to pull boxes from the basement and start putting stuff away.  By 10pm we were exhausted.

Sunday it was time to remove the thick layer of construction dust from all of the glassware in the dining room.  By mid-afternoon we were slouched in the living room watching High School Musical 2 on ABC Family.  But then… it was time for the first meal: Trader Joe’s carne asada, rice, refried beans, and tortillas.  Not as gourmet as some of Anne’s past creations, but most of those didn’t follow two days of lifting and cleaning.

Yay!

Still, there are some things left: the vent to outside, some crown molding, details on the dry bar, a mountain of trash in the back yard.  Plus we’ve got a new project.  Our hot water heater has decided to die a slow and leaky death while we wrap up the kitchen work.  Anyone know anything about on-demand water heaters?

Uncategorized after, carne asada, dry bar, floor, trim

In the waning days of this project, I have to admit that it’s harder to get excited about blogging every night, or even every other night.  There are just so many little details that progress isn’t that dramatic day-to-day.  I look forward to finally posting some before and after comparisons once we’re completely finished.  For now, just a few updates.

The dry bar’s getting all trimmed after being wired for electricity the other day.

Dry bar trim making it look more like a built-in

Soon there will doors and lighting, and then paint, and then shelving.  Removing the old trim as well as part of the chair rail and baseboards has exposed some really ancient plaster.  Nasty stuff.

The last electrical work in the kitchen was finished.  A couple more under-cabinet fixtures, plus dishwasher and oven hookup.  The blower fan is in place but still not hooked up to the vent.

Anne and I went over to the office building where our company is moving this weekend.  It looks nice, but it also looks like there’s still a ton to do before we can move in and start working.  I feel the same way about the kitchen.  Both projects should be done by the end of the week, but it’s hard to see how that will happen.  Oh well, that’s for the professionals to figure out.

Tonight we ate at The Independent in Union Square.  It’s one place that’s never crowded, to the point that we sometimes wonder how they stay in business.  But the food is great, and the beer list is extensive.  At least you know you can always get a table.

Uncategorized dry bar, electrical, lighting, trim

Even if sometimes it still feels like we’re in the same situation as we were a month ago, when the kitchen didn’t even have walls, the project really has come a long way.  There’s a functioning refrigerator, complete with cold filtered water and ice maker; a working sink, running water, and garbage disposal; and this morning we fired up the Wolf for the first time.  No actual cooking happened, but the thing works.

Fire!

So technically, we could store food, cook it, eat a meal, and wash the dishes.  The problem is that neither of us is really interested in moving into a 90% complete kitchen.  There are still cabinet adjustments to be made.  Shelves for the cabinets are still sitting in the dining room.  The dishwasher probably works but isn’t securely mounted under the counter.  We can’t leave anything on the counters, because inevitably a contractor or two will need to push it out of the way.  Plus there’s the issue of dust.  A good amount of it still gets kicked up during the work day, even though most of the sawing is done outside.  It’s just not worth the hassle of trying to use the kitchen as-is, even if home-cooked meals sound really good right now.

The ovens moved into place the other day:

Double oven in its cabinet

As far as I know, we still don’t have adequate electrical service to the house to run these.  Still nice that they aren’t blocking the path from the living room to the kitchen any more.

Some of the under-cabinet lighting is installed:

Fluorescent fixtures under cabinets

A few more small fixtures need to go in, and we definitely need to get warmer tubes.  This is way too white, especially with the stark-white walls (which of course will go away).

George was here today (Saturday!) trying to catch up on door and window trim along with baseboards, light rail, the dry bar, and other details.  I think he’s as anxious to finish the project as we are.  We are really close, and it looks awesome.  Dare I hope that next weekend we’ll be moving our stuff back in?

Uncategorized electrical, lighting, oven, stove, trim