Before and after photos of the kitchen

A couple of before photos first:

Here is the after photos, can you see a difference!!!

It feels a lot more modern and of course lighter.  It was a lot of work but well worth it I think.

Love this song:
 

Some random photos.....

I was sitting by the fire in the living room looking at the Christmas tree and thought the room looked nice so took a photo.

Just before dh started caulking the tiles, thought they looked good.  Will show more kitchen photos in the next day or two, as it is 95% finished now.

 Miss Nora's head is growing and this little hat finally fits.  No idea who she looks like in that photo, she changes every time I see a photo of her.

 

One of my all time favourite Christmas Songs:

Thanks for your opinions yesterday.......

I will catch you up with what I changed out etc., in a day or two's time.  Got a busy couple of days ahead of me painting the stair treads and painting the kitchen.

We got the tiling finished in the kitchen, only have to put the silicone around the edges now.  Got the Christmas tree up, but not decorated.  Have decided to down size the Christmas tree if we move as it is so bloody heavy that tree, even when it is splint in three each piece is heavy.

Did want to ask you all something else.  Is anyone still on allergy pills this time of year and do they know why they need them?

I went off my allergy pills the middle of last month. as I ran out and as the weather had turned cold and we had snow figured I was fine.  Three weeks later my poor nose is itching again and is full.  Under my eyes are sore, as though I have a minor sinus thing going on.  My ears are filling up and I feel as though I have allergies again?  I have no idea what too though?

Is anyone on allergy pills year round?  I am on blood pressure pills so I cannot take any sinus medication.  I really don't have the time to go back to the doctors, but don't want to go back on allergy pills again if I don't have too.

One of my step-father's favourite artists, Doris Day:


Also stumbled upon this video, what a beautiful voice this girl has:

Photos need opinions.....

First the before photo of our bedside lamp (dh has the matching one on his side)

 

 This is the after photo, I like it and it's big enough, although the stager  said to put a couple of hardback books underneath them to make them higher?

 The girly things I picked up for the spare bedroom.  The stager want's a white flower in the vase.  I am not a fan of the vase so may take it back.  The white thing is a jewelry holder and I think I would be able to use that in our next home and the little Scottie dog is cute.  The stager liked all items.

 The mirror in the bathroom I think needs to be bigger and dh says another colour.  What do you think?  The white things on the corners are the packing as I haven't removed any of the packing so I can take it back if I want to.

Got the back splash in the kitchen tiled yesterday, today is grouting day which neither me nor dh like, but the sooner it is done the sooner it is over with!!

I had a fight with the step ladder.....

and the step ladder won.....

I landed on my tail bone and at the moment feel as though I have a bowling ball of a lump there {SIGH}  I am now very proficient in the "hobble dance."

Luckily I didn't have a can of paint with me; I was pulling off the masking tape.  As for the colour of the kitchen walls; dh hates the colour and said we I will be re-painting them if we don't sell the house {{SIGH}}

Onwards and upwards as they say!

Oh and heard this song today and thought it was good:

Busy again with this.......

Painting the kitchen.

 I painted it Fossil MSL227, from the Martha Stewart Living colours.  It is more green though than brown and looked a bit grey in certain light on the walls.  I am also going to paint the mud room the same colour.

I know I owe you all after photos of the family room,  I will get to those later in the week.

This cold is hanging around like a bad smell!

All that is really wrong with me now is a small cold, ears which are full and feeling awful tired and fuzzy headed.  Anyhow, rather than going to bed and napping; as all that does is make me not sleep at night, I am keeping busy.

Called the kitchen cabinet guys and they are going to pick up the uppers and the pantry this coming Monday, so I decided the take everything out of the cabinets in preparation for dh to remove them.

This is the kitchen table before I started:

This is the kitchen table after I emptied all the cabinets.

The one good thing with all of this is I got to see what was in my cupboards and have a bit of a clear out.  However one of these days I would love to have a clear kitchen table!  Do you have somewhere in your house that is your dumping ground?

The weather turned out to be nice with a warm wind blowing on Wednesday, so I ended up cutting some grass/running over leaves.  Made sure I had my flaps down hat on to cover up my ears, but it was a gorgeous day to be outside.

I am having a running around day today (Thursday) so looking forward to having a day out of the house.

Look what arrived on Thursday:

That is three bush cords of wood, that was cut last winter by Hwy 11 by Webers Burgers, not that you are interested in that unless you live in the area or go to cottage country a lot?  We got them for the same people we always get them from and they were $290 a bush cord.  By the way never stopped and had a burgers there.

Now that we have the island back I could clear off the kitchen table.  Before:

After, gosh that's a lot tidier.

This week's "Home of the Week," is okay and for $700,000 a bargain thinking of prior weeks when they have been in the millions.  I think it is staged wrong though as it's confusing.  I am not sure if its a modern home wanting to look older or an older home with modern touches?  The kitchen although bright is much too white for me.  I mean who on earth will keep that clean?  I actually liked what they did in the basement and that felt more warmer and homely than upstairs felt.  As always I'll pass!

This week's "Cottage of the Week," is a stunner but with a $1.45 million price tag is unreachable for most people.  The views though as just stunning.  You don't even have to leave the living room to appreciate the views.  I would love it if I could afford it..........

The "Condo of the Week," although very nice it's still $900,000.  It has smashing views, but was that the Gardiner Expressway I view from one shot?  One of the comments does mention a lot of traffic and construction in that area.  I'll pass on the purple mirror in the powder room.  Granted it makes a statement, but it does seem out of place in the unit.  I'll pass on this condo, but have seen a lot worse than this one.

Posted another book review here.

Where did July go too, plus kitchen photos.

I know I am not the only one asking that.  One minute it was the beginning of July, next minute it's August.  This month is an exciting month in that we will be finished our mortgage by the end of the month.  Actually we only have four Friday's to pay, so in theory should be all done on August 23rd.  However there are discharge fees etc in the amount of $325 to be paid, no idea when that is due, but by the end of the month we will be done.  Bought our first house back in 1982, so have been stuck with a mortgage since then.  Six and a bit years in Britain and twenty four and a bit years in Canada.  

We have had some nice cool weather these past few days which has meant no a/c on.  Just paid June 14th to July 16th hydro/electricity bill and that was $174.72.  This next month's bill will be similar no doubt and totally expected for this time of the year.  However if this cooler weather continues we may get a cheaper bill.

In the middle of winter I always get a craving for salad.  So of course I have been craving soup this week.  Had a ham bone in the freezer, so made ham, bean and veggie soup the other day.  It's so good.

The centre island came back from the shop and it's all lovely and painted now.  What a huge difference. 

They even changed up the castors for me and they are safer and a lot nicer. The island has also been lowered and is now a similar height to the rest of the cabinets.

If you click on this link you will see a before photo of the island.

A little more about the kitchen......

When we were out and about on the weekend we called into Lowes and picked up one of the light fixtures to try out in the kitchen.  These are the ones I want and they were even featured in the "This Old House" magazine July 2013 issue on page 38.

Now we cannot put up a back splash until we have had the upper cabinets redone and that won't be happening until September.  I have been on the lookout for tiles though.  I love the look of Subway tiles, like we did in the laundry room here:

Dh isn't keen on having them in the kitchen.  So I found these mosaic tiles.  I am not 100% convinced, but do like them.  Just a little worried they may be a little dark.  They work out to under $6 a sheet, one foot square, so they are a good price.  The glass mosaic tiles which are all the range would look much too modern in our kitchen.

We are having the kitchen island picked up this week to get painted so will show you that when it comes back.

Photos of the kitchen.........

The first stage of the kitchen reno is coming to an end.  There are still jobs to be done.  The kick plate on the bottom of the cabinets is to install.  The stove plug is to rewire but dh has done most of that job already.  The kitchen cupboard to the right of the stove (not in photo) needs installing but that should be a doddle compared to the other units.  Need to put in a new window ledge as the other one was partly rotten.

You can see in this photo the difference in the colour and how it brightens it all up just by painting the cupboards.

A close up of the new hardware.  They also installed the soft closing door hardware as well, which is nice.

The new counter top is laminate that looks like granite.

I can finally see the top of our kitchen table.  What's left on there is to go into the last cupboard on the right hand side of the stove.

We hope to get the upper cabinets taken down and refinished in August/September.  Then the island and pantry cupboard in October and then I want a piece custom made for another area in November.

We then have to decorate and put up the back splash.  I have seen some new light fixtures that will look really neat.  They are $118 each and I need three of those, here is a link to them.  So far this kitchen reno has probably cost around $2,500. 

Of that $2,500 we paid $800 for the counter tops.  $900 for the cabinets to be refinished; that included totally rebuilding the sink unit, and all the new hardware.  Close to $250 for the sink and taps.  $200 or so for all the plumbing bits, as dh has had to put in total new plumbing both in the kitchen and in the basement for the sink.  At least $300 for the drywall, wood and insulation and other things related to rebuilding the walls and the work in the basement.  As dh had the cable for the electrics we only had to buy a few plugs and fittings, but probably another $50+ at least.  

I anticipate between another $3,000 to $4,000 to complete it all and the way things are going it'll be closer to the $4,000 than the $3,000 I bet.  And for those of you who are just joining me on this delightful kitchen reno adventure, we hadn't budgeted for any of this.  All I wanted was new counter tops, sink and taps, which we had budgeted for!!!

Monday morning............

Had a busy weekend.  Dh was off all of the weekend which made a change.  He spent nearly all of it in the kitchen and he managed to get three bottom units installed, the counter top installed and the sink fitted.  I hope to have running water next weekend.  By the time dh gets in from work he is so stressed and tired, from the politics at work, he's fit for nothing.

One of the reasons it took so long to get just that done was that nothing was square or level.  However I am super pleased with how it looks so far and when he gets it all together I will take a photo.  I will say it's more luck than management that what I chose as finishes with everything matches ever so well!!!

With the weather being iffy (raining) on and off all weekend, nothing got done in the garden.  So I turned to sewing.  I have seventeen blocks all cut out ready for the final stitching .  Before I get to that point though there are a number of steps that have to be done.  All the mini squares have to be cut out.  Eight beige squares have to be sewn to eight patterned squares in two colours.  They have to be cut in half and pressed.  Then they all have to be trimmed and squared to make perfect 2 3/4 inch squares.  All that takes time; a lot of it.  I am planning on going to Bound To Quilt on Thursday where they have a come and sew session for $5 for the day.  That way I will be more likely to sit and sew for an extended period of time.

At the bottom of the main page you will see an icon that shows you how many Swagbucks I have.  Normally I have a lot, but I have cashed in for $50 worth of Amazon e-cards this month, so have depleted my total.  Normally I cash in just $25 worth, as that is normally all the Swagbucks I have, but I have been saving mine up.  If I remember rightly I think this will bring me to around $225 worth of Amazon e-cards since last December.  If you are already on the computer, why not earn some free Amazon e-cards at the same time?  If you do decide to sign up, I really would appreciate it if you could sign up under my link: http://swagbucks.com/refer/Appleby

If you already do Swagbucks write a comment and let other folk know how you find it, as it is a great way to earn free things.

Enjoy your Monday.