Bonus Post: Pantry + Cookbooks
The pantry brother Tom built with the first two shelves now filled with cookbooks. I am sooooooooo glad I had Tom build this for Casa de Lawlor (West Sacramento Division)
motto: dare to be dull
We're done here
All the interior painting has been completed and so all that remains is to go room-by-room and put everything back where it belongs and re-hang all the framed paintings, posters and family photos. True, I still need to lock down a choice for the roman shade for the window over the kitchen sink, but I'll get to that soon enough. For now, here's a quick, final photo recap from the beginning to the end, from dream to reality, from a fat check book account to Chapter 13! (Just kidding, folks.)
Thanks for coming along for the ride!
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Pantry perfection
As promised, here it is -- the custom pantry brother Tom designed, built and installed in the wall, behind the book shelf in the first floor social area. Because the new pantry is in a confined area, it is hard to photo without the distortion (or a different lens), but for family and friends who have visited Casa de Lawlor, West Sacramento, it is in that small corridor where the door to the garage is located, and opposite the powder room adjacent to the kitchen. The first pantry photo shows it before the door knobs were added. It is a beautiful thing, but then pretty much everything Tom builds comes out that way. For perspective, in addition to the two shots of the pantry I have also posted two shots of the rebuilt book nook on the other side of the wall, where you can see the back of the pantry and how it relates to where the book nook was reinstalled.
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Tommy's in the house (OK, the garage)
We're at the end game, people. Brother Tom arrived this last week to do the final woodwork touches. Remember the hole with a view from the early stages of this project? Tom has rebuilt the book shelf box he installed a few years ago, to shorten its depth and accommodate the new kitchen pantry on the opposite side of the wall. And then he installed his newly designed, extraordinarily beautiful kitchen pantry.
I'll post those photos within the next day or so. For today, here are six shots of Tommy's tools and workshop setup in my garage.
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The Wonderful World of Color
What a difference a few fresh coats of paint make.The first photo was taken on the first floor and shows the walls painted with Benjamin Moore 514 "Flowering Herbs." You can see that color against the large cermic tile trim around the edge of the black fireplace; and against the white stair balusters and molding and the white front door and white shutter windows, further back. To the left of the "Amazing Spiderman" comic book (featuring my BFF Barack Obama), you can see part of the indented accent above the fireplace, painted with Benjamin Moore 515 "Baby Turtle." The second photo was taken up the stairs from the half-landing, with a view of the very late afternoon Western light filtering through the landing windows on the second floor, The walls interior to the landing are also painted with the "Flowering Herbs" color, which looks much darker here because of the higher contrast. All the first floor painting is done. Next? The three bedrooms and two baths upstairs will be done next. And brother Tom called a few days ago to report that he has finished the custom pantry for the kitchen area, and should be up in the next few weeks to do the install.
Bonus: Click on the first photo to enlarge it and take a closer look to see the totally non-bogus "Barack Obama Dashboard Doll." The dude rides giants, I'm telling ya!
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Home, home on the range
Yesterday the Kenmore slide-in gas range was swapped out for its replacement: a much nicer, better designed and way superior GE Profile series gas slide-in. Hooked up and ready to go! Love the cast iron grates. And better complements the GE microwave right above it. Kenmore and GE gas ranges dominate the Consumer Reports ratings, but based on this experience I would recommend going with GE; pricier but better, all around. Next up: The painter comes Wednesday morning to begin the color transformation.
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Color Me Mine 2: Holy Sheen!
The Benjamin Moore colors listed in Color Me Mine are still on the mark but the sheen finishes are not. Actually using a low-sheen eggshell finish for most rooms and a next-step-up sheen satin finish for bath/toilet areas only. The revised list:
- kitchen / living room / office / upstairs landing walls = 514 - Flowering Herbs (eggshell sheen)
- office desk wall / inset above fireplace / stairway landing accent wall = 515 - Baby Turtle (eggshell sheen)
- downstairs powder room = 1102 - Boardwalk (satin sheen)
- master bedroom = 1585 - Wales Gray (eggshell sheen)
- master bath = 1060 - Blanched Almond (satin sheen)
- master toilet room = 1586 - Silver Mink (satin sheen)
- media room = 1102 - Boardwalk (eggshell sheen)
- guest room = 1101 - Fennel Seed (eggshell sheen)
- upstairs hall bath = 515 - Baby Turtle (satin sheen)
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Color Me Mine
Where we're going with the color palate... [Some of the sheens shown here are incorrect: See the revised list.]
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Now that the grout is dry...
... you get a better idea of how the natural stone backsplash actually looks. (In the earlier shots the grout still had that darker wet look to it.) The second shot shows how a matching piece of the counter top slab was cut to create a real window sill. Oooooohhh, that homey touch. Next, the slide-in range is being swapped out for a different make and model. The Kenmore first installed turned out to have some quality-control, defect issues, so it is being exchanged next week for a GE Profile model.
Two major steps remain: (1) In about two weeks, the painter comes in to redo the entire interior of the house; and (2) brother Tom arrives to do the pantry / bookshelf install in that big hole in the wall and some wood trim fixes for parts of the cabinets so that the edges better conform to the widths of the new dishwasher and microwave.
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Getting Stoned: Once more, with feeling
The grout has been applied, and you can see the new electric outlets and wall plates and the LED under-counter lighting. Plumbing, gas and electric are all now back on, so the appliances are good to go. The second shot is a close-up of the three-box inset, modified to make it more symmetrical, with two rows of half-inch stones on the top as a border, to match the two rows of half-inchers on the bottom. More balanced.
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