November 13, 2009 Get Out of My House Now.

We agreed that today was the final day to allow these intruders to come into our home and make stinky noisy messes. We told everyone on Monday that this Friday was the last day to work on our kitchen. There was still a lot of painting left to do. There were still cabinets to fix, hardware to install; basically a lot of little finishing. Guess what? They didn't believe us. First the painter said that he needed to come back on Monday for "just a few more hours." No. We told him we would paint whatever he didn't finish today, that we were out of time and money and that he'd done a really nice job but we want our life back and to pack up all his ladders and gear and barrel of cigarette butts and leave us a final bill.

When the cabinet guy hadn't shown up by noon I called him to see where he was. He said he couldn't make it today, that he would have to come next week. I repeated the above speech, reminding him that this was the last day and that we would do whatever he couldn't finish today. I told him I really needed him to come today to shorten a drawer that was too long. He wanted to take it back to his shop to shorten it. He would bring it back next week. I repeated the part about today being the last day. He seemed fine with it but disappeared for a while. When he came back he had a small electric saw. He put the drawer down on the floor in the middle of the kitchen. The painter had just finished the baseboards and started throwing a fit as the cabinet guy proceeded to cut the drawer, sawdust flying everywhere. I was so over this. The only thing preventing me from splattering their blood all over my new kitchen was knowing that this was the last day.


Here's the empty, peaceful kitchen. It's not perfect. But they're all gone.





















Thanks for listening. xo, Lori

October 26 - 27, 2009 Stoned Love!

Chris, the tile god who did the beautiful floor tile so long ago, has arrived promptly at 9 on Monday morning. He put up his groovy gridded back board and assured us that we have enough tile to do everything including the back corner of the pantry, which wasn't part of the original plan.

Ultimate Cement Board! Because the house is so old and the walls are warped, he needed lots and lots of SHIMS!

Coming home from work today, I discovered.....

Stoned Love, to be sure! Our vision is starting to materialize. Finally!


And the super eye-opening surprise was that Capitalism went my way...I bribed someone at the stone company to rush our last CaesarStone corner. They claimed at the time that it wouldn't be fare because other people were waiting. (We waited an extra 2 months, but I didn't use that as a bargaining chip) Instead, I offered a little extra cash and they finished it by 10/27/09, not 11/06/09 as projected!!!!!
Evil wins out.

Hey, I'm still a member of the Green Party.



Coming later in the week....I hope....The plumber, the electrician, the dishwasher and the refrigerator! This is the bird's egg blue on the wall in the pantry behind where the fridge will go.


This will be the primary wall color. The secondary wall color is still TBD.

Stay tuned, kiddies!

October 20th, 2009 "Hail Ceasar!!" (quoth Ellen Bloom)

The CeasarStone has finally arrived! At 9am this fine day the truck pulled into the driveway and these two strapping men on the left had all the stone moved up the back stairs in a matter of minutes. They will spend the rest of the morning notching and fitting and joining everything together. So far no breaks, no drops, no chips. Fingers crossed!!


I was almost weeping when I took this picture. Oh joy!

This is Bob, the stone guy. He had to drive back to his shop (near LAX) because they forgot they had taken our sink.


I love it so much! The color is vibrant.

What a relief to finally have the counter tops here...


Whoops! The sink doesn't fit! What now?

This under the sink shot show the cabinets need to be cut away.

After a few hours of chiseling, Bob and Ricardo get a perfect fit!

Art surveys the work.

This is where my food will be stored.

09/08-09/12/09 Our Beautiful New Door (Vive La France)

Here's the new door with the French window closed.


That's Art outside the dog door. He really likes it!


Here's the new door with the French window open. Lovely!


Now it's time to install the hardware...




Gosh, the new hardware is so beautiful. Wait, the window does not close with the hardware in place.


Oops! (Note the little white line on the frame of the French window? This is where the contractor proposed we cut out the edge of the window. He claims it is the only solution. The door company agrees. They even claim that they always cut out the window frame around the door handle, they just forgot this time!) The contractor packs up the French window to be returned to the door company for cutting. (After Rick stops him from cutting it himself with a saws-all) The contractor leaves the new door on, unlocked and with no window


Rick and I pretty much go into a coma of fatigue-anger until the weekend when we get out our measuring tape and figure out that there is actually enough clearance for a standard sized hardware kit. We race to the hardware store to buy a temporary dead-bolt to hold us tight until we find a suitable kit. We race back and call the door company to tell them we want a refund for the hardware and that they won't be cutting an arc out of our French window. They agree.

Safety at affordable prices! And the French window is saved!! Vive La France!

September 4 and 5 Cabinet doors, moulding, pantry window, and the Big Surprise!

This new window replaces the sad old broken thing.

The cabinet doors are in. They match the originals! Oh joy.


The replicated moulding is finally here! We made extra for future projects. Ha ha ha. Maybe in the year 2525 we'll do another project.






Rick braved the Labor Day Weekend Friday traffic to drive out to Sun Valley and pick up our new door.

It wasn't finished when he got there. Hmmm. They said it was finished when he called. What could be the hold up? When he finally saw the door, he thought it a little strange that they hadn't put on the door handles. Stay tuned for the Big Surprise that was discovered on Monday.

August 31st Tinted Primer!

Jim is tinting the primer so the final color will be true. The first color we have chosen is for the backs of the cabinets. It's called "Nervy Hue."

August 21 She Comes In Colours

Rick and I have a reputation for struggling with color choices. Rick admits to putting off this part of the journey, dreading the conflict. Since the late afternoon light is so much warmer than midday, I have taken a half day off of work in order to start playing with different sample shades. Our beloved Koontz Hardware has little samplers of Benjamin Moore colors. I pick up a huge selection before coming home. I'm hoping to convince him that the stone, tiles, backsplash, and exposed Doug Fir are enough color for one room, that we should stick with neutral paint colors. I use a piece of chartreuse fabric to represent the huge amount of "Apple Martini" CaesarStone. (Imported)