…partially because my studio is at one end of the room
Over the holidays my room has presents and wrapping paper all over the bed and floor and bills are stacked high waiting to be filed. Luckily I pay them as soon as I get them. My art table is cluttered with papers and art materials, waiting to be organized so that I can start painting again. Right now most of my art is done in my journal while I’m sitting at the dining room table or watching TV on the couch.
After the renovations I gave the basement and the main floor a good cleaning to remove the dust. I felt it was affecting our health and prolonged our colds. I did eventually get to vacuuming the bedroom floors and that at least made me feel better, psychologically and emotionally. Today I started to tackle the clutter. I put all my yarns back into bins, sorted through dozens of magazines and put the ones I wanted to keep in a box and recycled the rest. I cleaned off my desk and my art table and sewing table art much better but there’s still more work to do.
Here are the before photos. Someday I may show you the after photos but not today (still too much to do).
I’m still putting away supplies, dishes and accessories from our old kitchen but much of it was given away, donated to a thrift shop or thrown away. We have a second kitchen in the basement and some of the supplies that we don’t use every day will stay down there until we need them.
On Sunday I had an itch to cook and bake. As many of you know, my husband does most of the cooking in this house. He gets so much pleasure working in the kitchen and now in his new space his pleasure has doubled.
I love making soup and made a large pot of chicken vegetable soup. While the soup simmered I made a batch of lemon cranberry muffins. When I was gathering up supplies for the kitchen I came across a recipe that my sister, Chris, typed up for me awhile ago.
Both recipes were delicious and we enjoyed them for the next three days and there is still enough soup left over for another meal.
The city has decided to repair the sea wall at the edge of the park where I often start my walks. As a result a huge section has been fenced off and the dump trucks have started driving up and down our street delivering clean land fill and removing some of the old stuff.
The project could take up to a year to complete. The park over on Third Street is still partially fenced and that project is still ongoing after almost two years. The other park that I love to walk through, Col. Sam Smith Park has a similar project on the water’s edge and could take three years to complete.
The holidays and the weeks leading up to Christmas were very busy and then I was down with a cold that really had me flat on my back or curled up on the couch for days.
As you know our kitchen renovation started in earnest at the beginning of November and it was mostly finished in time for Christmas dinner. Leading up to that day, it seemed like we would never have our house to ourselves again. Even before demolition started we spent days clearing out the cupboards, boxing up items for the new kitchen, items that were to be given away and items that were to be tossed. Most of the boxes ended up in the basement but a few were in the living room.
Demolition started the first weekend in November. All the old cupboards, counters and some of the old appliances were removed and sent to the transfer station for disposal. A few days later the flooring company sent a crew and the old floors were removed, new plywood laid now and sanded and then the new floor went in. As we sat in the finished part of the basement, sawdust rained down on us through the ceiling. Three days later the floors were 95% done. Only the new air ducts that matched the floor had to be made and installed.
Later in the week the painter came by and prepped the walls and ceilings and three days later we had a fresh coat of paint on newly plastered ceilings and the walls at the back of the house. Now the electricians came by and started ripping out holes in the basement ceilings to snake new wiring to the kitchen. More dust and sawdust in the basement. This was the biggest part of the job for these guys and it took them a full day. Since then our main guy has made numerous trips to work on some of the smaller details, especially after the cabinets were installed.
The last week in November the kitchen cabinets were delivered and two days later the installers arrived. It took two full days to put the cabinets in place. Now the counter guys had to come by and take final measurements for the granite countertops. There was a bit of a delay because the counters that we had ordered were held up on the west coast because of a ferry strike. Instead of waiting indefinitely we decided to choose a different countertop that was in stock. In the meantime I had to go out and pick up a new sink that would fit in the new space.
Once the counters were in place we were ready for the new appliances and lo and behold the oven was out of stock, even though we had paid for it back in August. After a bit of a fight over the phone and online we finally decided on a different model that still looked like the one we ordered but it was cheaper because it had one less feature. Chances are we wouldn’t have used it very often if at all.
One last thing that we needed was a new light fixture to go over our dining table. My daughter and I took a trip to a lighting store close to where she lived and we found the perfect light. Now it needed to be installed but when the electrician came back I needed him to hook up the oven and get some of the outlets above the counter to work. When that was done we were able to cook in the kitchen. He still needs to come back to install the task lighting but I knew that I could wait for that. In the meantime my husband tried to install the light himself but we needed our neighbour to help with that.
Now you might think that I’m in the clear but after seeing how nice the floor was right up to the front door I didn’t want to re-install the old railing above the basement stairs. I looked into redoing the stairs and railings using the same company that did the floors but the price was way above our budget. When I couldn’t get them to bring down the price enough I went back to my handyman, friend and neighbour to price out the cost if he did it. Together we went to the lumber store and found flooring treads and railings that matched the new floor perfectly and the best part was that it was all on clearance. Rod worked right up till December 23 to get it all done and the final cost was still less than half of what the flooring company wanted.
When our family from London, England finally arrived were able to host our Christmas dinner in the new (almost finished kitchen). As of today we still haven’t put any photos or artwork back up on the walls. Kevin wants to make sure we have a plan that works for both of us.
Three days later, when the stress of the kitchen was over and our son left with his family to join his wife’s sisters in an Airbnb downtown (a family reunion…everyone flew to Toronto) I could feel that Kevin’s cold had caught up to me. I hung in there to celebrate Brendan’s birthday on the 30th but on January 1st I was down for the count.
When the cabinets were dropped off the truck left and we were left with a kitchen full of boxes. The installers were scheduled to start the next day. Unfortunately they were delayed at another job. The new date for installation was Thursday afternoon or Friday.
When the installers hadn’t arrived by 3:00 on Thursday we assumed that they weren’t coming. We were, however, mistaken because at 4:00 they came and worked for 4 hours. They returned the next day to complete the installation.
The next step was to add the countertops. Unfortunately the granite that we selected was sitting in British Columbia and was held up because of the ferry strike. We scrambled to choose another design and luckily they had a very similar piece in stock in the city. The good news was that it was cheaper and we saved almost $1000.00.
The installer came on December 4th to take measurements and two days later the countertops arrived and they finished the job in one day.
Today the appliances arrived and the electrician is back finalizing all the electrical connections.
…it started June 29th with an email to Bax Kitchens
I was somewhat surprised that the first email took place over five months ago. The planning for this new kitchen really started in earnest in August. I decided to contract all the jobs that needed to be done by myself with the help of my husband. This included an electrician, painter, a new floor, appliances, demolition and of course the new cabinets and countertops.
Originally we only wanted a new island but the job kept growing. The first thing we did was buy some new appliances….a refrigerator (counter depth), and a wall oven and microwave. We also needed a new dryer because ours decide to give up the ghost at the same time. The dryer was delivered right away and the rest were put on hold until we needed them.
The kitchen designer visited the house and we made two trips to the showroom. When all the plans were finalized and we were given a rough estimation as to when the cabinets would be ready, we started to organize our workers. The first job was demolition. We hired a couple of young guys who had done some work for me at the cottage.
After Hallowe’en they came over with their truck and trailer and started pulling out the old cabinets, counters and appliances. My neighbour purchased my 5 year old fridge. The wall oven and microwave went to the dump. All the cabinets were loaded into the trailer and the boys drove them directly to the waste station. After six hours and two truck loads of construction waste, the demolition was complete.
Emptying the cupboardsDemolition Day
November 4 – 5 – Flooring
The next job was ripping up the old flooring and putting down the new. We decided to have the same flooring from the front door all the way to the kitchen at the back of the house. The first day was ripping up the old flooring and nailing down new plywood. The second day the crew from Aspen Flooring put down the new floor.
Special floor vents installed Nov. 15
Painting– November 18 – 20
Once the dust settled it was time to paint the Kitchen/Dining area and hallway. Cathy from 2Girls and a Brush did a great job. The first day was mostly repair work on the ceiling and holes and cracks on the walls. On day two coats of paint had been applied to the wall and on Day 3 all the trim and windows were painted.
November 26 – Big Day….the new cabinets have arrived
For years I’ve wanted to put down a nice light coloured vinyl floor in the cottage. When the flooring went on sale I quickly snatched it up and started to put it down by myself a couple of weeks ago. I bought a very small amount to see how easily it would come together and decided that with a little bit of help it was a doable project. So, last week after coming back from the cottage I returned to the store and bought 10 more boxes.
After two solid days of work we managed to lay down all the flooring we had. It was hard work but very rewarding. I’m still recuperating two days later.
Our daughter who lives out east calls these Storm Chips…perfect snack on a rainy day
The other good thing that happened this weekend is that we purged a lot of items that were on an old handmade open cupboard that was meant to be temporary (kept it for over 30 years) and we cleaned out the old storage bins under the counters. We made room in the antique oak cupboard and filled it with some of the dishes from the old cupboard. The remaining items went into the new storage boxes for now. We took the old shelf outside. It looks so much better.
Walking through the old neighbourhood close to St. Joe’s Hospital I couldn’t help but notice how many of the old homes had new window put in as well as undergoing some major renovations. Some of the windows were clearly new but had kept the charm of the older house. Others were a complete departure from the older architecture.
One of the things that I needed to do was finish putting together my set of drawers for all my art papers and art pads, palettes, plexiglass pieces, paper trimmers, assorted papers and magazines for collage and the 101 bits and pieces of stuff that I have collected over the years for my art. So one of my art days was taken up with assembling the drawers and organizing my materials.
Once that was done I was able to sit down and paint another pattern from Lisa Congdon’s class over at Creative Bug. This one is a pattern of beets. On the weekend I finally purchased a set of gouache paints. They’re a little more opaque than watercolours. These patterns aren’t as easy as Lisa makes them look. I definitely need more practice.
Mama Cormier 