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kitchen sketchup
During the last week or so, we have been updating our sketchup 3D model in order to study our ever evolving design ideas for the kitchen. While we had worked out the general cabinet layout and “what goes where” in autocad, we wanted to see how the materials and colors were coming together. As a result, we did a good deal of tweaking. We then went to IKEA to more closely examine colors, sizes, and door and drawer operation. Then, more sketchup tweaking. We’re pretty happy with where things are at, but will likely continue to adjust things here and there in the next couple of months. [click on images to enlarge.]
The bluish-gray base cabinets are IKEA Abstrakt as are the upper white horizontal cabinets (both have a high gloss finish similar to our bathroom vanity). The darker base cabinets provide some visual grounding and will show less dirt/food splatters/etc. White upper cabinets (and maybe countertops) will help the space feel light and bright. Since the kitchen will be part of a larger great room, we’d like to express the different components as a cohesive, built-in cabinet. To achieve this, we’ll build two infill boxes out of fir, one over the fridge and one to the left of the white cabinets and then wrap the entire composition in fir plywood.
The range shown above is the actual range we bought yesterday(!) and the refrigerator and dishwasher are what we currently own. For the range hood we’re thinking of going with a simple and clean model from vent-a-hood. We bought a sink on sale a few years ago, though we’re considering swapping it for a single, deep basin. We have yet to pick out a faucet, but will be looking for something that’s modern with a pull-out spray nozzle.
Here’s a view standing at the dishwasher looking back at the dining and living area. The island will be constructed of two drawer units and a shelf unit, with the opposite side and back wrapped in IKEA end panels. The shelf will hold the microwave and Bailey’s bowls (hence the cutouts). For the countertop, we’re thinking IKEA’s beech butcher block or lyptus. We really want the island to be a large, open work surface that can accommodate several people [attention future dinner guests, you will be put to work!].
We had originally planned on chocolate brown paperstone countertops, but with the darker base cabinets we’re now thinking of something lighter – maybe either ecotop or a quartz material. We’re also still mulling over the backsplash at the range. It could be an opportunity to introduce some color (mustard yellow?) without being committed to that color forever. A few ideas include back-painted spandrel glass or just a really high gloss paint.
This bird’s eye view shows the overall layout and the connection to the adjacent dining area. The back door and windows are part of the work we did this past fall so at least we can already check off one thing from the list!
We’re also assembling a collection of material samples and will share those once we decide on potential countertop materials. We feel like we’ve made some good progress and it’s exciting to see things come together. In addition to finalizing materials, there are still a few design decisions to be made including finalizing our lighting plan [and selecting the fixtures] and deciding if we want to add any skylights. Before demo can begin [March, we must make ourselves wait till March!], we need to do some work in the attic so insulation does not rain down upon us once the ceilings come down.
Oh, and we still need to finish the porch/mudroom. Blerg.
progress report
I don’t know what happened. Maybe it was daylight savings time, or the rain, or the fact that we’ve spent the last EIGHT months immersed in the exterior project…but we have lost almost all motivation to finish the inside of the front porch. We had set a reasonable goal of completing it by Thanksgiving, but now even that seems unlikely. Even though it’s a small space, we still have to go through all of the same steps, which means a lot of stop.go.stop.go with all the various dry times for spackle, caulk, primer and paint. And there is a lot of trim work to do…which is fussy and not that rewarding. There’s also no looming deadline hanging over our heads. [This time last year, we were frantically trying to finish the bathroom and complete 3 (of 9) architect registration exams before Christmas.]
So we’ll see how it goes. In the meantime, let’s see exactly where we’re at in this whole remodel thing.
In the design section we show “before” and “after” floor plans but the reality is, we’re currently somewhere in between the two. So we put together a hybrid set of plans to give an idea of how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go. [click on images to enlarge.]
The first major interior alterations started in 2008. By the end of that year, we had a new bathroom and bedroom. 2009 has been focused mostly on the exterior, though we will [soon] be finishing our mudroom/entry space. We also have a few spaces “in transition”. When the bathroom was moved over, we used part of the old bathroom as a mudroom – or, to be fancy, we also called it the “bathroom ante room” (since you had to go through it to get to the new bathroom). This summer we closed in the back porch and relocated the back door. The old back porch and old bathroom-turned-mudroom now serves as one big mudroom/storage space.
In 2008, we also gutted our basement and created a “short basement” where our crawl space used to be. We also replaced our old tank water heater with a tankless version that is mounted on the outside of the house. The gigantic furnace that used to sit in the middle of the basement was replaced with a new high efficiency gas furnace that fits perfectly in the short basement. Initially, we thought that our small basement would just be for storage, laundry and mechanical equipment, but with a little creative thinking we now we have a virtual clean slate to work with!
So, everything except the bedroom, bathroom and front porch will be next year’s project. Daunting? Not really. I think we’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons during our previous projects and have also been able to plan ahead. For instance, when the furnace was installed they stubbed out for the new gas range and the duct work and registers were located with the remodel in mind. When we re-did the plumbing we made sure that the new kitchen lines would easily tie in to the existing system and all the windows have been replaced. There will also be a demo party. Oh yes. So hopefully, this time next year we can post a current plan that looks something close to the “future” plan (we probably won’t get to the basement till 2011). Of course, we don’t currently own about half the furniture shown in that plan (we’ve been coveting Eames plywood chairs for the living room), so we may be embracing a very minimalist look for awhile.
Besides finishing the porch (we will, we will!), we’ll be spending the next several months finalizing the details and construction schedule for the next big project. Stay tuned for deep thoughts on kitchen cabinets, flooring options, and lots of sliding doors.
a little here, a little there
If it seems like we didn’t get as much done this weekend it may be because, between the two of us, we went to Home Depot four times, Lowes twice, a trip to the Environmental Home Center, and a jaunt over to Issaquah for a Craigslist find (a used staple gun to install the shingles).
So here’s what we did accomplish – Kyle focused on putting up the rest of the building paper, installing the basement door, painting the slats at the stoop, spray painting the various mechanical/electrical accoutrements, and installing new hose bibs. I focused on insulating and installing a vapor barrier in the old back porch and new mudroom in addition to masking and priming the trim at the new back door and window. Most importantly though, we finally removed the.last.of.the.TEAL!! 1965…it was nice knowing you.
This week we finish installing the base trim followed by the routine spackle, sand, caulk, prime and paint. This weekend, weather permitting, it’s shingle time!
The makeshift painting center. I might be on a first name basis with the employees at Seattle Paint Supply.
Bailey investigates the view from the new “future kitchen” window.
For the furnace exhaust, sub-panel junction box and gas meter (on the other side of the house), we picked a color that would most closely match the cedar shingles. Spray paint, what a concept!
The LAST PIECE OF TEAL…the old basement door.
New basement door…we’ll probably end up painting it the blue gray color.
Thanks to another sunny weekend, we were able to paint the slats at the stoop. Kyle used a small roller to apply the paint and then back brushed them so the texture would match the rest of the house.
Our insulation strategy has been piecemeal, adding insulation as we redo each room. We’ve been using recycled denim insulation which we LOVE. Not only is it produced from reclaimed denim from the factory floor, but it doesn’t pose the health concerns fiberglass insulation does. Especially important in old houses where framing is likely not a solid 16″ OR 24″ on center, cotton insulation is much easier to cut and handle. That is, of course, if you have this handy insulation saw! We picked it up at Ecohaus (a.k.a. Environmental Home Center) when we bought the insulation. Though a bit intimidating, it works much better than a utility knife or scissors.
A cozy new blanket for our old porch. We’ll add 6 mil vapor barrier and then leave it as is till next spring when it will become part of the new kitchen!
a new view
So much for priming and painting last weekend. The rain and drizzle were almost constant, but between short bouts of blue skies we were able to get 3 windows primed and painted. Fortunately, rain does not prohibit other activites…like demo and framing!
Even though the kitchen won’t be moving into the back porch till at least next year, we decided to go ahead and do the exterior wall part to save ourselves from having to paint now and then redo later.
The new wall to the right is where the old aluminum screen door used to be.
The siding needed to be cut back at random intervals so the new siding could be slipped in without looking obvious after it’s all painted and done.
New back door (old porch steps relocated), new integrated attic hatch above.
Old electrical “panel” on the right…the two holes to the left were boarded over but originally were screened as part of a natural ventilation food storage system (kitchen is on the other side).
In order to install the future kitchen window, we needed to demo the wall between the porch and the old bathroom/current bathroom ante room.
Framed rough opening for the new (future) kitchen window! I am standing approximately where the future kitchen sink will be.
Since the current kitchen window will eventually be eliminated, we decided to go ahead toss it and frame in the opening. We will probably put in a new window in the future dining area, but this will be located partially behind the existing kitchen cabinets to the right and we didn’t want to rip those out yet.
We found this old electrical permit in the “panel” on the back porch. It’s a permit for an electrical install from 1925!
The old porch and kitchen window are enclosed and ready to be re-sided!
The old back porch will, for the time being, become part of the pseudo mudroom/bathroom ante room. We might remove the old bathroom door and old back door to get a little more light into our now dark kitchen.
Rain or shine, we have to get this project done! New siding will be patched in next and then the last of the paint shaving, prepping, etc.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be warm and sunny which means we have to get some serious priming and painting done!
Well, here we are.
Welcome to the new and improved chezerbey! In an effort to simplify and better organize our blog content, we decided to move over to wordpress and buy our own domain. We are still working out the kinks and figuring out how best to arrange information and photos. If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know!
In chezerbey news, we are feverishly working away on the outside, trying to finish before the “rainy season” is upon us. This weekend we will continue to spackle, sand, and prime. We will also be installing the new back door and roughing in for the new kitchen window.
Perseverance.
