Saturday, February 03, 2007
Progress Updates
I'm taking a sick day today. I seem to have caught the cold the kids had (inevitable, I suppose...). Mr. Chick took both kids with him today, leaving me the house to myself to rest uninterrupted. I thought I'd use some of this precious time to update you all on the silly, inconsequential projects I've been working on for the past few weeks. Sorry for the lameness of this post but I'm just not up for much else.First, I finished knitting the cute star sweater for my friend's daughter for her 1st birthday. I gave it to her this past week and it was a hit. It turned out adorable, minus one little "bobble" along the seam. I'm still a knitting novice so imperfections are part of every project. But other than that, it came out looking pretty close to the pattern, which is impressiv
e. I was very proud to give this gift, and I know my friend really appreciated it. Now I'm in the middle of knitting a sweater for Lauren that is done entirely on circular needles and has that Norwegian yoke-type styling at the neck/chest with a contrasting pattern. The star sweater was my attempt at intarsia, this sweater for Lauren will be more Fair Isle with the two-color pattern on the yoke. So far, it's turning out quite well and I'm excited to start the yoke and try my hand with knitting with two colors at the same time.
Second, I think I mentioned I finished painting the kitchen and back hallway. We went with a rich sage green color. I finally took some pictures so you could see how it turned out. This is how the kitchen looked when we moved in. Yellow walls. I actually didn't mind the yellow paint. The floor, however, bugged. And with the new tile floor came new wall color.
The kitchen looks much different now.
The first picture shows the paint with the cabinets. I'm kind of over the whole oak cabinet look - very 80's to me - but Mr. Chick won't let me paint them. Evenutally we'll put some knobs/pul
ls on the cabinet doors and drawers and attempt to update them a bit that way. And lighting - we desperating need new lighting (the crappy ceiling fan you see in the picture above that is over the island? It broke. No light. And since I hated it before it broke I'm in no hurry to fix it. I want to replace it instead. I'm seeing a pendant fixture that splits into two lights, sort of like what you'd see over a pool table, but cooler, and with less of a pool hall look.) But now that the kitchen is green I don't mind the cabinets as much as I originally did when the walls were yellow. I think the yellow blended in too much with the golden oak tones. Or something. And oh yeah, we reversed the front of the dishwasher to have the black panel instead of the almond. Did you know that most dishwashers (except stainless steel) have this reversible panel? You might notice a thin strip of yellow paint still showing along the edge of the counter. This is because Mr. Chick added a line of clear silicone sealer along that edge and when I went to paint the green it wouldn't adhere to the silicone. We'll have to cut away the sealant, paint the edge green, then re-caulk. What a hassle. Also? We don't have the molding up at the edge of the floor yet. Baby steps.
The next picture shows the vaulted part of the kitchen above the sink - over the garden window. I include this just to give you some appreciation of what a gigantic pain in my ass it was to get up that high and cut in along that wood. There are beams I had to cut in all around, scaling ladders and being on my tippy toes on my countertops and stools to do it. Twice (it took two coats of paint to cover the yellow, which tends to bleed through).
And finally, a shot
of the back hallway. No tile floor there yet, just the cement backer board underlayment stuff. But damnit if that wall isn't painted and mirror re-hung! That mirror, by the way, used to be my Gramma's and even though it's very plain and simple, I love that it's round and that it was hers. Someday I want to get it framed to jazz it up. The paint will also go up the stairs (which lead to the master bedroom) that you can just see at the edge of the photo. I haven't tackled that part yet. Or the wall opposite the one with the mirror, which has only one coat of paint on it still. I just LOVE living in a constant construction zone!So we're making progress around here. Slowly but surely we're getting it done. After this I can maybe start thinking about the kids bathroom and how the lighting and vanity need addressing. Plus paint. Or maybe how the two chairs in the living room need slipcovering in order to move my living room one step closer to how I ultimately envision it. Or perhaps I could tackle curtains. We need curtains in both the living room and family room. Our neighbors have probably gotten sick of seeing so much of us. So yeah, there is still a lot of stuff still to do.
But for now I'm pleased with the progress we have made. And we're doing it with our own two hands, so that is very satisfying. And exhausting. Let's not forget exhausting. I'm off to knit a bit more while the family is still out. That's a good sick day project. The paint can wait.
// posted by MP @ 11:52 AM 
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Looks great! The kitchen looks much more current with the green paint. I'm envious of your HUGE kitchen!
I have the same candle thingies in my bedroom!
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I have the same candle thingies in my bedroom!
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