Kitchen Reno 2013: Days 2 & 3

Not a whole lot happened on Day 2, that is visible from the pictures. Yet it took them almost all day...

Electricians (Rob, and assistant Diego) were here most of the day, placing power receptacles and switches and pot lights.

End result of electrician's visit. Some are pot lights, some are access holes

The floor of the dining room now has plywood almost entirely--just a bit left to do and it will be ready for floor!

Our homework was to determine where we wanted the ceiling fan (who knew there were so many choices for placement?
I was like-- here.  The electricians were like, no no, it can be in line with this beam, or this door, or this part of the window, or...or...or...) UGH.

So, after work, we looked at all our options, took some measurments, and put an X on the floor.  And then I stood there.
Then I took a step to the side, and that felt better. And I said-- HERE. And that's where the X went.
Who wants to bet it's the same spot that I picked originally?

We figured out the placement of the ceiling receptacle in the dining room (went down to just 1, and we'll stick with the wall plug/switch for any other light).

Note the plywood floor, and the ceiling receptacle. There will be crown moulding to cover the wires that had to be run outside the wall (couldn't be fished)-- not pictured.

 

On Day 3, we had more electrical again (mostly just Diego, and Rob came to check in around 2pm and did some touch-up stuff) and drywall!  Josh and Adam were back, and got everything closed up with drywall, ready for "mudding" tomorrow. That's where they go over the cracks and seams with tape, and then joint compound... That needs to dry, then it's sanded. Then they usually do a 2nd coat (the stuff shrinks).  

View of wall before drywall

Same wall after dry wall

Let there be light! (ok, it's not the right bulbs, but who doesn't enjoy 300W of incandescent goodness.
The final bulbs will be LED. Pay for themselves in a couple years, dimmable, and we'll NEVER have to change them.

Those are pot lights over the couch in the distance. Receptacle for the new fan in the middle, and pendant light receptacles up close.

This is Haka's favorite spot, especially when I'm upstairs (he doesn't do *up* ).  Seems I've been spoiling him with, you know, clean blankets.  I guess the one thing missing from this blanket was greyhound fur.

Note the crossed front paws. Always the gentleman, our Haka.

I stopped by the ATD Contracting offices to visit with my cabinets (I took pictures, but I'm going to make you wait).  Good thing I went by-- we re-jigged the assortment of knobs and drawer pulls (we're going with a cup shape).  Seems the drawer fronts for most are too small to fit the half-moon cup pulls, and the deep drawers are smaller than on the drawing-- we were going with 2 pulls per drawer, but really only need 1.
So, return those, get more knobs, and Milton the kitchen designer and I discussed the ever-important detail of placement.

Similar to the fan discussion-- do you want them centered based on this part of the drawer, or this one? On the cabinet doors-- in the middle, in the corner, in the middle of the corner?

I managed to get through the session without stabbing myself in the eye. I don't understand how you designer folks do this on a daily basis.
And the thought that I need a couple throw pillows for my couch might just be the death of me.

 

Anyway, I was happy to see that at least my hard work there was rewarded, when I received the following award from FourSquare:

Exciting! An achievement! And if my friend Iain's not careful, I might unseat him as Mayor of ATD!

On tap for Day 4: mudding.  Maybe more plywood, but I think mostly, just, mudding.  Good thing too-- the walls in our powder-room, after the "let's remove the wallpaper ourselves" project need some serious PROFESSIONAL help!