RanchFever, Kitchen Edition

The kitchen is almost done, and while I haven't taken photos since the cool stuff (floor, counters, sink, etc.) came in, I feel compelled to post photos of the kitchen from a few weeks ago, so that the eventual unveiling will be even more fantastic:



Here we see Michael (look at the birdie!) installing the last of the cabinets, the one for the sink, which he had to MacGyver a heating vent/duct thingie into. There was so much MacGyvering going on with these cabinets, in fact, that I was afraid he'd come home one day with a sun-streaked mullet. Fortunately, there was no bi-level action, and I learned an important lesson. The guys who install cabinets for a living definitely earn their pay.

This was taken from the back foyer looking in. Note lovely blue accent wall, cool artichoke lamp and stylin' reeded glass panel which Michael installed to make the entryway brighter.




This is the peninsula, which I have christened Monster Island. Also note Michael's rump in the left side of the frame. Heh. Rump. Anyway, that's the electric cooktop (with big, burly knobs that are easy to grab onto when you're covered in marinara sauce and trying to keep the quinoa from boiling over AGAIN) which also required massive rejiggering of cabinets to make fit. Michael cut those holes out of the wall that separates the kitchen from the gloomy hallway to let in more light and have another opportunity to use, yes, reeded glass blocks. We still have to figure out a way to cement those in there without risk of one of us pushing a glass block through accidentally and crippling the cat.

Much more has been done since I took these photos, and I'm hoping to take more this weekend during Paintapalooza. Stay tuned!

RanchFever, The Bathroom Edition

I finally got a chance to take photos in the new house that Michael's been laboring on for months now. Obviously, the stars of the show are the completely gutted and remodelled kitchen and bathroom—you don't think I'd leave my Dream Bath behind without something better, did you?



The vanity is actually a stand-alone piece of furniture that we picked up at a discount because it had a few nicks in the the top. We used a wood-colored pen, covered the top with glass, and installed the sinks (Kohler Chord vessel sinks, single-hole version) on top of that. Sounds easy, but it wasn't. A lot of careful hole-drilling and plumbing went into this set-up.

The faucets were a bit of an ordeal. I was set on using a more delicate gooseneck faucet, namely, the Elba from La Toscana, which is pretty much a bargain-basement version of the various > $300 versions from Porcher and Grohe. However, no one had it in stock, the wait time kept growing longer and longer, and I finally decided that it was just a lavatory faucet (two of them, actually), not a husband (heh) and the Danze Sonora, while more beefy than my preferred selections, would do just fine.

And now, the shower:



As on the vanity backsplash/shelf, note glass mosaic tile. I think I need an inervention, as I keep indulging in more and more high-end versions of this stuff. The American Olean green blend is more expensive that the Hakatai Carter blend I used in the last bathroom, but it's also more transparent and provides a much more interesting sense of depth. Per the suggestion of the designer we consulted, we decided to have the standard white subway tile laid vertically. It reminds me of bamboo, strangely enough.

Michael's got the glass shower doors ready to install. I'm really glad I'm not the one who has to drill through that tile, frankly.

Okay, time to sell the house now.

Downstairs bathroom remodel is officially finito!



The new vanity and medicine cabinet, scandalously cheap at Lowes:



And the new, refinished tub (worth the $875, IMO) with the very klassy shower curtain Evil Amy gave me for x-mas:



Big ups to Michael for spending the majority of Monday getting the thing hooked up with the new faucet and plumbing.

I saved all my receipts for the express purpose of figuring out how much this cost and posting the result. My only regret is that I didn't take photos of the intact "Before" to contrast with the "After".