Ode to a Kitchen Faucet

I just finished doing the dishes--not a chore I adore exactly but not the worst either (read: mowing)--and thought I'd give some deserved praise to, yes, our faucet.



Had anyone told me I would spend well over $300 for a faucet I would have called them nuts so I guess it's good that no one warned me how expensive faucets are and how it just didn't matter in the end. When you really start looking at and comparing faucets you see that there's a world of difference between them. (Also, who knew the Italy is famous for them?) It's an item you use every single day, multiple times per day and you expect it to last a long time. I think there is literally nothing else in the house that gets used as often as the kitchen faucet, so why not get the one that is AWESOME then?

We got a pull-down model and it switches from a stream to a glorious spray at the flick of a button and just makes you want to be a tiny gnome and crawl in the steaming sink shower, too. Okay, that might be going too far, but if you are wondering if you should get the cheap faucet and maybe replace it later when it breaks, don't! Just get a good one and enjoy the faucet bliss.

(Unfortunately, I can't remember the model, but we bought a Danze.)



On the turntable:

Lorde - Pure Herione

Solstice tree!

Yesterday was my first day of vacation, which I celebrated by eating for breakfast a very special pink-iced sugar cookie shipped to my door from Larry's House of Cakes. To deal with the resulting sugar rush, I went for a jog around the neighborhood and met a new neighbor who was busy limbing a tree in his front yard with a chainsaw.



Not more than five minutes later, our front yard went from this:

To this:

You know when someone you know well shaves their mustache and their face looks all weird and wrong? Turns out the same thing happens when you take away ALL of the plants in your front yard.









Why would we do such a thing? Well, the plants that were there before had not been trimmed in many years and there was just no saving them. Any pruning would have left us with only wood, so we decided to wipe the slate clean.











Last weekend, we stopped in The Garden Spot, the sweetest neighborhood nursery ever, and stumbled on this shore pine:









We bought it :)





And then we had to deal with our new purchase.















Being a novice at tree planting, I gathered what tools I could and had my best buddy/landscape lifeline on speed dial. Getting up the root ball of the space's former occupant was no easy task, and we still have four more stumps to go. E thought she'd give the pick a swing.



(No houses were harmed in the taking of this picture.)

A shore pine is the same genus as a Japanese Black Pine, but a different species. This was has been well-trained already and we will have to learn a bit about maintaining it and getting it to grow in a, aesthetically-pleasing manner. We think it adds a needed vertical element to our squat little bungalow and can't wait to watch it grow. 

What you can't see is that it was so cold and raining all day. It's time for an AMAZING Christmas beer from Kulshan Brewery, which happens to be a stone's throw from The Garden Spot. Keepin' it very local (except for the damn sugar cookies).







































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One bazillion shades of gray

Looking for the right gray pales only in comparison to looking for the right white.




We've decided! Valspar's "Tempered Gray" it is. A nice neutral not-too-yellow, not-too-blue, not-too-brown gray. It's on the top left and lower right below, along with "Urban Sunrise," the darker gray, along with "Frappe" which, thankfully, we didn't like so I don't have to think of that name, ever.




Tomorrow is painting day!

Re-thinking the mineral oil method for the butcher block

I wanted to be a mineral oil purist when it came to the counters. I really really did. But after some 20 or so go-overs with mineral oil and still the counters seemed to need more, I continued my search. I still wanted to avoid any toxic sealants, but the idea of just sealing it all up sounded appealing. Then again there was the nagging question in my mind, Then why did you get butcher block countertops at all?? 

Then I found the Old Town Home blog and discovered that someone else had gone through the same process. I'm following their lead, except I added in more sanding (by hand): 80-grit, 100-grit, 150-grit and, finally, 220. This was last night, even after a workout at Trailhead Athletics, mind you. My arms are pooped. A workout regimen is superfluous when you have a new house.
I applied Howard Butcher Block Conditioner and left it overnight. It said 20 minutes, but whatever. I wanted it to really get in there! I wiped that down this morning and applied another coat. It feels so smooth and just look at the water beading up:

Success.

Painting the kitchen cabinets.

To thwart the constant aggression of the HONEY OAK all over the kitchen, we opted to use a Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations kit, mostly based on the "no sanding" sales point. We read and perused countless reviews and pictures and decided it was worth $120 (probably closer to $170 with additional needed supplies) to transform our kitchen. More on the process below, but I can't wait to show you, so here it is! (updated pic):

More pics to come of the entire kitchen once we paint the wall. AND THEN WE'RE FINISHED!

In all, we are quite happy with the results. We chose the "Castle" color from Rustoleum and opted not to glaze them. I'm pretty sure glazing will go the way of honey oak sooner than later anyway. The kit worked fairly well and while there was so sanding, there was a LOT of scrubbing, "deglossing," as they call it. The most worrisome part is that this is possibly the most important step, because anything not sufficiently deglossed is likely not to hold paint, meaning it could just peel off in the future and leave us crying on our pretty yellow Marmoleum floor.

The DVD that accompanied the kit made it all look so fun and easy. They assured us we'd be sipping wine in the company of a golden retriever by the end, all with happy smiles on our faces. This wasn't exactly so.

E tackled the doors and drawers:

And I set to clean up the cabinet bases and frames. Here is what you have to do when the silicone securing the counter to the cabinet base was hastily applied. Scrape, scrape, scrape. And sand.




Prepped and ready for painting to begin! We started at 11 a.m. Friday. This was at 6pm, aka time for a beer:

There were two rather disgusting pull-out cutting boards that gave us the creeps, so we took the opportunity to bury them forever.



Door painting station (round #1 of 2):



Back of doors after one round of paint/"bond coat." First of two on the back. Plus 2-3 hours drying time between. Then same process on the front. Do you see how "Three Easy Steps" is a bunch of crap? To complete just this step, it took us from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon.



Here is the schedule after I got mad at it and wadded it into a ball:



From many reviews, we gathered that the top coat (polyacrylic) was going to be tough, and it was. It dries VERY fast and if you go back over it with more of the stuff after it begins drying, it pretty much pulls up ALL of the layers. Luckily, only one coat was needed--very quickly applied--plus many hours of drying time.
Also, when they tell you to keep track of which door goes where, pay attention. Putting it back together was an unwanted puzzle at 9 pm on a Sunday.

But now look!!!! 

We're thinking light grey for the wall color.... what do you think?

Towards a working fireplace

Here's a project that can be completed over a lunch break. And a tea break. And okay, an after work beer break, too.

We bought an old fireplace screen on Craigslist. Yesterday we attacked it with a wire brush and then bathed it in rust-stripping solution overnight. Today I wiped away the surface dust, cleaned stubborn gunk from the mesh with a toothbrush, gave it one more anti-rust bath, rinsed the whole thing with clean water, air dried it in the miraculously not-raining-yet yard, and finally sprayed with black high-heat paint.

I needed a new toothbrush, anyway.

Heat!

I'm actually a little surprised at the difference in the heat coming out of the vents already. It's warm. Actually warm. I think the mastic was worth it.
Some days home ownership feels like an uphill battle; some days I feel a little more in control.
....now to go talk to the neighbor about branches from one of their trees banging against our house :(


Just moments later and I've had a talk with my sweet neighbor and am free to trim whatever I need. Yay for nice neighbors!


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Energy savings projects

Last week, we had a consult with folks from the community energy challenge program. They spent four hours finding all the ways we are wasting money in our home. The full report is due next week, but I was in the house long enough during the assessment to see that the duct boots (where the air duct from the furnace attaches to the floor) were poorly attached, leaving large gaps so that cold are just constantly poured in from the (uninsulated) crawlspace.
A trip to the hardware store and a couple of youtube videos had me sealing the gaps myself with fiberglass tape and mastic. Nasty stuff, that mastic.
But now look:




It doesn't make sense to heat the whole house when just one of us works from home in a single room and after a little research we found a solution in a ceramic wall heater. Looking forward to seeing how well it lives up to its claims. Heat at a lower price? Sold.




We will paint it to match the wall soon (isn't it cool you can do that?), but tonight I'm too tired!

Butler door installed!

The door is in! After a quick chop of 1/4" at the top and some shimming and holding an unruly door in place, we have successfully separated kitchen and laundry room.
Shims holding it in for the final measure.




It swings! It stays open when fully extended! It stays closed when it's supposed to! It's quiet! Yay door!
View from the now separate laundry room:


Now to determine if Pedal the Cat can push it open to get to her litter box....

Hanging art in a cluster

Tried our hand at hanging art in a cluster. We laid everything out on the floor first so, thankfully, only a few errant holes. Pretty happy with the result thus far, with room for expansion!







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And then this happened.

Among the many neglected items in the house, the windows are on their lasts legs. The previous owner allowed the windows to rot to a point at which the locks just fell out. I replaced them in teh most solid wood I could locate, but just closing the bedroom window today killed one completely. It split like kindling.

How much are new windows?? SIGH.




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Kitchen finished. Almost.

Now seems a great time for a little before and after comparison.
The kitchen the day we took possession, three weeks ago.

  






The kitchen today.
         

A close-up of the tile backsplash, Daltile white with pewter epoxy grout:

And finally, I am seriously in love with this floor. It's like floating on a yellow cloud.

I started cutting base moulding today but ran out and can't bear to go to Lowe's again. Once that is prepped and painted and installed I think we'll need a break before tackling the cabinet project. Honey oak be damned!

WE HAVE A KITCHEN FLOOR, FOLKS!

We are positively thrilled this is happening.
The measuring:

The subfloor:

And, at last, the marmoleum!





It really brings out the honey in the honey oak cabinets. Of course this makes me want to paint them yesterday if not sooner.

Stay tuned for subway tile backsplash reveal tomorrow!

Painting the fireplace, plus hidden TV!

We went for matching the fireplace to the trim after considering matching the wall paint or going with a dark gray the will (eventually) match the exterior if the house bit ended up calming the fireplace down a lot and giving the room more continuity. We like it!

After just a couple of trips to the hardware store, the flatscreen is incognito above the fireplace. Now, what to do about the cords?




And I installed locks on the windows that had none(?).
5pm quitting time. It's Sunday, after all.

Kitchen progress

The drywall in the kitchen is primed and everything is finally ready for the tile and floor guy to come do his thing.




There was an remnant of butcher block that just happened to fit perfectly between the stove and newly exposed chimney. And
I had an old and awesome stainless steel medical cart that magically worked as its base.
Doesn't my coffee look nice here?




And now for the not so perfect: in priming last night some stuff fell IFC the top of the fridge and I have my first gouge in the butcher block. Sad face.

Plumbing curtain rod

To match the bookshelves, I installed an 86" black iron curtain rod. Finding studs in such thick plaster is a challenge, even when looking right where they're supposed to be. I have two of three flanges in studs and the third secured with plaster anchors. No pull-ups on this bar please.




Unfortunately, I didn't think to measure the curtains first, so they're a bit long. We don't love them, so it's likely we will replace them soon anyway.





Back to the kitchen.

Spinning today:
Sera Cahoone - Deer Creek Canyon

Dolly Parton - Greatest Hits
Linda Ronstadt - Greatest Hits, probably the most memorable album of my childhood. My mom listened to that constantly. This links to an article published yesterday about the singer's new book, and struggles with Parkinson's.

Plumbing bookshelf rebuild

Bookshelves!

But first, a floor update: that 40 year old glue was no match for a heat gun. We are Marmoleum-ready.




Long before the bungalow was even a glimmer in our eyes, I built a custom bookshelf inspired by The Brick House. I loved it far too much to leave it behind.

I decided to change a couple of measurements and install it in the bungalow, which has 12" shorter wall space to work with. Here are (most of) the parts ready for assembly.




It's all 1/2" black iron plumbing pipe and fittings. Very dirty, greasy stuff. Even after trying to clean it with a citrus cleaner, I still wore rubber gloves that got filthy. The rubber gloves do help in twisting everything together though.

The wood is 3/4" maple plywood with holes cut using a forstener bit, which leaves a nice clean cut. If you go slow and flip the board when the tip of the bit comes through, you'll get a clean cut in both sides of the plank.
It went much faster than the first time I built it. Each if the three leftmost columns is anchored in a stud.




For design purposes the right doesn't have a stud, so I used plaster anchors and hope no one tries to grab onto it should they trip while taking their shoes off, in which case we might have a problem. I'm considering a "this is not a handle" sign.


soundtrack highlights for today include:
Dusted - Total Dust
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
St. Vincent - Actor (album, but the video is just so weird)
The National - Trouble Will Find Me (this one's on heavy rotation

Peeling and unsticking the vinyl

Well, this seems like a thankless job.

The floor guy recommend taking the many layers of floor down to at least the level that matches the laundry room. When he arrives he'll assess if it needs to go down further. Since the next layer is fifties linoleum that is probably backed with asbestos, I am certainly happy to stop after this one.

Getting a full square off in one piece is somewhat gratifying, relatively speaking. But you know what's gross? The difference shown on this square between the vinyl flooring that was under the stove versus the rest of the floor.




It's possibly even more repulsive than the cabinets were.
Halfway point. My hand is refusing to hold the chisel anymore. Goodnight.






On the turntable:
Austra - Feel It Break