Everything but the kitchen sink

Hi!

Yes, I've been missing for a while. There are a number of things going on that have been keeping us at Chalet New York quite busy.   Exciting news includes getting counters in soon - we're actually getting measured for them this week.  The counters we decided to go with are called Ice Stone - it's a mix of recycled glass and concrete.  It's a more environmentally friendly than just plaine concrete with the benefit of some texture to it. 

 

So it won't quite look like our inspiration kitchen with the grey counters but it will look very cool.  Can't wait. 

Shed this

So I didn't get a chance to cook this weekend, it probably won't happen until the fridge comes (fingers crossed the end of the week, it's now been 2 1/2 weeks since I ordered it because apparently it is being "made").  But we made a lot of progress in getting rid of the junk from the backyard and hanging an old door that our friend gave to us (thanks B!).   The shed in the back had been filled with junk from the former owner.  It's taken us 1 1/2 years to go through it and finally sort out what we want to keep.  There were a few good finds in there, apparently I have been an owner of 5 shovels for the past couple years.  Who knew?  There's no dirt to shovel, but who cares!   Also found a large piece of astro turf!  Wow....that's really all that can be said there.  That was left out for trash the other day.  I kept hoping some frat boy would pick it up and intall it on his fire escape, but then I remembered there's a dirth of frat boys in greenpoint. 

It was a huge relief to get all this stuff out of the shed and sorted.  We have a lot to take to the green building place in Long Island City on Saturday.  Shed is now clear enough for  us to get stuff out from the house (gardening supplies, etc) and gives us more room to actually start bringing stuff downstairs to the kitchen.  

So as you can see the yard is a big concrete pit, we're hoping to have enough motivation to stucco over the cinder blocks this summer to create a more inviting space.  That and some seating and plants and it will look a lot different. 

As I mentioned above we also got a really cool door for our bathroom from a friend.  It clearly needs stripping - we'll do that sometime, probably when I get fed up with the pink.  For the time being it creates much needed privacy between kitchen and bathroom as well as a sound barrier for washer/dryer. This is view from the inside of the bathroom.

And a view from the kitchen.  Two colors!

Our next goals, get the inside of the cupboards lined in cork, so we can start bringing some of our cooking stuff down, then we need to sort out counters and shelving.

The last week

It's been about a week since my last update, but there's lots to show you.  First of all, our washer and dryer came last weekend and it was installed on Wednesday and I promptly did three loads of laundry.  It feels a bit decadent to have them living in NYC.  So here are some pictures - and no my photography skills haven't gotten any better. 

 

The washer and dryer stick out a bit over the door but really not enough to bug me.  We were limited on space and got the smallest front loading with decent capacity to go go there.  This is a MILLION times better than what the room used to look like.  Remember this? 

  

Yeah, it makes me feel ill too!   So we still need to get a door for the bathoom, put covers on the top hats and eventually, down the road do some back splash around the sink, that'll happen far, far from now. 

In other news, the SINK IS IN!  This is very exciting, it took a lot of work to get it in good enough shape to use, something I've documented and will post once everything is done - I still need to line the drawers with cork.  Eventually we'll have to get some backsplash for this too, but the goal is to get the kitchen up and running.  

 

Seriously, I need to figure out my new camera. 

More to come tomorrow, a lot of stuff done outside - pruning and getting ready for spring.  I also planted all my herbs.  The goal this week is to COOK.  omg.

Swing arm lamp envy

This is such a brilliant idea, particularly as we decided not to go for recessed lighting.  I found this through Design to Inspire's Kim who has done a kitchen remodel.  Her kitchen looks AMAZING.

Drum roll please....

Without further ado, our new floors!

 

Okay a bit hard to see, maybe this picture?

 

Okay so we're getting close, the kitchen and the dining room are tiled, now just the laundry room.   We picked up these tiles the other day:

 

Pretty right?  I'm very happy happy with them.  Next steps...cleaning the very old and dirty cabinets we purchased off of ebay (seen in top picture). 

Day something or other

Views of the fireplace with new drywall. 

The backdoor opening up into the yard, newly poured concrete is underneath the board.

View of the backdoor and the bathroom/laundry room entrance to the left. 

Opposite the bathroom entrance is the corner where the kitchen cabinets will live.

 
 

Little by little

Everyday there are a few more changes, some more subtle than others.   In these pictures there is framing going up where drywall will be put once the intake vent is put in over the fireplace.   There some more plumbing added in the second and in the last a door knob on our backdoor!

Exciting news

Work has started again on the house again.   Remeber this crazy contraption?  Well that's our boiler and water heater. It looks different now.  I'll have pictures this weekend to share - right now they are tearing up the floor in the kitchen and moving the waterheater.   The boiler has already been moved to the other side of that little wall on the right side of the picture.  

Finally...

...we have a permit and can move forward on the work.   So now we wait for the plumber to get his permit.  The next big thing is to move the boiler and water heater. 

Once that is done, the rest of the floor can be completed.   I think we've decided on flooring, Crossvile's Empire Series in General Grey's unploished tile.

Our Kitchen Cabinets

Here's a quick peek at our kichen cabinets we won on ebay.  The goal is to have a grey floor and concrete counter tops when we figure out the configuration.   Hopefully we can figure out how to get them to our house.