Everything but the kitchen sink

Lighting Inspiration

Schoolhouse Electric has some awesome light fixtures.  Inspiration for the spot below the stairs.  

 

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.

Updates

Last week the plumber came and installed our toilet, utility sink (we'll eventually get a vintage one to replace the plastic one), stove and a couple other odds and ends.   The downstairs is starting to come together.  We're refinished our kitchen sink, which I'll have pictures of the whole process soon.   We have lots of little projects such as installing base board, hanging up fixtures, etc.

   

Here's the stove inserted in the fireplace, it needs a serious overhaul in terms of cleaning.  The hood isnt' going to work with the stove anymore which is why it's just sitting on the stove for the time being.

 

More pictures to come, we're at a point of slowly moving pieces downstairs.  The main focus is getting the sink up and running.  Once that is done, we'll get the rest of the cabinets in place.   Also, think I found the perfect fridge in terms of size. 

Penny rounds.

A sea of penny rounds in our laundry room.  The tiler did such a nice job.

 

Now we have to buy a washer and dryer, get the plumber in to install said washer/dryer and set up our sink and toilet.  Then it's all about finishing painting, setting up the cabinets, moving the hideous fridge back In (waiting to buy new one in a few months), and slowing moving stuff back. 

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). 

Bathroom Upgrades

Every day is like Christmas at our house, I'm so excited to get home and see what types of changes have come about with the house.   Yesterday was all about the bathroom.   As you can see the drywall has been put up.  So no more open walls, it definitely makes a difference in the temperature for downstairs now that it's essentially sealed.   The hole that you do see is for a bathroom cabinet that Paul made when he was in 11th grade.  It will be over the toilet which isn't there yet.   Next to that will be the sink.   Our oirignal plans for the floor were to tile it, but a different tile from the dining room and kitchen.  Instead we've decided to do a polished concrete floor which shouldn't be a problem since what you can see is concrete right now.  

 

Here's a view of the boxed in skylight. 

 

A view of the new window and the laundry hookups.  The only complaint I have is that the washer/dryer will stick out in the doorway a bit.  There's not much we can do about that beyond buying a washer that only fits one towel at a time (not an option) or rebuilding the whole room (again not an option).  

 

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.