T I L E R E - P L A N N I N G

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according to our architect's plan, every surface has been meticulously mapped out, especially the tile layouts as they dictated the alignment of alot of other things. until you're contractor is installing them... then it's all down the toilet (dramatic, yes). Unfortunately, the idiots we bought our tile from...which was  delivered 3 weeks late...gave us the wrong measurements. so everything that had been planned
had to be re-planned, and discussed for an hour and a half.
we have a large wall above a set of lower cabinets that's going to be all tile up to the 9 foot ceiling ...it's alot! so it has to be right and look spot-on. in the plans 9 of these large tiles fit perfectly. in reality there'd be a strip of tile at the ceiling that would look ridiculous. so to fill that unexpected gap everything else in the room had to be moved up a half inch and bigger spacers need to go between the tiles.
so no, i will no be recommending this tile supplier.
all's well though! these aren't huge changes but they definitely throw a wrench in.

gerald (one of our architects) trying to figure it all out with the guys

here's our contractor laying it all out on the floor to see how it can fit better

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O K , A L R E A D Y ! !

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i love snow, really. it's just getting a little nuts...and it's not melting from the last storm. we have a mountain of snow in front of our house the size of a church bus that'll probably be there til april!

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T O O C U T E T U E S D A Y

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cabinet assembly edition. arnold is literally sitting in a box of cabinet door hinges. i guess somehow that's comfortable.

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A S S E M B L Y W E E K E N D

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this weekend was all about cabinet assembly... for me at least. chris worked on the closets so we can put all our stuff back in them! personally i can't wait to get my stuff into these cabinets!
the cabinets were ordered from Scherr's in North Dakota. they are fully custom. the great people at Scherr's worked with our architect Emily and went back and forth a few times on shop drawings until they were perfect. everything is clearly packaged & labeled for easy assembly once they get here, which was as easy (actually easier) as assembling any ikea cabinet...only made 10 times better. the boxes look amazingly well made so far and the construction and custom paint on the door and edge panels looks spot on. i'm excited to recommend them to everyone looking into doing an affordable kitchen remodel.
i'll write a full (and i'm sure glowing) review of these cabinets when they're up.

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L A T E A R R I V A L S

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finally! late to the party are the cabinets and the bathroom tiles. well they're
finally here...and strangely they picked a snow day to arrive...not the best conditions for unloading a truck but hey, we'll take whatever we can get! The cabinet doors look great...the paint came out gorgeous and smooth and looks pretty durable. Now it's a weekend of assembly!

bathroom woodgrain tiles from italy

G R A Y G R A Y G R A Y ?

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maybe 2 different grays for cabinets and very light gray walls is too much gray. never thought i'd say it but yes...there is such a concept as too much gray. so 2 grays in the cabinets and white for the walls. that was easy!

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T H A N K S

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just got $105 bucks back from NY state for recycling my old non-energy efficient fridge!

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H A P P Y B - D A Y L U C I L L E !

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happy birthday to my big sister lucille...who's so, so, much more than a sister to me!

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W A G O N S E A S T !

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finally! our cabinets are being trucked here to brooklyn from the fabrication plant in north dakota. seems they've had about 5 huge snowstorms that have brought biz to a slow crawl out there, which is why they're 3 weeks late. temperature in north dakota right now is a chilly -2 degrees. hopefully they'll survive the 4 day trek to our balmy 30 degree nyc weather!

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A L M O S T

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our contractor has partially finished the tub tiles...then he ran out of tile. which is the result of people telling us they have things when they don't. i'm finding this quality to be badly infecting the two tile suppliers we're using. it' some kind of plague!
shower tile is coming from someone here in brooklyn who has barely been able to deliver on anything's he's promised (said he had bullnose tile for us then didn't, said he had edging material then only had half, said he had replacements for broken tiles then had to order them, said he had tons of field tile in his store then didn't ... delivered the last box after our contractor left).
bathroom floor tile coming from manhattan (said she had floor tile in their warehouse in miami 3 weeks ago then told me yesterday they're on a boat from italy which broke down at sea). hmmmmmm.
anyway...so far so good.

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T O O C U T E T U E S D A Y

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too cute tuesday: construction edition

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B E T T E R L A T E . . .

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hmm better late than never...whatever! the reno's moving along at a good clip only to be stopped in its tracks by important things coming in late.

the windows: 2 weeks late
back door: who knows?
cabinets: 3 weeks late (the north dakota cabinet guy actually has a good excuse "you know that storm you had a week ago? well, we’ve had 4 or 5 in the past 6 weeks")
bathroom tile: 2 weeks late
if i had know this i would've started demolition after christmas...but who knew.


on a side note i'd like to be done in time for us to enjoy the hgtv dream house we're gonna win. please? pretty please? this is totally ours...we got this. we'll win a house in vermont (conveniently located 4 hours away), a car (to get up there), season pass lift tickets (we haven't been snowboarding since we've been homeowners), and some money to pay all the taxes.
sounds good to me! come visit! ;-)

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K I T C H E N P R O G R E S S 2

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the progress continues! the new mudjob/subfloor is in and well as the first phase of taping/spackling.

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S H E L V E S I N P R O G R E S S

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we finally have some shelf brackets in! we debated and thought this out so many times to make sure these shelves can carry all the weight that's placed on them. this is where all the dishes are going and those can get pretty heavy especially considering the weight of the actual shelf itself (still being and debated and thought out) which we hope will be substantial and thick.
how do you like the 'visual aids'?
chris had some hefty angle irons cut at a local metal works around the block and our contractor installed them behind the sheet rock. eventually the shelves will slip over them like a sleeve to hive the entire bracket. cool huh?

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B A T H R O O M P R O G R E S S

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the bathroom is shaping up (doesnt look like much now) with all it's sheetrock and the subfloor/mudjob. next up is the floor heat and then tile. The tile we chose for the floor (which then turns up the vanity wall until it meets the mirror) is a really amazing gray/brown woodgrain tile. i think it will be so interesting and different! The layout itself is pretty much the same as it was before...only with every inch brand new!

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H A P P Y N E W Y E A R !

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hope you did something fun and fabulous for new years! we had the guys

working on the kitchen all day and our plumber installing the new radiator.

it's exhausting even when you're not actually doing the work...just answering all

the questions and trying to stay out of the way is exhausting.

after a delicious new years dinner of tofu chicken sandwiches (prepared on the construction table) we were both asleep by 10:30.

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