Kitchen Progress

Everyday new details are added to the kitchen.  Vinnie has worked hard on the pride and joy of this house and I really have no idea where we'd be without him.  He is so creative and so FAST at just making beautiful things out of nothing!  Also he is so knowledgeable.  If we don't know how to do something, or have a question about where to start or proceed with a project, Vinnie knows exactly what to do. And he listens.  This is the biggest thing I love about him that I have learned many other construction guys lack.  You go over the details and hash everything out multiple times and you come back 10 minutes later and they're doing something completely different.  But not our beloved Vinnie.  I could sing his praises all day long and our kitchen reflects how wonderful his attention to detail is.

So, without further delay - here are pictures to catch you up on what's happened in our kitchen since my last update.

First - please remember that this is what the room looked like in May:

And here's where we are now:

Granite being installed in August:

A close-up of our Verde Butterfly granite:

Trying to make final decisions on the paint colors...

We went with Behr Laurel Mist (that green) for all the walls in the kitchen, living room, and back hallway, and Behr Castle Path (reduced by 25%) for the ceiling in the living room, with an even lighter version of it for the kitchen ceiling.

Putting up the back-splash: 2in x 2in slate with a stone border.

Tying the kitchen together with finishing details.  If you look closely you will notice above the cabinets where he added the border of our stone back-splash below the crown molding for added height, color, and to tie everything together.  All the molding was taped up at this point as we tried to decide a color for it.

Back-splash behind the stove top.  

Vinnie had the tin piece "just lying around" and we've since polyurethaned in to darken it and take out the extra colors caused by oils on it.  I love it there!

Vinnie putting all the grout in the back-splash:

Another one of Vinnie working - nailing all the trim into place:

If you notice on these last few pictures the beams are darker with a richer color.  These were the original beams used to build the house - they were originally 24ft long here, spanning the width of the house.  Vinnie cut them and sistered two of each together when we decided to add the vaulted ceiling in the kitchen.  All that was done to them for the color was sanding them down (to remove the big imperfections and coloration differences) and adding a coat of polyurethane.  I love the character they add to the kitchen!  Another great, great idea by Vinnie.

And this is what it all looked like a few day ago!  More details have since been finished, but it is really getting close to being done!

View down the back hallway so you can see the stained-glass windows

Sheetrock + Granite = Progress!

We were gone last weekend in the Boundary Waters (I know, I need to blog about it - maybe tomorrow...or the next day) and came back to our sheet rock going up!  They finished hanging it all this weekend, on Saturday, and today they start the mudding and taping.  We're way past this video, but I thought I should share it anyways to give you an idea of the progression of things. 

Today the granite men showed up with their big slabs of rock for our kitchen!  I just want to sit over there in  a corner and watch them work all day.  It's SO interesting.  They are quick and I feel like I'm missing lots.  However - I have so much school and this other house to keep up.  Also, who wants some girl hovering around watching your every move as you work?  They'd probably be irritated.

Here's the work station they have going outside to make all their final cuts and holes:

Working inside - making all their final measurements

(Like our front-and-center pile of trash? We're getting our THIRD dumpster today)

Wooden counter top before the granite:

Alright, my curiosity is killing me!  I'm going over to check on them again :)