Carnegie Hall West

I think I've mentioned before that we're a family of musicians. One fun thing the past couple of days has been playing our violins and cello in the new great room, which has the wood floors and is completely empty. It sounds like a million bucks. I'm tempted to live without furniture just so I can enjoy the sound whenever I want. Fun!!

So Close, Yet So Far Away

The trades descended en masse on the house yesterday, working busily to finish up. The tilers grouted the kitchen backsplash (except for the part that couldn't be installed because the cabinet skin is still AWOL and the upper cabinet can't be installed, and yes, I'm really beyond annoyed at the whole cabinet thing). It looks so beautiful. I keep saying it, but it's really true. I love it.

Electricians put in lighting in the new great room, kitchen, and laundry room. It's going to take a while to learn which switch turns on what (I haven't decided whether to label yet, might), but it's wonderful. The laundry room is completely operational and I've started doing mega-loads of laundry.

The painters have been painting, notably the front door, which looks stunning.

The hall bath is up and working. Woo hoo!

Everything kind of grinds to a halt next week while the floor refinishing happens. I think we'll be in a hotel again at least for part of the week because it's just not healthy to hang out around that amount of dust and smell and we don't want to wreck the floor finish before it's even done. Thank God for Priceline, I've really learned to work that system to our advantage.

Letter From Mumbai

My laptop has died, same old garbage, doesn't recognize the AC adapter so the battery just drains completely and it's game over. I called the Dell tech support people. Took two hours (I kid you not), three techs, and a whole lot of exasperation. Like I haven't had enough of that lately. The worst part was when I couldn't divine the exact account information they had in their records so they told me that for security reasons they couldn't help me any more. This for a computer I purchased directly from Dell and had delivered directly to my current address. Yikes. Anyone, once that got all figured out, the verdict is: broken. Thanks, guys. Unfortuantely the fix seems to be a new motherboard. I don't think I'll have lost too much irretrievable information, I've got all those photos elsewhere. I'll keep taking them, but I won't be able to get them on this blog until my computer is returned to me in a couple of weeks. It's quite likely that we'll be completely done with the project by then and that is a lovely amazing thought.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Installation of various items is occurring at a record pace and the place is really starting to pull together. We are now within two weeks of being completely done. Wow. Whew. (My computer has died again, so photos will once again be delayed, sorry.)

At the end of the day today, we will have not one but two working sinks. That'll sure make the tooth brushing easier! We also have a working dryer (it has already dried a load very nicely). The bathroom vanities will be installed tomorrow. The painters are still painting, today the front doors. The doors are completely off right now and the effect is so wonderfully light that I'm putting door with window system on our future wish list.

The hardwood is completely in. It looks amazing. Next week it will be sanded (lightly, we like the distressing), stained (lightly), and sealed (heavily, I hope!).

The dogs got out, with all trades pointing the finger at the others. Asta came home on her own, Cato had to be retrieved by a very kind work guy. Cato seems to have a brain 10 years younger than his body (don't we all). Needless to say, he's dog tired. Me too!

A Very Nice Counter Offer

Most of the granite countertops have been installed and we still love the granite. It is so beautiful and looks like the ocean. We're very happy with the fabrication, as our favorite parts of the slabs are featured. The island bar was not installed, I assume because the support corbels have not arrived.

Also, my stylin' vinyl for the laundry room was installed, looks very fun. I thought it would look a little crazier, truth be told, but I like it a lot. Baseboards in the laundry room are being installed as we speak and the washer and dryer will probably be moved in there (although not hooked up until later in the week). Now I'll have a little space in the garage and can clear out the office/music room/temporary kitchen so flooring and paint can happen in there. Also, the old washer and dryer and wheezing and crying and barely working with each load, so I think we've replaced them just in the nick of time.

More Floor

The pace of floor laying has picked up substantially, thank goodness. Kitchen and great room about done, halls about done, master bedroom half done, office/guest room and office/music room not done at all. I tried to move a bunch of stuff from the office/music room (aka, our temporary kitchen), but there just wasn't anywhere to move it to. The garage is stuffed, as is every other room. Ugg.

Our contractor tried to help a bit by installing the hood. Awesome, but it's too low. The Viking specs state that the hood is to be 30-36" above the range, ours is only 24" and looks weird. I hope it's not too hard to move tomorrow, but I'm afraid. Fortunately, hubby left the voicemail for the contractor. Fingers crossed.

It Does Exist!

One of my favorite television commercials features the M&Ms encountering Santa sneaking in to deliver gifts. "They do exist," exclaims Santa. "He does exist," exclaim the M&Ms. And then both faint dead away.

I've always thought of the Dads at school kind of like the M&Ms and Santa. "He does exist!" Poor guys miss so much, off working hard to pay the bills...

Anyway, another thing that "does exist" is the recycling system. Found it right at Kitchen Classics where I saw it last. Took a picture of it. It's in stock and I can have it for $250. We're probably giving up on this, though, and just opting for an under-the-sink compost pail. That show of compromise and reasonableness may just cause all of us the faint dead away.

Now That's What I'm Talkin' About!

Didn't like the way the crown molding stuck out over the ceiling at the intersection between kitchen and great room. It just really bugged me. So I asked our contractor to move it over a couple of inches. "No problem, that's easy," he said. And he grabbed a drill and did it. Just like that. I love that kind of can-do attitude. It looks much better (and the slightly uneven amount around the window will be completely camouflaged by the window treatments, I'm not worried about that). Thanks!!

We're Floored Again, Sort Of

The hardwood flooring is going in and I really love it. We selected salvage oak, it has a wonderful aged patina and lots and lots of nail holes, distressing, etc. A pre-distressed floor equals a not-distressed mommy! I'm very happy to have a floor which is impervious to the children's destructive ways. I initially said I'd never have oak, but this stuff is great. Our contractor is jealous, wants it in his house and has talked it up so much that he's installing it in his other two jobs this year also. So I'm spreading the word on this green, recycled material. Making the world a better place one floor at a time.

Miles of Tiles

The two bathroom floors have been completed tiled, as has the master bath shower and it all looks great! I especially like the slate shower and the hall bath floor with the glass mosaic accent tiles. (Now I'm thinking I need to get some more to trim around the vanity and also paint that bathroom a color other than white. We'll see.) Since the tile is done, a toilet has been replaced in the hall bath and we've stopped our endless vagabond life of moving from hotel to hotel (hubby had a business trip to LA last week which means he holds the family record of 5 hotels in 2 weeks. Ouch.). The bathroom situation is bad, however. Tomorrow is picture day and I fully expect the children will look like filthy street urchins.

Working Feverishly

While the tilers have been tiling, the other guys have been installing cabinets and molding feverishly. (Actually, I mean that literally, as our contractor staggered in today with a flu-like illness which he says he got from his grandson and already passed on to his other crew. I told him to get off my property immediately before I called the cops. LOL!) Anyway, the laundry room cabinets are in, the vanities are in (covered up so not damaged by tiling) and the kitchen cabinets are mostly in, except for those which have been delayed by the missing skins, etc. Woo hoo!

Who Is Toothy Tile?

The tile guys have been going to town this week and all of the tile has been set. They're going to come back Monday and grout. I'm really happy with all their hard work, both bathrooms look terrific. (The photo doesn't show it, but the glass accent tile have been set in the hall bathroom.) I'm especially happy with the slate tile shower, it's fabulously organic and beautiful with all those natural varigated colors and textures. It was a special choice from me to my hubby, as I knew he'd really love it. And so far it does. It will look even better with grout.

You Know Who's In The Details

The cabinets are going in and I'm trying very hard not to freak out completely about the things which just aren't right. In general, they are beautiful, gorgeous really. However, the recycling unit is not what we were shown and we cannot find the components of the composting portion to make it right. I think we're going to have to stick with the top open basket (perhaps use it for the plastic bags for the cans below) and put a separate compost pail under the sink. Just what I was trying to avoid and why we ordered what we did in the first place. Sigh.

Then there are the missing things. Skins, corbuls, molding. Some ordered, some not, not sure, but all on the way one way or another. Sigh.

Then there's the inexplicably unfinished bookcase. The only completely open cabinet and this is the one they somehow forget to finish completely. Our contractor will fix it (and our expense, I'm sure) and I'm going to have to complain bitterly in order to collect on the warranty, I'm sure. They'll want to take the cabinet back and I'm not willing to delay the project for weeks or more in order for them to do that. Sigh.

Tile is going in the bathrooms and boy does it look great. Very pleased with our choices. Unfortunately that means we're down to zero bathrooms, so we've been at the Embassy Suites all week. Much as I love ES (especially those made-to-order breakfasts, yum!), it's hard on the kids to be away, and the parking situation is tough. We should have semi-functional bathrooms next week, so we'll be moving back in on Monday.

Solid Like A Rock

The field trip to the granite fabricators was a huge success. It was really fun to place our templates and pick out our very favorite parts of the three slabs we purchased. We spent about an hour doing this and I'm feeling very confident that the fabricators know their stuff pretty well. We have quite a bit left over and we're hoping to have a few table tops made for use in the garden. Unfortunately, the next available installation date is September 22, about a week later than I was hoping.

The schedule is slipping a bit and I'm a bit tense and concerned. I look forward to our contractor's return tomorrow so we can get straight on the schedule, cancel a bunch of Embassy Suites nights for this week (I hope), and develop a plan to the finish line.

Spoke with the kitchen designer about the incorrect recycling unit and the sink issue. She was extremely defensive, which was disappointing. Not exactly the "can do" customer service attitude I was hoping for. I remain confident that the matter will be resolved to our satisfaction, I just hope we won't have to do a lot more to make that happen.

Un-Sinkable

The devil's in the details, or so they say, and I think they're right. My job during the next few weeks is to do whatever it takes, regardless of how annoying, difficult, stupid, small, or ridiculous, to get this job done. Yesterday, that meant driving all over the place (OK, I was lost part of the time), buying sample drawer pulls, returning stuff we didn't need, and looking for a new sink for the island. Because now that we've started pulling everything out of the boxes, of course it is not quite as perfect as it needs to be. The island sink was huge, ridiculously so, and bumped on the island plumbing. Because it was too large, we decided to buy a different one rather than McGyver it. Am I annoyed that I not only had to spend the time, $30 extra, and now have a top-of-the-line Ford (I mean Elkay) rather than the Mercedes convertible (I mean Franke) which we ordered? You betcha, I'm annoyed. I consider it to be a design error, and not my design error. We had to act fast because the granite fabricator came today to make the granite template and the sinks had to be in place for him to do that. So no replacement Franke, can't buy them off the shelf (well, you can buy a couple of Ann Taylor Loft or Gap Outlet style --FrankeUSA -- at Lowe's, but not the size we needed). After dashing all over the county (perhaps two counties!), I ended up back in Walnut Creek at General Plumbing. It was a cool place, full of guys in tool belts, and some gals too. Told 'em what I needed, they found it and then they carried it out to the car. I love that! And I didn't have to enrich the Home Despot. Love that too.

Further inspection of the cabinets revealed that the wrong insert was sent (or perhaps wrongly ordered, doesn't matter, it's wrong) for the recycle center/trash cabinet. Since I'd discussed, cajoled, and threatened my dear husband to get my way on this one I was rather dismayed that this was the one they messed up (so far). I am very hopeful that the kitchen designer will remedy this error with the same aggressiveness and tenacity with which payment in full for the cabinets was demanded prior to their delivery. Yep, very hopeful.

Finally, further measurement during the course of the template production revealed that not quite enough space was left for the King of All Ranges, our fabulous Viking. Three cabinets will have to be moved over, but there is space on the wall for it and I assume (with quite a bit of confidence this time) that our trusty contractor will make it all wonderful very soon.

Tomorrow: we get to go to the granite fabricators to pick exactly where on our beautiful slabs the templates will go (fun) and all 5 of us go to the Cal game (???).

Organized Chaos

Everyone is stepping it up. Today, the painters painted the exterior of the house a nice gray color. The contractor continued installing cabinets. The hardwood flooring unexpectedly arrived. The vanity was ripped out of the hall bath, leaving us with no bathroom at all. (We do have one working toilet.) Unfortunately that means we're back to that den of iniquity and shabbiness that we call the extended stay hotel.

Charging Forward

We're speeding toward the finish line! I returned home from the first day of school festivities to discover about a zillion different subs working hard. The concrete guys built forms and poured the missing curb next to the patio path. The painters power washed the exterior of the house in preparation for painting tomorrow. The HVAC guys were back and hooked up the heat and new thermostat. And our contractor began opening all those cabinet boxes and setting cabinets in place. They're gorgeous.

The Extended Day America hotel isn't working out well at all. We were quite uncomfortable last night. To say the place is spartan is putting it mildly, I find myself bringing soap, cleaning materials, towels, pillows, etc. The kids were really restless and I was uncomfortable. I decided this afternoon to bring the kids back for showers, since our bathroom is untiled and vulnerable, but to return to sleep at home. I'm glad I decided this, as there were not one, not two, but three running police cars (empty) outside the hotel when we pulled up. Enough is enough. We've paid for the week and will shower there, etc., but something new needs to happen next week when the floors are installed, even if it costs more.

It's A Big Dog Party!

This Labor Day weekend, our howly, growly Alaskan Malamutes Cato and Asta are 13! Wow, that's really ancient for big dogs. Every year we have a little birthday party, sometimes with hats (not really appreciated by the dogs), "birthday cake" made of rice (more appreciated), and dog treats (always appreciated). This year, given our limited hosting abilities, only the third item was present, along with extra pats and singing from the human children. Happy Birthday guys!

Paint The Town Spanish Sand

Painting, painting and more painting. Seems to be going well. We've got a lot of Spanish Sand. Really a lot. Next week, painting continues (although it will pause for a couple of weeks while other stuff gets installed), the kitchen cabinets will be set (that's going to be huge!), and the appliances arrive.

I've thrown in the towel and the kids and I will be heading to a nearby Extended Stay America for a week or two. Possibly three. I'm hoping our absence will make the finishing touches finish up more easily and efficiently. And allow us to start school Tuesday with some degree of sanity and achievement.

We picked some exterior paint as well. And the contractor/concrete guys forgot to pour a curb along the patio, so they're returning to do that. We're getting closer!