Kitchen Appliance Update: Frustrations Abound

I know it has been a couple of weeks since my last post, but we have been busy struggling to install the new kitchen appliances. Prepare yourself for a marathon post.

The first priority was the dishwasher. If you remember, the old one was completely non-functional and looked like this:

I put the dishwasher in the free section of craigslist, and soon enough, a scrapper guy came to pick it up. We were so happy we didn't have to haul it somewhere! ...which left us with a hole that looked like this:

It is a little hard to tell in the photo, but the floor was disgusting until used a bit of elbow grease:

Finally the new one arrived - here I am with my family just after we carried in the dishwasher. So exciting!!

It seemed so simple... hook up the cords and push it in...

...but then we had a leak, which lead to lots of this...

and this...

and this...

After an epic struggle (and 2 trips to the hardware store), we have a functioning dishwasher. Oh how living w/out one for 2 months make you appreciate just how much time & effort dishwashers save!!! (and doesn't it look sleek?!)

 

Since we had sold our old range on craigslist (got $175 for it - hooray), the next priority was installing the new range. Again we ran into a couple of challenges. First, the toe board on the cabinet next to the range was too long. So we got out the hacksaw and performed some precision carpentry:

But that wasn't all. We realized that the non-flexible electrical conduit and extremely large outlet box prevented us from pushing the range back to the wall. So, yet again we made some precision cuts big holes in the wall so that everything would fit.

A bunch of duct tape later, the wall behind our range looked pretty bad.

But it worked! Hooray! Did I mention this range is super HUGE inside and that the bottom drawer functions as a warming drawer?

You may have guessed, but our troubles were not over yet. Next came the refrigerator, which we quickly found our did not FIT in the space we had.... Which meant we needed to move over the bottom and top cabinets about an inch and a half. After removing all the nails and winning a wrestling match, we were left with this:

Eek! Luckily, my family was over yet again to help (gotta love 'em!). Even my little sis Rozi helped out by removing some nails!

While we were at it, we ripped down the yucky brown-painted formica backsplash. Unfortunately, that left us with damaged drywall and glue stuck all over the wall. :(
But most importantly, the refrigerator, range, and dishwasher are now installed! Now we just have the microwave left, and then that backsplash will need some attention.

Appliances

Our new appliances are coming today!!!!! (Fridge, range, dishwasher, microwave.)
We'll finally have a working dishwasher. Maybe I'll be able to do the install tonight.  :)

Dining Table and Chairs Refinishing: Before & After

In our Chicago apartment, Eric and I had one tiny little dining table and two chairs (you really can't fit anything larger than that in a 650 sq ft apartment). When we bought our house, my parents were nice enough to gift us their old dining set. The chairs and table are very nice and sturdy, they just weren't my style initially. I decided to paint the chairs black and put new fabric on the seats. To coordinate, I wanted to paint the table legs black while leaving the tabletop with a wood finish. Here's the before shot:

The first step was removing the padding and sanding down the wooden parts so that paint would stick to them.

Next came the spray painting, which was WAY easier than using a paint brush. The trick is to spray in a smooth even motion without getting so thick that you get drips. (Thanks Mom and Dad for helping with the spray painting!!)

We sprayed on 2-3 coats of black followed by a clear sealant layer so that the black paint wouldn't flake off on an occupant. Here's what they looked like after painting:

Then came the hardest part - choosing a fabric for the seat. I either wanted to do something fun and bright or do something neutral and paint the walls in the dining room a bright color. I brought home a couple of samples from Jo-Ann, and totally fell in love with the green one!

Unfortunately, by the time I got back to Jo-Ann, they no longer carried the fabric. Luckily I was able to fine the same stuff for cheaper through fabric.com. It finally came in the mail just this week - oh happy day!!

This part of the project was actually easier than I anticipated. All I needed was a scissors, staple gun with staples (I used 3/8"), and a hammer. I didn't take off the old material since I didn't want to disrupt the cushion. I made sure the fabric was lined up so that the pattern was centered on the front. Then I just pulled the fabric taut and began stapling.

The corners were a bit tricky. I had to maniuplate the fabric around a bit until I got a fairly pucker-free edge.

Voila!

Now I just have 6 more chairs to do...
(You can see the table in the background here with the black legs and wooden tabletop).

And since everyone likes a good before and after comparison:

Before

After

Now the question is what color to paint the walls in the dining room. Any ideas?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We're having quite the snow storm here in Minneapolis. Somewhere around 12 inches have fallen in the past 12 hours, and it is still snowing! Here's what our front yard looks like right now:

We shoveled the drive and sidewalk (oh the joys of homeownership!) and then Eric decided first to throw me in the snow(!) and then he made a snow angel. You can kind of see it above, but it started filling with snow almost immediately.

One of the neighbors decided to move his car, but didn't get very far before giving up. Even with two people pushing, he just couldn't get anywhere.

Today is not a day to leave your house. Did I mention that tonight the wind chill is supposed to be 20 to 35 degrees below zero? Good thing we put up our Christmas tree a couple days ago so we can relax and enjoy it today!

 

Gizmo enjoyed putting up the tree too...

... well really he just likes to bite on the fake needles.

The best part is that I got the tree for free on Craigslist (not bad, huh?).

Since this was our first big Christmas tree, we were seriously lacking in the ornaments department. I'm way too cheap to buy those expensive ornaments from Target (especially when I know they will be on super-clearance a few days after Christmas). So, we filled the tree in pretty well with some new inexpensive ornaments and some that I have accumulated over the years. The star was $1 from The Dollar Tree!

We got a bunch of other ornaments from The Dollar Tree too (and they don't look too bad if I do say so). Red bulbs - 12 for $1, red swirl icicles -8 for $1, wire stars - 2 for $1, snowflakes - 6 for $1.

We got a hand-me-down from Eric's mom: a moving, light-up Ebenezer Scrooge (I can't understand why she didn't want it anymore...).

Our roommate, Steve, decided he looked better with a Santa hat.

Add a few presents and we are almost ready for Christmas (and Gizmo is ready for some more chomping on the tree).

And the Walls Come Tumbling Down... and Back Up

It has been a while since I have updated, and we have made a lot of progress on the basement renovation.

We pretty much gutted everything and hauled away a 1100 lb load to the dump.

Installed lights:

Added a layer of foam insulation and put up new stud walls:

Then came the drywall! We rented a drywall lift for just $30 for one day and boy and I glad we did. Drywall is heavy, especially the 5/8" thickness used on ceilings.

Here's me using a roto cutter to cut out a hole for a light fixture.

As you can see, it got really dusty.

Now all the drywall is up and you can really start to see how the rooms will look when they are done!

Family Room

Other view of family room

Bedroom

Because of the thickness of the foundation blocks, we had to frame in the windows with drywall. I think it will actually look pretty nice when it is all finished and painted up (and will serve as a built in shelf).

And that brings us up to date on the basement progress. We've got the taping to do next, followed by painting. We're thinking of a goldish-beige color for the walls in the family room with an accent color on the fireplace wall (maybe a green or a red?). The bedroom will be coordinating but not the same color as the family room. After that we'll add the finish details like installing doors and trim and finally carpet!