Cabinets and Countertops

 The cabinets are officially installed.  Of course they may be uninstalled soon because Mitch is freaking out about the cabinets being on top of the laminate flooring.  He is afraid that they will end up buckling since it is a floating floor and there is no way for them to move.  Anyone have any experience with this?  Our contractor says he does it this way all the time and never has had any problems.  Mitch isn't convinced though.

 

Hey Bailey!

 

 

 

Here's our sink.  I can't wait to have a kitchen sink again.  The things we take for granted!!

 

 

The countertops are being templated today.  Woohoo.  They are scheduled to be installed next Monday.  In a week I should have a some what functional kitchen again.  Picking out the countertop was probably the hardest part of the kitchen remodel so far.  When we started I was pretty set on Silestone, but someone at one of the granite places we visited talked me out of it.  So we spent way too long trying to find granite that we both liked.  The problem was we didn't really find anything that we were in love with.  Well, except for some high end marble that was not very practical.  Then we stopped at a place to check out some soapstone and the person that helped us happened to be our neighbor.   He showed us Caesarstone's quartz surface, which we both loved.  So basically we ended up right back where we started.  Caesarstone and Silestone are basically the same product just different brands.  We choose Pebble, which has a honed finish.  Hopefully ours will look as good as the photo below. 

I am trying to decide if I should hold off on kitchen updates until we are finished, so that I can have a big reveal.  Or just keep posting updates so that you guys can see the progress.  Any thoughts?

Kitchen Update-Week 1 Progress

Ok, that title may be a little misleading considering we have been working on our kitchen since September.  But here is our progress after a week with our contractor.

He was able to fix all of the wires that were hung in the soffit.  He reinforced the opening and started drywalling.

 

 

Then he finished up the drywall on both sides and the ceiling.

 

He built our cabinets, which I primed this weekend.  This is a glimpse of what we are living in right now.

 

We decided on Wednesday night that we were going to put new flooring in the kitchen.  We didn't have enough extra flooring to patch the open areas.  We were also concerned that they would not be able to be refinished.  They were pretty scratched up.  Then when you factor in the sanding and the multiple coats of finish, it just made sense to put down a floating laminate floor.  We really wanted real hardwood, but that was going to entail pulling up all of the subfloor.  So with the additional expense and work it was going to take, we decided on laminate.

This photo shows the self leveler that Mitch put on the floor.

 

Here's a random photo of the ceiling after 3 coats of mud.

 

Someone left a comment inquiring about what we did with our existing cabinets.  The bottom cabinets were not salvageable, but the upper cabinets found a home in our garage.

 

 

Here's an in progress shot of the floor installation.

 

It took Mitch and I about 5 hours to do the floor. Once we found our groove it went pretty fast.

 

 

Our contractor is installing the cabinets today.  Then he is going to start making all the doors for the cabinets. The countertops are being templated tomorrow.  They will be installed next Monday.  I will be back tomorrow with photos of our cabinets and tell you about our countertop choice.

Kitchen Update- Demo Completed

Mitch finished the demo on the kitchen this weekend.  This is what our kitchen looked like on Saturday.



I am so excited about the opening between the two rooms.

Here's the view from the other side.  Mitch got started when I was not home, so I did not get any good before photos.  It was basically a wall of fake wood paneling.  We are hoping to have the whole room drywalled soon.

On Sunday he took out the rest of the cabinets, dishwasher, and sink.

It's all ready for our contractor.

You can't really tell from this photo, but I can see all the way to my bedroom now.

Here's the view from the other side of the room.  

In case you forgot what it looked like before.

The contractor started work on Monday so I will have some more photos and updates to share soon.  

Cuddly Owl Tutorial and Pattern

 

It's been awhile since I have made an owl softie, so I have been itching to create a new simple pattern.  I thought I would use some of the scraps from the quilt I just made to make a sweet owl for the new baby.  I snapped some (dark) photos of the process so I could include a tutorial. 

The first thing you are going to do is cut out your pieces.  You can print the pieces using the link below.

Pattern Pieces

I used a minky fabric for the main body pieces and back side of the wings, but you could use whatever type of fabric you have on hand.   I think this owl would be really cute made out of felted wool.   I used scrap pieces for the face and wings.

 

 

Then applique the face on one of the main body pieces.  Sorry I have no photograph of the pieces before I sewed them on.  I did not use fusible interfacing because I was lazy.  I just basted it in place then zig zagged around the edges.

 

Take the wing pieces and place them right sides together.

 

Sew around the curved edge.  Keep the straight edge open.

 

Turn right side out.

 

Place the wings on the main body piece that has been appliqued with the printed fabric side down.

Baste in place.

 

Place the other main body pice on top with right sides facing.  Sew along both sides and ears leaving a space for turning between the ears.

 

Take the oval piece and pin it to the bottom of the owl.   

 

Here's another look.  This is definitely the trickiest part.  Sew all the way around the bottom.

 

Turn right side out through the opening in the top.  Stuff with your favorite filling.  Then hand sew the opening shut.  That's it.

 

This took me less than an hour from start to finish.  Gotta love that!!