The "Final" Before and Afters

It's been almost exactly nine months since we bought the Napa house. In that time, we've nearly forgotten that the Napa Valley has more than offer than a Home Depot, building permit office and a slew of eager contractors. And while most couples welcome a new baby into the world after nine months of waiting, well, we're not most couples. :) Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let the before and after photos do the talking.
















Does this mean we're done with the renovation? Of course not. We won't be done until the day we move out, but we're intent on enjoying the summer in one of the world's greatest valleys before deciding what project to tackle next.

A Good Week

For the past week, we've spent our time doing as little as possible on the beach in Cancun. With the exception of one rainy day (which has been a near constant in my life lately), the weather was exactly what was needed to jumpstart summer and welcome May.



Upon our return, we took the short drive to Napa to check on the kitchen renovation. The tile is in, the appliances installed and the backsplash set. What a great week! And while there is a short list of items that need to be finalized, I'm confident we'll once again have a fully functioning kitchen in the next week or so!





We'll be taking dinner reservations shortly... ;)

Cheers,
Trever & Spence

New Exterior Paint

The rain stopped just long enough this past week to get the crew out and re-paint the exterior of the house. I didn't realize just how bad it looked before until I pulled up to the house Friday night and saw the new paint. Gone is the final trace of the country blue that seemed to be everywhere in the house. (FINALLY!)



And now, if we can just get the tile in for the kitchen, we'll be nearly done with the major renovations!

The Progress Continues

Another week, another milestone. The granite was installed on Friday. We also spent the weekend enjoying the back patio (including a new fire pit). It’s amazing how much better the back patio is now that the giant awning has been removed from the back of the house.

Next up is the tiling. We still have a week or two of waiting before the tile arrives, but we’re getting close to being complete!

Spring Is Here!

Right on queue, the hot air balloons returned to the backyard this morning after their winter's rest. Spring must officially be here!

The Cabinets Are In!

This week was an exciting one…Despite a backorder on the tile, we made progress -- the cabinets are installed! We now have proper storage for whatever has been hidden in the boxes stacked up in the garage. I’m not sure we’ve ever been so excited to put dishes away! (It’s really kinda sad.)

What I am fully not capable of understanding is how people live through a kitchen renovation on a daily basis. The coffee pot has been in the living room for two months. The most complicated entrée I can make at home is microwave popcorn. And Abbey (the dog) has decided her role is to eat the construction debris that gets tracked through the house, regardless of how much cleaning we try to do. But alas, progress is progress, and for this, I’m very happy!

On another front, however, there was no progress on exterior painting. Apparently our crew decided it was best to take care of another job this week. But they’ve promised that they’ll start on our house the week after next. I’m sure glad we’ve already paid them for half of the job!

Cheers to having a half-way built kitchen!

Trever & Spence

A Quick Update

With the demolition completed, now comes the significant task of putting the pieces of our new kitchen together. Orchestrating the multiple components from texturing and painting to flooring to setting new cabinets and appliances, the goal is for this all to happen like a finely choreographed routine.

And while we’re still early in the process, we are now growing more optimistic that the months of planning will pay off. Here are a few updated snapshots of the most recent happenings. Not a lot more to say, but things are finally rolling along!









Oh...and in case you're wondering about the photo of the paint, we've decided that life wasn't nearly complicated enough for us and that re-painting the exterior of the house this month as well would be a good idea. (We never claimed to be the smartest people in the world...)

Cheers!
Trever & Spence

Progress - Finally!

Big news in the past few days. First, new appliances arrived late last week. In the flash of an eye the old white range and dishwasher made their way to the garage (for an eventual demise to be determined) while their new stainless steel descendents are now lined up nicely in a row waiting to be placed in position.

Further, we have actual dates (in the near future) for demolition and installation of the new flooring and cabinets. If all goes according to plan, we should have the bulk of the work done in the next 30 days. (Cross your fingers!)

On another note, I’ve decided we’ve graduated to amateur wine collector status. You see – we had to empty the wine coolers so we could move them out to make way for the renovation. And, well, I think the photo speaks for itself.



While certainly not on the stature of our friends that have off-site wine storage or countless bottles of Caymus resting on the game room table, I think it’s safe to say that we won’t be leaving Napa anytime soon.

Hopefully you’ll see some exciting photo updates in the next several weeks. If not, you should check in on us because it means something has gone awry and we may be opening up a bottle or two from the cooler.

- Trever & Spence

This is a blog entry about nothing. And a nothing that has consumed many weeks at this point. By now, I should be sharing great new pics of the remodeled kitchen, complete with nice and shiny stainless steel appliances, wrapped by anitiqued cabinets that serve as a sturdy foundation for square-edged granite countertops. But alas, we’re in virtually the same spot as we were when I last wrote (in November!) that we were starting the great kitchen remodel.

Things started out well – they really did. Despite waiting several weeks for a cabinet door sample to arrive, we made our selections and were set with all the design decisions by early December. With the inevitable slow down that comes with the holidays, I didn’t get too concerned. By early January, I thought I should check back in to see if we were still on track. Uhm…yeah. That’s where things went “off the tracks”. Not only were we not on track, the train hadn’t left the station. In other words, nothing had been ordered yet. (Okay, enough of the train analogy.)

With the requisite amount of CYA-ing and “who’s on first” action, I think the comedy of errors is over, and we just may be making progress again. But, my joking reference to being done by Christmas of 2010 is now actually looking frighteningly ambitious. In the meantime, our kitchen is about as functional as a camp site kitchen. And with the only refrigerator tucked away in the garage (and full of “adult” beverages), it makes dining out the best option unless we’re looking for a nice, fresh bowl of cereal. Or a beer.

We have done some of the necessary prep work. We’ve demolished the old pantry, making way for dual built-in wine coolers (yay!), we’ve also installed new recessed lighting, windows and sliding doors. While I’m happy to have said goodbye to the drafty single-pane windows of yesteryear, the new windows and doors make the existing cabinets and flooring even worse (which I didn’t think was possible).

So, at this point, all of the pre-work has been done. Now we’re just waiting for the main event. Sorta like getting ready for a big party, and then hoping people actually show up. If not, at least we can make S’Mores and drink wine.

More to come…