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…

Before and Afters...For Now.

So, today the next phase of the home renovation started. The kitchen design team showed up with a trunk full of tile, granite and cabinet samples. After really liking the first three samples that Shanda pulled out of her magic bag, I knew we were going to be in trouble. (Life would be much easier if there was only ONE type of granite, ONE type of tile and ONE cabinet facing.) And then, to make matters worse, Spence decided we should take a trip to their giant showroom in Lathrop to "finalize our decisions." Yeah, right...if we can't decide between three types of granite, I'm pretty confident adding another 300 to the mix isn't going to help the situation much...We're planning on making that trip sometime next week. That should be entertainment at its finest...

When we bought the house, I was pretty comfortable with the idea of being able to get the kitchen done by Christmas (but secretly hoping for Thanksgiving). Since November somehow snuck up on me, I was a little hesitant to ask about timing, but still hopeful that Santa would be able to enjoy cookies from a newly renovated kitchen. My Christmas deadline was met with choreographed laughter from all three designers -- who were measuring and re-measuring all facets of the kitchen. Okay...so maybe Christmas of 2010.

So before we begin the next "chapter" in the home renovation, I wanted to at least share some before/after photos of what we've accomplished so far. Because I'm fairly confident postings in the weeks ahead will be singularly focused on kitchen remodeling. :)
Come visit us soon, if you haven't already!

Trever & Spence

Previewing the Finished Product

In the marathon known as our home renovation, we're nearing the half way point. It's cause for celebration...we've reached a significant milestone, but we still have a LONG way to go...and know that it's likely to be painful at times as we cover the distance ahead. Despite that, we keep putting one foot in front of the other. For those that don't run marathons, this may not make much sense. But hopefully you get the idea.

Over the course of the past two weeks, we've moved in completely and have managed to achieve some level of organization. (Translation...We now have a place that can sufficiently entertain guests and give us a quiet retreat from real life!) We even have cable and Internet installed -- including my favorite Apple TV!

Yes, we still need to replace the furnace, and do about 100 small projects around the house, but it's generally livable. This -- we've decided -- is also the calm before the storm as the kitchen designer arrives next week. While the kitchen remodel is absolutely necessary, we expect it to be a bit disruptive over the next month or two. Fortunately, there are great restaurants in Napa that make cooking very unnecessary!

In the next week or two, we'll have real before/after photos posted that will hopefully reflect some of the changes we've been making, but for now, these photos will have to suffice. And for those that don't follow Spence on Facebook or me on Twitter, you'll notice one with the hot air balloon. This was taken from our backyard early Saturday morning as Abbey and I enjoyed our morning coffee.

Check back soon for the "reveal". (Sorry, we've watched too many HGTV shows...) Or better yet, plan your next trip to Wine Country. We've leave the light on for you.

Cheers!
Trever & Spence

It Looks Like a Real House!

Over the past week, our house has undergone a huge transformation. The wood floors are in, as is a new vanity, toilet and tile in the bathroom. We spent the weekend painting (of course!) and hanging new light fixtures. Phase 1 of the Napa renovation is nearly complete. Whew....

And not a moment too soon. The movers are coming this weekend to move our furniture to Napa. In the very near future, we will have a fairly functional house to host afternoon wine tastings for anyone that is interested.

Spence and I are excited to have the next couple of weeks behind us. After spending countless hours at the house or driving to/from it (more on that in a minute), we are looking forward to a weekend of doing absolutely nothing. The renovations have been -- dare I say -- enjoyable because we've done a decent job at understanding what is within our capabilities, and what is best to contract out. We know there will be endless weekends of projects ahead of us, but it's nice to know that the "big" work is drawing to a close (at least for what we are physically doing).

So, now to the driving story...which I think is best told in a simulated Twitter format. Read on for a chronological account of our afternoon...

1:30 p.m. : I wonder if the furnace works? Let's turn it on and see.
1:45 p.m. : Hmm...No heat. No pilot light. Faint smell of gas. Not good.
3:00 p.m. : Maybe it works now? I'll try again.
3:15 p.m. : Nope. Still nothing. I give up.
9:30 p.m. : Finally...we're leaving. Can't wait to get home.
10:30 p.m. : Crap. We left the thermostat on. With a furnace that may or may not be leaking gas into the house.
11:00 p.m. : We should drive back up. Blowing up the house would ruin our night.
11:01 p.m. : Let's switch cars. Mine goes faster.
11:55 p.m. : turn thermostat off.
1:15 a.m. : Finally crawling into bed.

So, as you can see, going to work on Monday morning has been a welcome relief lately. Not exactly the way weekends should be, but it's become somewhat normal for us. Thankfully, we have movers moving us this weekend. This, I've decided, it even more stressful than renovating the house. Especially when the home you're leasing has been foreclosed on.

But that, is a story for another day...

Cheers for now!
Trever & Spence

Harvest Weekend in Napa

We spent this weekend -- like the many before -- in Napa. The only difference was we mixed in a bit of play this weekend as well. Friday evening we joined a few friends for a Harvest dinner sponsored by ZD Wines. Held at the Carneros Inn, the evening went a long way in reminding us why we've been putting in hours of work on the renovations. The good news is...with the house in mid-renovation a few miles away, we restrained from purchasing any wine over the weekend. And for those of you who have spent time in Napa, you know this is difficult to do when "tasting".

During the day, we continued our quest to re-paint the entire house -- one room at a time. The living room and downstairs bedrooms are now done...just in time for the wood floors to be installed. For those of you who plan to paint anytime soon, the only feasible way to reach vaulted ceilings (or the wall over the stairs) is with a Little Giant ladder. A big shout out and thanks to Chris for letting us borrow his ladder.

The upstairs is also nearly complete! (Wahooooo!) New carpet was installed on Friday. Walking bare foot without fear of catching a disease is really very exciting. Believe it or not, it is actually starting to look like a real house.

Another Weekend, Another Update

If it's Sunday night, it must be time for another update on the Napa House renovation. This weekend's theme was "fun with paint." Actually, it was a mad dash to get the upstairs bedrooms painted prior to new carpet being installed this next week. It's not that I don't trust our abilities to paint without making a mess, but it's much more fun (and quicker) to paint without regard to getting a drip or two on the carpet. So, after debating the finer qualities of "natural linen" "cafe latte" and about three dozen other colors, we settled on the paint and spent a good 20+ hours of two days priming, painting and painting some more. (See before/after pic above!)

As a side note, I decided the perfect color for one of the bedrooms was "Dusty Grey". When you start making up your own paint color names, you've been staring at little 2x2 inch samples for way too long.

The most painful part of the weekend was the weather. It was a good 95+ degrees in Napa both days, which made painting in the upstairs bedrooms of an un-air conditioned home less than pleasant. We combatted the heat with a steady flow of water, Gatorade, and Michelob Ultra (at least in the afternoons).

Looking ahead, our ability to schedule contractors will be tested. Texturing, painting, carpeting, tile and hardwood floors all start in the next week or so. I'd like to say it will be controlled chaos. Guess we'll see soon enough.

One Week Closer to Done,

Trever & Spence