Finished product

The kitchen has been finished since March (perfectly on schedule and budget, thank you Hammer & Hand), and it is lovely.  There were, of course, meant to be many more posts along the way - posts about choosing paint colors (mind numbing), making coffee in the bathroom, counters, quarter round, sinks, etc.  But here it is September, and we have been enjoying the kitchen all summer, so I best post some pictures.

Many thanks to the hands and minds that went into the project. Charlotte and Kevin were charming and patient, not to mention Kevin wore awesome little blazers, while C had nice shoes and watches. The staff and subs for H&H were neat, respectful, into their work, and all around good guys.  The decisions (and money spending) were stressful, but the process was not, thanks to the excellent work by the crew.

In the pictures below, Megan and Rob visited from Salt Lake City, and Emily and Vanessa came over for a sleepover. The kitchen had just been finished, and we were so happy they could help us warm the new space. Rob is not in the photos, as he was busy being responsible.


 
In case you wonder:
The tile came from Pratt & Larson, made here in Portland.

The lights came from Schoolhouse Electric, who make sweet fixtures based on molds they found in some warehouse. Made in USA, much in Portland.

The farmhouse sink (Shaw) is not local, it's from England. Here's a video of nice bloke making one.

The table was made for us by a spacey Dutch carpenter at Portico.  The wood is already old and gnarly, so visiting kids (or drunks) can pound on it all they want. We love it.

And the rug beneath the table is made of Flor carpet tiles. They are recycled, durable, fun. And I can spend hours looking at the spotless modern homes in their catalog.

Filling the post holes

I came home this week to find the wood guys had been boring some plugs from an extra piece of flooring. The bleachers come with post holes that need to be filled. While marbles, toys, or bottle caps were an option (using epoxy), we chose simple wood plugs.  I enjoy piles and buckets of repitition; I thought you might too...

The bleachers

We debated on the floors for some time. We loved our old fir, couldn't imagine anything else in the house. But fir is so soft, what about future dogs or cats or kids or chronic furniture re-arrangers??  So we considered oak, which looks lovely in my brother's house. We went to ecohaus, to see examples of "green" options.  But we just couldn't get our mind off of fir - it's everywhere in our house.  Hammer & Hand came through with the perfect alternative: old fir.  Old fir bleachers, to be exact. They have a warehouse full of them, waiting to be converted into thick, sturdy, plank fir flooring.  This old fir is harder than the younger trees cultivated these days, and re-uses something that it still perfectly good.  And it is turning out gorgeous.  Best of all, we can't see our basement through the cracks in our bare wood floor anymore. And we have subflooring now - thanks, original wood floor, you are again useful!

How did they get this into our house?

Installation...

Can you tell we are choosing paint colors too?

Walls + other progress

 

 

The walls were put up some time ago, forgive the delay in posting. (And thank you, mom & dad, for the gentle prodding to post some pictures. Keep it up.) When the walls went up, the fear of destruction and WHAT HAVE WE DONE!!?! began to be replaced by anticipation of what will someday be. The drawings became three dimensional, and I was comforted by the choices we made. 

This whole area was a porch (read: uninsulated)

Mud room: we could feel the breeze under the door.

Like the mud room, formerly a chilly or hot place (depending on the season), due to its old windows, old door, and lack of insulation. We decided at the last minute to include it in the project, and now I can't imagine having let it be. Now we'll have a welcoming entry way from the backyard, with a bench, coat hooks, nooks for garden supplies, a closet.

Same corner, (+) one wall and (-) one window

I won't have to yell out "brrr!" every time I run out there to get food from the pantry. I won't have to run out there to get food from the pantry. It is starting to get fun, picturing our life in this new space. I picture Milo and Clara running in from the back yard after helping me garden on the weekend. Or our friends gathered around the dining room table, while I grab one last pot off the stove.  Or sitting at the counter while Eric cooks up a batch of soup, reviewing our work days and talking about nothing. 

But first, I will eat some more cereal out of one of two bowls not packed away, while seated on the couch crowded into the spare bedroom, watching TV on my laptop. Don't mind the dust.

New hallway, where eating nook was.

Week 1: Out with the wall, in with the steel beam

These pictures are for the men. Who else would care about a steel beam?  This wall was taken down, as evident in the pictures below.  It is being replaced by a steel beam (Which sadly now cuts through our massive, one-long-piece-of-wood joists. I am the only one who seems to be sad about this.)

Instead of the wall, someday there will be a peninsula.  The stove will be in about the same spot, but in the future there will be countertop on either side of it, so we can, say, put a spoon down while cooking.  Innovative!

Here the framing holds up our house, since the wall is gone. Yaa.

 Thank you, steel beam!

Week 1: Destruction goes fast

Forgive the flash; the elves work all day, we come home each night to find what they've accomplished.  I am both horrified and excited at the progress.  No going back now.  Ye gads.

before

after

really after

Jappaning

Like the woodwork, our hardware is also covered in paint.  We headed to Hippo Hardware for advice; one Goodwill pot and a set of chopsticks later, we were boiling some hardware.  Once the hot water and intermittent scraping removed the paint, we found a coppery shine with intermittent darker smudging. Varnished? Damaged? Nope - turns out the coloring was intentional.  In returning to Hippo, we were told the hardware had a Japan finish.

 

 

Per Bob Slone's helpful article in Northwest Renovation:  "Japanning is the builder’s hardware plated finish that looks like varying patterns of copper and black. Japanning hardware started in the late 19th century but peaked in popularity in the first few years of the 20th century. The “Japan-finish” was done with a process of electroplating and fuming, and the patterns and styles that different hardware companies came out with varied immensely.  The process was also improved upon as the technology itself improved.  The simplest patterns in this finish came from the 19th century. On a doorknob escutcheon for this era you may see black with just a bit of copper on the top and bottom; others had random highlights of black and copper on relief pattern pieces. Light fixtures can be all copper with just a couple black stripes here and there but as technology improved, more brazen patterns became in vogue. The early 20th century brought zigzag patterns, circles, dots and even animal pattern motifs. This was Japan finish at its best."  Ours turned out to be simple stripes or blobs of black mostly, by the time the paint was removed. But they are pretty nice "designs" nonetheless.