It’s been a week where in some respects little as happened, and yet in others, too much has happened. It began with our floor. That same floor that I was so proud of. Our contractor said he could lighten the water stain and we told him to go ahead. Returning home late one night we discovered that the water stain had indeed been lightened but so had a surrounding patch one metre square with additional splatters on many other boards (the photo shows the stain before lightening - we didn't think to take one after).
To say we were disappointed is an understatement. Devastated might be a better choice of word. DH, whose love of timber surpasses my own, was considering having the kitchen uninstalled and replacing all the affected boards. Given how close we are to finishing, this option didn’t sit well with me, but we could see little choice.
However our contractor worked on it with dyes and stains and secrets of his craft, and the result is that the floor, while not the thing of absolute beauty we had hoped for, is acceptable (click the photos to see the final result). We’re hoping that once the bench top and stove go in, that we won’t spend so much time looking at our feet but will lift our eyes upwards (must be a lesson in that some where).
Meanwhile, my stove continues to wait its turn in the middle of our living room and the range hood takes up space in the spare bedroom and I wonder if this room called a kitchen will ever be finished. My impatience is not lessened by our microwave oven blowing up this past week. Our renovation began with my toaster packing it in, to be followed by my breadmaker, and we suspect my electric jug is also about to go the same way. At this rate, I’m going to have no appliances left to cook with by the time my kitchen is finished, and certainly none worthy of moving into my new kitchen.
Our painters came for three days and after the first day we asked ourselves, “What have they done all day?” That they haven’t yet finished in the kitchen/dining room is another disappointment although not up there on the bad-taste-left-in-your-mouth scale that the floor rates.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Son#1 and his beautiful family came yesterday and Son#1 installed our lights. We’re still waiting on the shades to arrive for the pendant lights over the bench and china cabinet, but we have no doubt we’ll be as delighted with them as we are with the rest. When it comes to placement, Son#1 definitely got it right: at night there’s not a shadow to be seen in the working areas of the kitchen. DH – who can be a trifle hard to please one hundred percent when it comes to such things – was impressed and thrilled. And the fact that the lights are now installed and we have to look up to appreciate them has certainly taken our eyes from down low and a floor that each day grows on us even if it will never completely win us over.
And this week? My bench top is pencilled in to be installed on Tuesday. It would be wonderful if that could be immediately followed by installation of my stove and range hood compete with all the services (water, power, gas), tiling, and painting. But that might be expecting just a little too much???
To say we were disappointed is an understatement. Devastated might be a better choice of word. DH, whose love of timber surpasses my own, was considering having the kitchen uninstalled and replacing all the affected boards. Given how close we are to finishing, this option didn’t sit well with me, but we could see little choice.
However our contractor worked on it with dyes and stains and secrets of his craft, and the result is that the floor, while not the thing of absolute beauty we had hoped for, is acceptable (click the photos to see the final result). We’re hoping that once the bench top and stove go in, that we won’t spend so much time looking at our feet but will lift our eyes upwards (must be a lesson in that some where).
Meanwhile, my stove continues to wait its turn in the middle of our living room and the range hood takes up space in the spare bedroom and I wonder if this room called a kitchen will ever be finished. My impatience is not lessened by our microwave oven blowing up this past week. Our renovation began with my toaster packing it in, to be followed by my breadmaker, and we suspect my electric jug is also about to go the same way. At this rate, I’m going to have no appliances left to cook with by the time my kitchen is finished, and certainly none worthy of moving into my new kitchen.
Our painters came for three days and after the first day we asked ourselves, “What have they done all day?” That they haven’t yet finished in the kitchen/dining room is another disappointment although not up there on the bad-taste-left-in-your-mouth scale that the floor rates.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Son#1 and his beautiful family came yesterday and Son#1 installed our lights. We’re still waiting on the shades to arrive for the pendant lights over the bench and china cabinet, but we have no doubt we’ll be as delighted with them as we are with the rest. When it comes to placement, Son#1 definitely got it right: at night there’s not a shadow to be seen in the working areas of the kitchen. DH – who can be a trifle hard to please one hundred percent when it comes to such things – was impressed and thrilled. And the fact that the lights are now installed and we have to look up to appreciate them has certainly taken our eyes from down low and a floor that each day grows on us even if it will never completely win us over.
And this week? My bench top is pencilled in to be installed on Tuesday. It would be wonderful if that could be immediately followed by installation of my stove and range hood compete with all the services (water, power, gas), tiling, and painting. But that might be expecting just a little too much???
Comments
- DIL#1