Atelier 918

Kitchen Planning Update

The kitchen project is moving really slowly right now. We have our cabinet style and basic cabinet/drawer layout all together, but we need to figure out who we are going to order through. Hopefully that can happen soon.

It is a really great time to order cabinetry right now. With the economic slowdown many manufacturers are offering discounts -- even manufacturers who don't typically offer these types of promotions. You can get custom paint for free, probably negotiate a flat discount as well.

There are so many beatiful cabinet options available today. If you have the money I say go for it.

We still need to order our new appliances and still no progress on the flooring.

At this rate I think we might be done in time for Thanksgiving. Sigh.

Some cement tile merchants

Just a couple that I've found in my research.

Art & Ciment

Original Mission Tile

Permit Progress

Our plans are now filed with the City and permits are in hand for our little addition. We are comparing final bids before selecting a contractor to work on the project but it should be starting in the next couple of weeks.

There are a few aspects of our remodel that are up in the air still. Windows is one thing. Do we try to find salvage windows, what with Sound Transit doing demo of houses in our area for the new light rail line? Do we get new? If new do we get fiberglass windows or wood windows? The window dealer was playing it that wooden windows fall apart really quickly. It makes me wonder if she is speaking the truth or if she just gets a bigger commission on one over the other.

We also haven't decided where we are going to move the washer and dryer, currently off the kitchen and totally convenient. We want that area for a pantry and we were thinking about putting the laundry on the sleeping porch -- but we have greater hopes for the sleeping porch. Other options are replace them with a stacked pair in the downstairs powder room, which is pretty small and would definately make it less of a guest bathroom if we had to replace that. We could put them in the basement but it is dirty and unfinished down there (coal and oil soot from the old boilers, now gas) and I hated doing laundry in the basement while growing up. Not sure. Not sure...

We have continued looking into floor tile. My partner's mother knows someone who imports the cement tile from Morocco and they are sending us a catalog. From a design standpoint I'm not sure if we want to do full pattern across the floor or just a more selected use of patterned tiles against a solid color.

saturday planning

we have to work on the kitchen cabinet plans -- what structures to store what. I was talking about this aspect of planning for our kitchen remodel with someone at the office yesterday and she thought it would be fun. For me however,who does planning and analysis and project management all week long it is more of the same. Plus, with our toddler there just isn't that much time for us to work on it together -- let alone really explore our options.

I've got loads of books and magazines though, plus the Internet, so I will work it as best as I can.

Kitchen Addition Mock-up

Based on the drawings of the building engineer, with input from the window dealer, we have come up with a more detailed diagram of what the addition to our kitchen will look like. We are basically just enclosing the porch area fully, add in a pantry and putting in some new windows. We also will be removing two windows.

My partner really wanted my feedback and that got me in a panic. The plans we will submit to the city for our permits and once we agree to the plans we kinda need to stick with the plan. Any changes along the way could get expensive, and it isn't like I can change my mind after the construction is complete if I don't like it. And sentimental me feels sad about removing one window in particular.

So, Photoshop queen that I am, mocked up what the house would look like from the outside. Here are the before and after versions:

 

 

Not too bad. My main concerns for the changes is that there should be both design harmony with the rest of the house, and also that the interior flow made sense -- sort of more from a feng shui standpoint.

kitchen storage planning

We've been working with a cabinet dealer for our kitchen remodel and I was hoping to get a little more guidance on storage planning and needs. Since that isn't happening I started wooking on a spreadsheet listing out all the items in our kitchen. I looked around online fir any planning tools of that sort but didn't find any in the limited time I have.

I have been adding in notes, both of where the cabinet dealers plans have things going and where I will want them. I see lots of omissions in the current plans. The basic configuration will stay the same but whether we have drawers or cupboards or other special structures all needs work. It might take another two weeks to get it all finalized.

Has anyone seen how a kitchen remodel is kind of an odd puzzle? You gave to sort of figure out what styles you like and then get some benchmark info on sizes and then you have to tweak everything to get it all to come together. At least that's how our kitchen remodel planning project is progressing.

Stolen Stained Glass Window - Help

Just in case the blogosphere can help, recently a stained glass window was stolen from our front port where we had it hanging as a decoration. This was a gift from a family member and something we enjoyed and we would like to get it back -- as unlikely as that may be.

If you happen to be in the market for used stained glass windows and come across it (eBay? Craigslist? local stained glass dealers?) could you let me know? I've filed a report with the Seattle Police as well, just in case that helps in any way. It was screwed in with two eye-hooks on the top, so there would be odd holes there.

A sign of the times? I hope not.

Here's a picture of the window

Planning on a new view

We had a consultant out from a window dealer on Saturday, to review our kitchen plans and take measurements for our new windows and doors.

With the remodel we are going to add a eating area by enclosing our back porch and opening up the laundry room into the kitchen as a pantry and new entrance. We are going to relocate our washer and dryer to the second floor sleeping porch, which will also be renovated.

We are going to replace an aluminum bay window, that doesn't match the house architecture, with a box bay that will be more fitting. The new eating area will have windows extended down to about knee level, for maximum light and in keeping with other windows in our house.

met with the building engineer

We had a building engineer out this morning to start work on our plans. He is going to help us get everything in order to apply for our permits including drawings.

He and his assistant went around and took measurements and inspected the building structure inside and out while my partner described our plans.

They also confirmed that the floor could support the weight of the AGA Six-Four. They thought the position next to the wall wall even better than the island placement we had considered previously, as that wall is right over a supporting beam. They thought venting the exhaust from the hood would work either through our chimney (we have a third flue, originally used for the kitchen stove 100 years ago) or out the side of the house.

We are hoping to get the project completed this summer.

Ponderings on the Master Bedroom

We are starting to toy around with some ideas for redoing our bedroom. The walls are pink and the carpet is beige, both from the prior owners. The walls are imperfect behind, covered with some 5 layers of wallpaper and below that is calcimine paint. I'm not sure we're up to deal with striping all that down. We might just wallpaper over it -- a new idea that came to us.

I haven't given the carpeting much thought yet. I do know that the refinished floors upstairs look gorgeous in my office and the baby's room. It might be nice to redo the floor in the master bedroom as well, and then buy a large area rug for warmth and sound proofing.

I don't know what colors to do yet either -- though not blue. We have already used too much blue in the house.

I found these two sites for inspiration:

Charles Burger -- fabrics from Paris

Thibaut - wallpaper and fabric

Here's a shot of the Charles Burger shop in Paris: