Kitchen cabinets done!

Handles have been added. Hinges are brand new. Cabinets are painted. Took only about.. oh... 4 weeks.

Before






After

Lots of wood and screwing around

Bought 1200 sq foot from Costco on Saturday (7/16). It weighed about 1500 lbs. Valerie and I lifted about that much each because we had to load the U-haul truck and unload it in the house.




Finally got around to cutting the screws 1/4 inch because they were too long. Now we can put the handles on the kitchen cabinets. The hinges are scheduled to arrive today.

More paint!

Valerie paining the kitchen cabinets dark green.


The new 3-door fridge and dark green cabinets.


Masking the walls for painting. "It's more comfortable to sit like this." - Valerie


Wall before paint. Also, still needed to choose what grill/mirror will go on the wall.


Sage green is painted on.


Living room is also sage green.


The cat hanging out.


The cat zooming up the stairs.


Rick's blue studio wall and iMac G4 20inch.


Valerie's red studio wall.


Sewing machines and new sewing desk.


Adora washer and dryers by GE.

Wax On, Wax Off

3 hours of sanding later, I began to wonder who's great idea this was... Oh, wait, it was mine. Lucky for me, since Rick was not going to have any part of it, we had decided on not sanding the kitchen cabinets since I had spent 4 hours on just one door. But there was still the stair rail which was badly scratched up and needed a new coat of stain. I guess I could be like Rick and not care either way, but I guess I do care... too damn much. So 3 hours later, with sawdust coming out of my nose, I finished sanding down the rail... tomorrow's stain day, and hopefully it won't be as painful.

HoBart

I was a bit worried about HoBart (the kitty) not adjusting well to the move. On his first day here, he would find whatever nearest, dark corner he could find and curl himself in as far as he could. Bribing him with a treat would not even get the slightest reaction. He would just stare straight ahead and ignore me... I really thought that he was mad at me and that he would be so traumatized that he would turn into one of those kitties that spend all day hiding and only come out when no one is around. What had happened to the black fuzz ball of rambunctious, hyperactive energy that was HoBart? Fortunately, it only took him a couple days of deep exploring until he soon claimed the house as his, proclaimed himself king and named us his faithful followers again. Of all the new places around his new kingdom, he has found favorite stake-out spots at the master bedroom window sill which is nice and wide to accomodate his, uh, gait, and at the top of the stairs where he can spy any intruders. And lucky for us, he has approved the new couch.

Knee-deep in...

Painting sucks... I feel like I'm just watching the paint dry... I have 15 cabinet doors to paint and by tomorrow, hopefully, 8 will be dry--on both sides. The Home Depot has become my second home. I go there just about every day. I should be on a first name basis with the entire crew by next week. I feel like such a butch chick--jeans caked with paint, hiking boots, sportsbra and tank top, hair pulled back and no make-up. I dumped the whole purse thing and just carry a small cigarette case that holds my credit cards and I.D., to make it easier to carry paints and supplies as I shop. Today I put in a little more effort and put on some make-up and sort of did my hair. I needed to feel feminine again.

Sink clogged

Went to Ace Hardware in Fullerton and asked the sales person if they had something stronger than Drano. They had the "stuff" Alana suggested getting. The sales person said, "you want the acid." He went to a back room and got a white container (below) covered in a plastic bag. The acid was $10 bucks.

Gonna try a pressured device first before I try the acid.


"Flush Out" the acid from Ace

Painting kitchen cabinets

Valerie started to sand the kitchen cabinets on Monday in order for us to restain them. We realized this was going to take really really really long. We decided it would be better to paint them. She painted them today and most of it went well, until she poured the bucket of diluted paint from rinsing the brushes into the sink and it backed up. Not sure if it's from the paint or if it was an existing problem. Tried two types of Drano and no success. Alana suggested going to ace to buy a more powerful liquid... stay tuned.



Cabinet doors being painted in the garage

Moving: part 2

We are 95% moved in as of Sunday, June 26, 2005. With help from Rookie and Sticky and one huge-ass U-haul we got most of the heavy stuff. Valerie has a ton of clothes ("I'm a costume designer... what do you expect").

The cat didn't take the move very well on the first day here. He was hiding and was scared of every sound.

Today, we unpacked some boxes and there is a lot more room now to walk around.


U-haul in front of the garage


Rookie and sticky unloading

Cable, locks and couch.

Cable guy came over, took longer than I though it would, but he finally got the cable modem set up. During the time the cable guy was cover, the locksmith came to re-key the locks. Took him about 30 minutes. The cable guy finally figured it out and internet works fine... it's a little slower than time warner.

The couch came on Friday in perfect condition.

Moving: part 1

We did a small move today, about the size of a cargo van's worth.

Our new LG 3-door fridge was delivered when we were unpacking the cargo van. The gate in front was too small so the Best Buy guys had to lift and carry it over.

We loaded the cargo van pull of things from storage for another small move tomorrow.

Electricity, Water and Gas

Called the Public Utilities today. The utilities are being switch on this Monday. Cost for that is only 10 bucks. Gas is the only thing not included in this utilities bill. That's gonna be up and running Monday as well. They're charging $25 bucks.

We are on scheduled to move in tomorrow. Yah!

Photos from May 2005

Moving in and remodeling of our new home. 199 North Magnolia Ave. We'll keep you updated with photos and comments.


Front patio



Kitchen



Living room



Garage



Master bedroom