kitchen cabinets -after

remodeling the kitchen has so far been the funnest project. we used walnut along with a glossy (almost glittery) white laminate on the cabinets. all materials are "green" with no formaldehyde emission. the counter top is made of a paper product called richlite. most appliances are bosch, the cabinet pulls are from home depot expo.

what is missing from this montage is our dining room table and the sliders to the deck.
thank you cj and tj for the remodeling help and thank you "woodmasters" for building these custom cabinets!

kitchen cabinets -before

here is an old image of our kitchen as it looked when we moved in. the sink was installed such long time ago that water could pour down into the cabinet underneath any time someone splashed some water out over the edges. there was no way to use the dishwasher because the rinsing water would splash all over the counter top any time the machine needed a rinse. the electric stove was similarly interesting. one christmas day, as we were heating up some soup on it, the whole thing (the entire stove with oven) fell between the two cabinets that were supporting it.

we tried to give the kitchen a "face-lift" first, by painting the cabinets inside and out. it was a fun project (we even painted the walls yellow), but of course all the problems remained. the drawers were squeaking so loudly when one pulled them out just a tiny bit, the noise could wake a sleeping person up. the water was damaging the cabinets all around the sink. the cabinets in general were small, narrow, and some of them were awkwardly sized and shaped. we wanted to change the pantry door to a sliding pocket door so we could have more space for the fridge door. the floor used to be covered with linoleum; today there is a bamboo floor throughout the entire living area.

to make the transition between kitchen and living room smoother, we opened the walls above an old doorway. we decided to use the space above the old cabinets and designed an extra row on top with lighting. painted over the yellow paint, pulled out the old appliances, and completely redesigned all the cabinets.

now we know what we are not missing, at all

i just found some old images of our house from the time we moved in with yellow windows, and shiny gold patterned wallpaper.

soon after the wallpaper was removed, the place became the "house of tools and mess". this is an image of the entrance area (door is to the right, not visible). i hope not too many people came over or stopped by, ... or if they did, they could forgive this unsightly "welcome".

the walls were so dirty, at places the white washed wood appeared to be greasy and wet. the color of the original carpet is a mystery we never could solve. it didn't matter after all, for we only had to look at it before we actually moved in.

the new railing

glass panels and stainless steel framing; the closest thing we could come up with to having nothing here at all.

i finally found some time today and glued down the screw caps too. thank you rcr for our cool new railing and the installation.

the old railing is out

the wall-to-wall carpet was removed from everywhere before we moved in (2002).

the house had a heavily paint-splattered subfloor for about 3.5 years. at one point we actually cleaned the areas where the sanding machine could reach but never found the time to go over the edges with a hand sander.
the old wrought iron railing was so awkward in an interior space we actually preferred not having a railing at all.

... and so we didn't, for 2 years. it took about that long to get the new one in after the flooring was replaced. we really liked the open space; it's too bad the drop at this area of the house is about 6 feet, there must be a rail.

and the new colors are...

kelly moore's "slippery shale" (a greenish gray) on the main body, "end of summer" (soft yellow) under the eaves, "hamlet" (beige) on window frames, and side doors, and finally "defense" (dark gray) on the beams and roof edges.

we are still undecided about what to do with the entrance door and the old painted porch's (not shown) colors but the house is almost all the way painted!

even the dog's door (side garage door) looks so much nicer.
we hope our neighbors will like the new look.

thank you e.h for the beautiful paint job!

mustard yellow

after more than 5 years of waiting, we feel very ready to change this mustard yellow color on the house and we believe our neighbors feel similarly...

laundry area in the garage

our new laundry corner of the garage is finished; complete with a pull-out faucet and a fold-down table (to fold our clean cloths). no more dropping piles of t-shirts on the ground. thank you p.l for the beautiful wood work and thank you cj for moving the walls here so we can have such a nice laundry.

a brand new window

a few days ago a new window was added to the house. we get more light, as long as the garage door is opened. maybe some day this door could be changed to one with a clear or frosted glass panel... thank you p.l for the installation!