Kitchen Remodel....Yup day 302 ;)

So you probably wondered why I never finished up the kitchen remodel posts with grades for Ameritiles. The reason is that they weren't finished and still aren't. However, today they added the granite behind the stove. Originally when we planned the kitchen, we were keeping our appliances. When everything was in, we realized how ugly our eye sore white appliances looked with the bright kitchen. We decided to get a stove without the knobs on the back to show off the blacksplash more. What we didn't know at the time was that those stoves need to have 2.5 inches of counter space behind them. The stove did come with a plate which we used in the mean time while Ameritiles got around to adding our granite. Here is the before with the plate. You can see that there is a gap on each side of the plate...not so pretty.
3 men came to install the tiny piece of granite which took all of 15 minutes....wonder why it took so long for them to come out and install it.........Here is the almost finished project. I say almost because we need to add the gray grout from the backsplash to it to continue the grout line from the original work. Mr. E now has a weekend project :) I tried to take a picture with less bling from the backsplash...not sure it worked well, but you get the gist.
One tiny mistake Ameritiles needs to fix (that they are procrastinating on fixing)and we'll be DONE!!!!!!!!!! Woot!! Oh wait...still have the loaner fridge;(

Bridesmaid Reunion

Mr.E and I have been married for 5 years. Yesterday was the first time since the wedding that all of my bridesmaids have been together. My friend L and her hubby and daughter were in town. I figured what a nice way to get everyone together and of course show off the new kitchen :) Here is the kitchen party ready!
Here are my girls 5 years ago and now ;)
There have been many changes....marriage, babies...but they are still great women and friends!

The weather wasn't looking pretty, but by the time the party started it cleared right up and it wasn't too hot! So the kids got to play outside. The men and L, however, stayed in to watch college football.
A few of the outdoor favorites for the kids were the water table which was more fun with bubbles and sand in it, the trampoline, and the new porch swing.

Once it got dark out, everyone headed inside to ROCK OUT! to the Beatles Rock Band. Everyone got a chance to play or sing.

My favorite picture of the rockers were of S's son and Little Lion, who are both 2, jamming out. I can see that we will be able to retire soon since they are going to form their own band :)The girl's were showing off how scary they could be in Little Lion's new fort. They also dragged in L which lead to a fabulous picture!!All in all it was a wonderful party! Our next party will have to happen soon! But first I'll brush up on my singing skills :)

Labor Day Weekend...Really!

Whoa Boy! We worked HARD over Labor Day weekend!! Mr. E and I had to paint the kitchen, but also decided to paint our hallway walls which have not been painted since we moved in 6 years ago. We decided to paint the kitchen a light, but bright yellow. Here is the progress.

Our hallway is long from our front door to our back sliding glass door. We decided to keep it pretty close to the color it is...beige since the other walls are dramatic....red in the family room, yellow in the kitchen and purple in the living/dining room. Can you see the difference? The wall on the left is freshly painted :)Mr. E also decided to add a border to the edge of the backsplash that hung over. We also changed the ugly white outlet covers to silver metal, and it matches the backsplash.I also am scrambling to find decor for the top of the cabinets before a little get together. So we got a couple of things and I'm not 100% yet. The wall art still isn't hung, but you get the jist.
So 98% done and I'm going to show off the kitchen with my college friends this weekend! Hopefully all our hard work pays off with lots of joy in the kitchen :)

The Kitchen Loaner and Problems updated

I'd have to say that the kitchen is about 90% done! I should have known our 2 week project has turned into 2 months and I'm going to be rushing to be done in time for our get together with friends in a week and a half! Remember my previous post where we had lots of problems with our arrival of our appliances. Here is the list of problems from that post and I'll update in green.

Problem #1 will be taken care of by Mr. E....I hope :) He thinks he's handy enough to install a microwave. Mr. E was handy enough to do it with my help ;) We got the same name brand of microwave, and putting it up was not an issue since we were able to use the bracket that was already on the wall.I think what I'm going to do about Problem #2 is to get a refund on the refrigerator and order a brand new model and suck up the price. A lesson learned is that you pay for what you get on big purchases!!! So we went to Appliance Direct and they didn't have anymore New in the Box GE Profiles. They looked up when they would get them and it stated late September! HELLO I have a party September 12!! We decided to look around for one at another store. Can you believe EVERY SINGLE STORE was out of stock!!!! And they all had a shipment date of late September. GRRR!!! However, AD was kind enough to get us a loaner fridge until the new one is shipped in :) It was delivered today! It's GE Profile as well, but counter depth which I don't want since I like more space in my freezer, but a girl has to compromise at this point other wise I'd have a white fridge for the party (see ugly pic above) . I love the look of all black! The kitchen is soooo sleek now :) Problem #3 will hopefully be fixed tomorrow. I pray that there is nothing majorly wrong or something that the last stupid electrician did to our wires!!! The electricians (not the crappy one from the remodel) came over the next morning. The outlet was fine. The only problem was that the men must have pulled out the outlet from the wall causing it to make sparks. Thank goodness it wasn't something major!!

Also yesterday we got our barstools. We had originally planned to get stools that matched the desk chair, but Mr. E decided he wanted swivel stools instead since that was what he was used to sitting on. Our evening last night consisting on putting together the stools. I like them, but don't love them. I think I miss my funky stools with the red seats. Maybe I don't want to grow up yet:) Here's the kitchen with matching stools.This long weekend I plan on shopping for decor and painting the walls since the fixed dry wall needs to be painted over. Good times! I see the light!!!!

Kitchen Update

Yes I haven't posted much on the kitchen in a while, but it was because nothing was being done. We had to wait for Frank to come out and finish the back splash.
I was REALLY REALLY hoping the appliances would come in, but they have not. Appliance Direct is on my sh!t list at the moment. They said that they should be arriving tomorrow and hopefully we'll have them installed by the weekend! However, I know you are all anxious to see a kinda final project. Here are some shots.


I said kinda because as you can see it isn't decorated to my liking. We need to get new barstools, decor on top of the cabinets, and of course the appliances. We also have one more issue to fix with Ameritiles. Under our island granite, the wood got chipped. They are going to replace it. It's not a huge eye sore, but if you are getting a new kitchen you want everything perfect ;)

I still need to give you my full review of Ameritiles, the plumber, and electrician, but I'm going to wait to make sure I have their word on fixing the wood and installing a small piece of granite behind the new stove. The teacher in me can't wait to make a report card for them :)

Kitchen Remodel Day 10 Continued from Yesterday!

Well the house was empty by 10pm!! There were some changes. The biggest and best change was the adding of the crown molding! I never realized how naked our cabinet were!!! We added a decorative touch to the crown molding to bring in the black color of the granite.

The electrician and plumber came back to fix their mistakes. You can now see our beautiful lights that are evenly spaced :)Since we knew the plumber was coming we brought home our new dishwasher and he installed it. How do you like the black?????We are about 95% done ;) All that is left is to finish the backsplash, fix the tile, install the rest of the appliances, and decorate :) There is a light!!!! Unfortunately due to personal issues of the tile guy, he won't be back in town until later next week. So our kitchen will be at a stand still until then. I'm sure I'll blog before than, but it probably won't be about the kitchen. I think we all need a break anyway ;)

Kitchen Remodel Day 10 *Updated*

Today is going to be another busy day! Right now the backsplash is getting done. We did run into some problems. The *lovely* electrician didn't put the outlet box in correctly and it needs to be fixed before putting the backsplash up. The electrician isn't coming until this evening. That means it'll be another day of construction!!! So Hugo had to work around the issue. You can see where the line is to start the tile.
Our next problem is that we realized that we didn't have enough decorative tiles. Remember we had another tile to add, but didn't use it because of it being the wrong color. We had to take some of the decorative tiles out and spread them out more. Here's the new design. You may want to click on the picture to make it bigger to see the different tiles.

It really doesn't look this shiny! I think the flash of the camera makes it bling bling baby :) More to come later....hopefully with less problems!!!

Well the tile guy left. He finished what he could. He couldn't finish because of the electrician and was missing some tiles, but here is his final result. I like it, but don't love it. I think it needs more punch like a burst of color. OH well ;) And don't mind the bright white appliances!
The carpenter just got here to install the crown molding. I'll try and get some pictures up tonight.

Kitchen Remodel Day 9 Continued

Sooooo I was a bad blogger who didn't update the rest of day 9 and then I got busy with my birthday and all :) Yes I'm giving excuses!!

Friday was *supposed* to be the last day of the remodel. Not to surprisingly, it's not done. Friday started out good and then went to chaos to frustration! As you saw from the previous post the tile guys were there to finish the backsplash and floors. The electrician was there to hook up the outlets to the island and hang the lights. The plumber was there to install the faucet and dishwasher.

Everyone knew what they were doing and what they needed to get done. The problem was that they were in each other's way. The tile guys couldn't get the grout down with the plumber/electrician in the way. Frank couldn't do the backsplash because the electrician was moving the cable outlet over. Finally at 4 the plumber got done allowing way for the grout to be put down. The electrician wanted to be done too ( you know Friday night party and stuff)...I think he got careless. He put up our 3 pendant lights. Do you notice anything odd?????They aren't evenly placed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is an inch difference between the first light and the second. UMMMMMM you are a professional (and he did tell Mr. E that he was perfectionist....LOL) don't you think you'd be able to measure correctly???? I think Mr. E could have done just as good of a job and not have charged us an abundant amount of money!!!! They will be coming back out here sometime this week! I'm not paying until I'm happy!!!! I just hope another hole in the ceiling doesn't make it look worse!

There were a few other issues. Frank couldn't start the backsplash due to personal issues beyond his control which I understand. There were a few tiles that weren't laid flat compared to the others. The holes cut into the island to put the outlets in were sloppy. However, Jay came over yesterday and addressed all my concerns and is going to fix them. I just find it crazy that people don't put their best work in the first time! Why wouldn't you want to do the job right when you're just going to have to fix it later??? Or do customers not pay attention???? If I'm paying money for anything at FULL price ;) I expect the best! At least Ameritiles is coming through to fix all my issues (kitchen ones not mental ones ;)

AND the biggest issue of the day......Appliances!!!! We moved in our appliances and YUCK!!!!!! They stuck out like a sore thumb being while and all. So off we went to get new black ones for my birthday ;) They should be arriving early next week!
Here are the eye sores and another view of our uneven lights.
On a happier note, we installed the wine fridge and it looks great!! Little Lion has enjoyed turning the light on and off....next we'll get one that you can lock the buttons ;) The blue tape is for the mistakes I saw.The tile guys and carpenter are coming out tomorrow. So hopefully the back splash and crown molding will get done! I'll be taking pictures!