Evolution of a Staircase

Continuing in our efforts to NOT work on cabinets anymore, we have reworked both of the staircases. They have been the only bad surprise yet in the process of removing the carpet. They were pine, so they had a zillion carpet staples and dents. Some of them were even hacked off on the side where they added the lovely rounded section off to the side.

So, now they're all new. Half new really. We patched and painted the risers, but the treads are all new. They're oak and they kinda match the color of the oak flooring. Not perfect but I had no interest in mixing and matching and all that. This was a one-coat-and-done project. Regardless they look a lot better than the pine ones.

The Final Cabinets

After much ado, the last two cabinets are in their final resting places. Getting them done was a challenge b/c the insides had to be stained, and the outsides, and the bottoms, etc etc. Plus they had to have special alder shelves built, stained, etc. All because I wanted to have some of those fancy glass doors. Its the special details like this that really make a project drag on... and on...

But, we persevered. And getting them mounted meant we could finish several other things: the backsplash, and the undercabinet lighting, which means I can use my garbage disposal again. Yipee!

So what remains? Oh mainly just the doors - all 39 of them. Crown molding... and... ya know that's about it. Maybe we will finish this project one day.

Abby the Painter

Abby's a great helper.

Looking sweet and obedient.

I like this one because she has that wild look in her eyes - that's her true personality, don't be fooled.

Valentine's/President's Day Celebration

Blog post commitment update: I'm counting today as part of the weekend, since its a holiday, and therefore this is the second post of the week, last week I mean. Even though its technically monday of the following week. Its my blog, I make the rules.

This weekend we did do a lot of house work, but we also took a break and went up to Estes Park to do something we've always said we should - spend a night at the historic Stanley Hotel. Staying there in February was perfect because Estes is nearly empty. We practically had the place to ourselves, a stark contrast to conditions when the weather is warmer. This place inspired Stephen King to write "The Shining", but the most famous version wasn't filmed there. A later version, directed by the King himself, was filmed at the Stanley but we once Netflix'd that one and it is a major stinker. Still, its a very cool building, built in 1909. Lots of ghost tours take place each day. Silly tourists... Check out this pic though: Its the ghost of Lord Dunraven. Okay, it may have been the maintenance man. Check out these moldings. They were like 6 layers deep. *sigh* Today we went showshoeing in Rocky Mtn National Park. Just a quick trip up to Emerald Lake, 3.6 mi round trip or so. Still, I'm beat. The views were incredible. Great weather. Couldn't ask for a better President's Day.

Things You Can Use an Iron For

There are two major functions in cabinet making that require the use of your iron.

#1) Edge banding

This is how you turn a piece of plywood into a faux slab of solid hardwood. The lumber yard here sells pre-made rolls of edging material. It almost looks like wood tape, conveniently coated with heat activated glue on the back side. So, lay the strip down where you want it, cut it to size, apply the iron, press hard, that's about it. Then you have to trim the edges a bit to get the look of perfection, but they sell tools for that (the yellow thing). In this pic I think we've edged the sides of the cabinet but not the back.

#2) Dent removal

This trick is the coolest if you've managed to bang up, scratch, or dent your nice expensive raw wood. Set the iron on the highest steam setting. After its warm and steamy, let the steam from the iron soak into the dented part of the wood but don't press the iron directly on the wood. If the wood is just dented, then the damage will magically disappear before your eyes. MAGIC. With scratches, there will also be a major improvement but probably not perfection. This whole process takes just a few seconds. Its a no-brainer on solid wood, and while the internet advises against this for plywood, I've done it several times with great results. I haven't tried this on finished wood, also not recommended by most, but I will one day, just to see what happens.

Another brush with reality TV

What could be more exciting to an avid HGTV watcher like me than getting to spend a weekend in a suite designed as part of the HGTV DesignStar competition? Well, several things.. but I digress.

This is the suite. Its at the insane Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Sara Evans was the celebrity style influence or something like that...

And here's moi sitting right there.


Have you ever watch those HGTV design shows where they give tips like "Just take an ordinary throw pillow and hot glue a fancy trim on the edges!"? Don't you ever wonder if that really looks as bad as it sounds? Hot glue? Well folks, the answer is yes, it does look bad... as bad as an 8th grade OM project. And it holds up about as well as can be expected too:



That reference to OM is a great segway into the real reason I got to stay in the lovely suite:

A Groundhog Day Resolution

Be it known that I am hereby resolving to update this blog more regularly. Let's put a number to it: twice a week. That's right. Call me craaaazy but important milestones in the journey towards our finished kitchen are being missed, lost forever.

Here's a major milestone: All 8 drawers are designed, constructed, assembled, and resting peacefully in their forever homes. I thought this would be a major ordeal, but we impressed ourselves by getting all that done in the span of a week or so. How did we do it? Well first we nixed the "dovetail" idea. That would've been a nice touch, and a major time sink. Second, the fancy Blum drawer slides we bought are, simply, a work of engineering genius. They are SO nice. They work perfectly, with tolerance for error built in on all dimensions. And they install in a snap, even without purchasing the pricey Blum installation jigs. They even have a soft-close feature, which I'm sure will add major $ to our bottom line when we go to sell this place. Check this out:



Here's something else that's pretty cool. We made one of the large desk area drawers in to a file cabinet. August just loves filing things and keeping them forever, so this will be perfect for us.













That's all for today folks. I can think of at least 2 more important blog posts that need to go up, and more topics are coming every day. I think we've finally found our long-lost motivation... more on that later!