Last Trip Before Leasing The Cottage

I took the last trip to the house this past weekend.  It is a little sad to give it to someone else to live in.  As I told the tenant, "I did this as if I was going to live here myself."  It wasn't a cheap rental for profit reno. It was a project that stretched my imagination and taught me a lot.

One day. Retirement in Hideaway. Or .... maybe ... something else?

My favorite kitchen ever. From dark, dank hole to light bright functional kitchen.

The light paint on the deck, the bright white eaves and now the finishing touch, the white gutters, make it just what I wanted it to be.

The utility room was D-A-R-K paneling from the 70's, no window and ugly carpeted floor.  Now look at it. Tankless water heater, the folding table and the stacking appliances. Bright. White. Clean.

Almost Done! 3/12 Update

Went to the house today - here are some photos I took. I am pretty happy with the kitchen. It turned out EXACTLY as I imagined it would.  The only thing left is to unwrap the cabinets, but that comes after the make ready cleaning lady gets through.  What a beautiful day.  Great Sunday. Check these out!

 I bought the curtain rod and rings from Amazon and they were delivered in a couple of days. (Please forgive the camera angle - the rod is actually quite level..LOL)

Gotta love the camp chair huh?  I used it at many open houses in vacant homes for the past few years.

The drapes are Pottery Barn white cotton purchased from eBay for less than $15/panel. I saved a bunch of $$!

The kitchen just gets better and better I think. Even when its cloudy outside, it was bright and light inside!

Front entry.  New cellular shades are easy up and down and still let light in but provide privacy. The old chandelier on the left has to go.  I have a brushed nickel one, but I may spring for a smaller version of the Shaker light over the peninsula. But that might be too "matchy" ... Hmm.

The under mount sink has a wire insert in the bottom. I opted for a single vessel sink instead of the double sink usually found in these homes. I like this one. I opted for a very light grey grout and it looks pretty good!

The corner cabinet really helps make use of all the available space in that otherwise dead corner.

I am glad the former owner let me pick the color of the new roof installed as part of my offer on the house. I like the lighter grey. The day turned out to be beautiful. I never get tired of coming to Hideaway!

Backsplash Love..

I got an update from friend Nancy today who stopped by the house and sent me a couple photos of the newly installed window/backsplash. I decided to go full on and tile the entire area instead of going to the bottom of the window. I think it came out well!

The amazing part of this is that you can get such a great look for very little money. These tiles cost less than a QUARTER each!

What A Difference A Day Makes - Countertops!

After a delay due to material availability, I got a call early this morning that the countertops had been fabricated and were ready to install.... TODAY!  Amazing.  

Preparing the cabinet surfaces to take the thick quartz countertops.

This material is from Lowes as the house brand, "allen & roth" in the Vashon colorway.  It is 3cm thick so about 1.25" thick = HEAVY

The light hanging over the counter was purchased from Amazon. It is from Kenroy Home and is a shaker style wire frame with woven wood.  

I thought it looked pretty cool as a foil to the stark white and picks up the wood tones of the floors.  All that for just under $100... killer.

The peninsula is a full 30" wide with a 6" overhang on the end and back side; just made for a couple of bar stools.

Countertop material closeup.  Looks great with eased sides and slightly rounded corners.

I bought an under mount sink from Schoen and a Schoen pull down faucet (not yet installed).  The 30" single basin stainless sink is coated on the bottom outside with thick rubber for sound deadening - cool!

Some additional pics - front yard was cleaned of leaves and all trees were trimmed and had the canopy raised - something that had not been done in years.

Hideaway requires house numbers in the yard. I had this made for me form a vendor on Etsy.com.  The brushed aluminum center plate is overlaid with a rusty steel laser cut with the house number on it.

A good contractor does things without being asked and doesn't nickel and dime you to death - to wit, the entire house was pressure washed when they prepared the deck for the stain because as the contractor said, "Why wouldn't you do that?"  Indeed.  Gutters with leaf guards coming soon.

Front yard.  Can't wait until the bulbs sprout in the Spring in the flower bed.

Trees were trimmed and probably three years worth of leaves carted away. Amazing.

Saturday - February 18th Update and New Photos

I went to the house today to meet with the contractor and get a timeline working for the end of the project.  As usual, very happy with the progress.  I'll just share these pics and comment if warranted.   Happy Saturday!

There will be a beadboard panel added to the right hand side of the kitchen on the pantry cabinet facing the living area for some continuity to the look.

Mounted the tankless on the wall which will be under the countertop in the laundry area. The stacking washer/dryer will go on the right.

Yeah, OK I am a little obsessed with the big deck on the back of the house.