9.29.2009

Shelving Brings out The Robot in Him



We have been mulling over what to do in the two nooks next to the faux fireplace. We needed to find a solution to store components, dvd's, cd's, etc. We contemplated built-in's but that would be an arm and a leg. My friend "S" had a good point. We would be dropping a lot of cash for something we can't take with us the day we move out. Good way of looking at it. On the other hand, it could add value. Built-in's are cherished in this town. People go nuts over them.

We went to IKEA. Three times. We looked at the Billy Bookcase with doors. Each of the three times we kept leaving empty handed because we weren't convinced. The Billy Bookcase had the exact measurements we were looking for. The width was off by an inch but that wasn't a big deal because the height and depth were perfect. It had glass doors and it would have been flush with the mantel giving it a finished look. So basically it would have looked like built in cabinets. But the bookcase was not going to be able to hold all of The Mister's components.

The problem with the components? Well some would have to stick out further than the mantel. So that axed the built-in's because they would have looked funny sticking out further than the fireplace. The IKEA bookcases were also out of the question because the depth was 11 inches and we needed way more depth than that.

We looked at the space again and we realized how much we loved the blue on the wall. And then in clicked. Shelves. Stark white shelves! But since the shelves would have to be deep to hold the various components, we knew we couldn't let them be the width of the nook or they would look like incomplete built-in's. The width of the nook was 32 inches so we kept the width of the shelves at 24 inches.

We installed the shelving and The Mister organized all his components/toys. He spoke like a robot the whole time he put his stuff away. It is safe to say that I was more scared than annoyed. It looked liked he was handling premature babies the way he held all of those things. He cradled the X-Box onto the shelf talking to it and putting it down oh so gently as to not wake it. When he got to the last shelf I went over to hand him our DVD player. He started blinking rapidly which can only mean one thing. He's up to no good. He then told me he could put it in as a place holder. "Place holder for what?", I asked. "Well the DVD player doesn't have an HDMI output so if I do connect it you're going to see the cables." He knows one of my peeves is exposed cables! I asked him if there was a way around it. His answer? A PS3. It would have no cables showing because it has an HDMI output and it has a Blue Ray player. Sneaky Snake.



Love in The Closet

I've grown up and my taste has changed. I no longer want the dirty grungy messy musician. I want the nice neat guy that smells good. And in this case, the nice guy's first name is Container and last name is Store. Sorry Mister but you have to take a step aside. I have found a new lover.

The Container Store, is having a sale. And I bought into it. And I am so glad I did.

We have one tiny closet but it needed to be finished out. The Mister and I tackled this closet like full on warriors. It took a total of one week. Yes you heard right. One week on 6 square feet.

We had to finish out the closet before we could outfit it. I primed and painted the closet four separate times. Not by choice. The paint was not sticking to the drywall and was peeling so I kept having to prime and paint all over again.

It didn't help that I wanted to stencil a design in there so each time I did it I had to re-stencil. The Mister only allowed me to do one strip because if I had done the whole thing, I would have taken another week. He however made me trade my stencil paint for a can of spray paint. I kicked and screamed and he took the spray can away and did it himself. I have to admit, it turned out great! Who knew The Mister had tagger skills. I should drop him off at the LA River so he can really go at it. The Mister also decided to put some carpet down on the floor and it left us with a closet begging for shelving. And we gave it just that.

The Container Store in Pasadena helped us figure out what we needed and we ended it up with great storage. Pics from start to finish.

p.s. the pink hue is from a covering that we have on our windows. The room is not pink and neither is the closet.

p.p.s. We unpacked 8 boxes and we still have room in that closet for all the linens that need to go in there. Great investment.




Journal Entry 1- September, Drowning, and Checklists



Dear Diary,

Yes we are alive. But barely. This has been the most challenging month to date. We have had great moments and not so great moments. The great moments? Our anniversary which we almost forgot and getting the kitchen almost finished. The not so great moments? Re-doing things that were supposedly finished and having unexpected costs come to light.

This September last year we began our house hunting. Can you believe we have been at this for a year? We've been climbing our version of Mt. Everest for a whole year and counting. Buying a house in LA has been quite a journey. Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets and I would never take it back. I am very proud that we own a home here. And I LOVE the home we ended up with. We have accomplished a huge feat and to those who have purchased in Los Angeles, you understand completely what I mean by that. However, we are ready to get back to life.

This month has been hard. We are still not unpacked. It's one thing to have books and knick knacks in boxes. But when you have clothes and shoes still in bags it creates chaos. It's hard to concentrate when your stuff is in disarray. We don't have closets in our bedroom and won't for a while and that is proving to be difficult. I never realized the little things I have taken for granted. Imagine all your clothes, shoes, undergarments, in plastic bags surrounded by the unpacked boxes of knick knacks and you will have a peek into our lives. Anyone feel like they are choking yet just thinking about it?

We made a checklist of things that have to get done. And they will get done in due time. We were putting so much pressure on ourselves to get everything finished that we felt like we were drowning. I still feel incredibly overwhelmed. And I have come to terms with the fact that I will continue to feel like that for a while. But we have prioritized. It's one thing at a time from now on.

Checklist
  1. ORGANIZE OFFICE CLOSET
  2. ORGANIZE ALL OF THE COMPONENTS IN THE LIVING ROOM
  3. GET CLOSETS IN OUR BEDROOM BUT ONLY AFTER WE PAY OUR TAXES IN OCTOBER.
  4. PUT CLOTHES IN CLOSETS SO WE CAN CLEAR THE OFFICE
  5. PAINT THE OFFICE
  6. SET UP THE OFFICE
  7. PURCHASE MISSING CROWN MOLDING THAT OUR FIRST CONTRACTOR THREW OUT.
  8. GET BLINDS AND CURTAINS
  9. FENCE (OH THOSE PESKY NEIGHBORS)
  10. PUT IN A WORKING FIREPLACE
  11. GET A PROPER BED
  12. SET UP DINING ROOM
  13. PAINT THE HOUSE EVENTUALLY...
  14. LANDSCAPING EVENTUALLY...
  15. SELL THE HOUSE... MAYBE?

9.19.2009

Hell is putting knobs on cabinets. I hate it

Use the level and they look crooked.use a template and they all seem
to be at different levels.

9.17.2009

Cabinets

No you are not having Deja-Vu. You've seen that post title before. Yes, it's another cabinet post. They are still not done. They weren't going to come in until this coming Saturday but after The Mister spoke to the owner, they came yesterday. Much more progress was made yesterday than this past weekend. Last Saturday, they were here for 5 hours and only put in 2 toe kicks and a piece of molding they had torn out by mistake. Yesterday, they finished the cabinet over the fridge, the piece under the sink, the crown molding and the toe kicks for the washer and dryer cabinets.

So today they are back again to paint what needs to be repainted and to fix things that need fixing. Hopefully they will be all done today so that we can finally unpack the kitchen!

9.15.2009

Stove



Our stove is in! Will post pictures once we remove all the protective film on the stove fridge and the hood. Keeping the film until the cabinet guys finish painting our cabinets.
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9.14.2009

Success!

Fridge made it in thanks to The Mister and Don J! Yay!!!!
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Suckers Are Huge!!

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Bolts

Crap! The frigging thing is bolted to a piece of plywood so they have to remove the bolts. The Mister has the fridge tilted while Don Jesse is removing the bolts.
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Terrified

Our contractor and The Mister are putting in the fridge. I am terrified that its gonna get scratched. I have severe anxiety right now. I have cleaned the nook where the fridge goes 4 times. I'm turning into my mother.
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9.11.2009

Granite = Love




We are so happy with our granite! We absolutely love it. Now I understand why people go overboard with stone. Thank God we were on a budget or we would end up being "those people". And yes, you know what I am talking about. You have all been inside one of those gaudy homes that have granite where they have no business putting granite.

This has been the neatest process. From picking out the granite among thousands of slabs, to imagining them as counters and hoping we got the right one, to finally seeing them cut and in our kitchen. We couldn't be happier with everyone who made this happen.



Counters

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9.10.2009

Shower Doors and Flooring Done!








They finished the shower doors today and they look awesome. I feel like I'm in a hotel shower!! Danny at Frameless Depot was awesome. Would definitely recommend him. Prices are amazing and work is excellent.

The hardwood floors are done and ready. They look amazing and we were so pleased with Javier's work at Paracas Hardwood Floor. We look forward to using him in the future to refinish the rest of the hardwood floors in the house.

We can put closets in the bedroom and we can shower without making a mess. Counters come in tomorrow and then drumroll please... appliances!!!

Glass Doors Going In



The guys are here and they are installing. They have put in the door and now the panel needs to be installed. It's looking gorgeous! FYI Superior Glass also goes by Frameless Depot.

Frameless Shower Door

Today they come to install our long anticipated frameless shower door. Our door is not standard size so it's not like we can pop in to a store and pick one up. We did our homework and after meeting with several people who were quoting us $2000.00 and up for a glass door we found Superior Glass Service. They are in Silver Lake and they actually fabricate all the glass for most companies that sell frameless shower doors. So when you go to other companies and they say you have to wait up to three weeks for your door, it's because Superior is cutting their glass for them. And since Superior cuts for their customers first, the other companies have to wait in line. So basically by going to them directly you are cutting out the middle man and you are paying less than a third of what everyone else is quoting. Sweet!

One guy that came in was trying to sell me the shower door at $2100.00 plus the glass coating for $300.00 bucks. Then he said I had to buy the solution that would keep the glass nice but that I could only buy it from their company and I would have to buy it every three months. As he's saying all this he was handing me the pen and telling me where to sign. I may be a lot of things but a sucker I'm not.

We called Superior and Danny came over to do the measurements. He was fast, and the turnaround time for the door? A couple of days. And he told me the coating was optional. The coating here by the way only cost $75.00. And no special solution is necessary to clean the glass, just a squeegee to wipe off water after we shower is all the maintenance we will need.

Javier at Paracas Hardwood Floor

He is doing such a good job on our floors!
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Sanding Down




The Hardwood floors were installed yesterday and are being refinished as I type. It's amazing that just by having floor put in, it finally makes that room feel like a real room. And though it took a little more effort to find the matching floor it was worth it because now it feels like that back room was always part of the house. The next step is getting closets in there and a bed so we can begin unpacking! I won't even know what to do with myself once I get to pull clothes out of the closet and not out of a box or a plastic bag. Stay tuned.

9.09.2009

Floors Looking Good


Because we got the floor to match the existing floor, and the width is so small, it's going to take a little longer to get this floor installed. It will be worth it though.

Rainbow Marble and Granite

Southland Stone recommended two people to us when it came time to get our granite fabricated. The recommended Angela at Set in Stone and Roi and Rainbow Marble and Granite. We also called three other people that came highly recommended from friends and from the guys at TBG Construction. We ultimately went with Roi.

This guy has been amazing so far. He came and did templates, then invited us to his shop later that afternoon so that we could see where he was going to do the cuts on our slabs. Our granite has a lot of movement and he wanted to make sure that the movement of the stone matched and had a good flow. He also gave us a tour of his shop. It was so amazing! We found out he does work for huge companies and huge names. Hotels in Vegas, Ritz Carlton's, the most popular judge on American Idol, and a popular red head on a little show you may remember as Will and Grace. Cool huh?

He measured everything on Tuesday and our counters, lord willing, will be in on Friday!! Woo Hoo!

RAINBOW MARBLE AND GRANITE
818-335-6898
12926 Saticoy St
North Hollywood, CA 91605

Granite at Southland Stone


We purchased our granite at Southland Stone in North Hollywood back in May. We visited several places to look for the perfect stone for our counters. We even visited a few places our first contractor suggested but the pricing was awful and the customer service even worse. Long story short none of the places we visited compared to Southland Stone.

From the quality to the pricing, to the customer service, we were floored. Their selection is outrageous and the only thing I will say is that if you had your mind set on a particular stone, be prepared. You will see things you never dreamed of and you will change your mind at least ten times before you settle on a firm choice.

The young lady that helped us was Elena Gonzalez and she was helpful and never got pushy. I am not a fan of the hard sell and was so happy that no one did that here. She took us through the yard and allowed us to really take our time to look for the right material. We originally wanted to put in Soapstone but after coming across the Alpine White Granite we quickly changed our minds. They kept our slabs in their yard for three months without hesitation and we couldn't thank them enough because our project as you know if you have been following has been an interesting journey.

Hardwood Going In

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9.08.2009

Stone cutting machine

Looks like something from a James bond movie.

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Backsplash

This slab gives us the washer dryer counter plus backsplash.
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This Slab

This one gives us kitchen sink plus the counters on either side of the stove.
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Sizing up the second slab

Slab Templates

ROI working his magic on our slabs. Will keep posting...
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The slabs.

Medicine Cabinets

We got these put in today. Time to start unpacking the bathroom now that we have a place to put everything in!
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9.06.2009

Back to white

Priming that sucker out. Found a color we like. Crossing my fingers that it works.
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What we're we thinking?

Always get samples of paint before you and your OCD perfectionest
wife. Dedicate some serious paint time. We Woke up this morning and
had a "WTF" moment. It's like a daycare center. All it lacks are some
sesame street characters and alphabets.shit. I'm hungry for some grahm
crackers.

9.05.2009

Still painting.

Trying to finish up before the
floor guy shows up.

Appliances delivered.

9.04.2009

Painting.

9.03.2009

Cabinets





Ok, so I would like to brag a little about our cabinet guys. We priced cabinets at 4 different places plus at the usual suspects, (AKA Home Depot and Lowes). At the latter places our cabinets were going to be outrageous. Now you've seen the size of our kitchen in pictures right? Those jokers were quoting us over $10,000 dollars and that was just plain cabinets with no drawers or fancy stuff. Not good. Because we love to support Mom and Pop shops whenever we can we went with J&C Cabinets. We are working with Jose Herrera and his installers and we have had a great experience so far.

He provided us with color samples for our cabinets so that we could test them against our walls before he built them, came and did the measurements, and has been really patient with us. We are not done yet and the finishing details go in later but this is what they did yesterday. The top picture is where we are hiding our washer and dryer!