Rounding third

We appear to be coming into the home stretch now; I believe we will be finished with all contracting work by next Friday, if not one or two days before. Kevin is also coming up next week to bring the top of the snack station, shelves, and a few doors and drawer fronts; he also plans on spending a full day doing paint touch-ups and door/drawer checks to make sure everything is aligned properly after installation. Considering our lop-sided room, I'm sure he has a long day ahead.....

This weekend C and I will be inspecting nooks and crannies for anything we want touched up or fixed by the crew. They really have done a great job, though, so I don't expect the list to be too long. In quite a few cases (um, the unsupported ceiling?) Gordon and Butch have noticed (and told us about) things that were possibly dangerous, or weren't going to work for some reason, or should be changed. They even told us our car registrations were overdue! So they've been pretty on top of everything.

Yesterday the hood installation was completed, and we also got windows:

Hood has two-speed fan and lights--high speed is LOUD and powerful, but low speed is quiet enough you could hold a conversation

New window, no casing or trim yet

New window over sink

There is a slight issue with the windows. We had originally ordered windows with a primed wood on the interior. This is not what was delivered. Apparently, these were discontinued in favor of a wood wrapped with a paintable vinyl. We experimented today, and with the coat of trim paint, they are almost indistinguishable from a painted wood. However, I am not a fan of the plastic handle casing, and the fact remains this is not what we ordered.  An unfinished wood window is available, which we would have to prime and paint; it is also more money, and should we decide to switch out the windows, it could be 4-6 weeks until we receive them. Casing and trim would still be installed around the current windows to give us a finished look, but the crew would have to return for a day, take everything out, and reinstall everything again---kind of a pain. We have to decide if it is worth it, when frankly no one except us will know what the window is made of under the paint....

Today was a crown molding/quarter round day, and for those of you concerned the laundry room wasn't getting any love, it now has a first coat of paint. I'd hoped one coat would do it, but once it dried it became clear it needs two. The fact is, painting this room is like putting eye shadow on an alligator; there is wall paper under the old yellow paint, and it is starting to bubble up and loosen. New paint is really a stopgap measure, but I do want it to look as nice as possible until it completely falls apart. In the end, it is just a laundry room, and bonus---it has a door!

We're thinking of adding some open shelving on this wall, or maybe some fun art?

Hood with impressive crown

Oven cabinet with smaller crown--getting the oven cabinet and hood to work together on this was difficult!

Our new flue cover--we think he's fun!

Oh--I did a load of dishes in the new dishwasher! Just a small load, so I used the express function and only half a tab of detergent. Worked like a charm, sparkling clean.

Have a great weekend! :-)