Thursday, July 27, 2006

so close...

So, as I was searching for a gift for my nephew and for a check valve at lunch this afternoon, I recieved a call from my contractor. He proceeds to tell me that we have a "small problem". He said that when they delivered the wrong colored floors. So, I expected the worse. He tells me that my oven is not going to work with my apartment. It was like a emotional punch to the gut. I was so close to being done with this thing. Now, one more major hurdle. Returning the oven after the return deadline is up AND finding a new oven. I can't believe that I have to upgrade my oven even before I used this one. But, I digress.... Here is the latest update on the progress. :)

The floor is almost complete. I walked on it with my bare feet. Nice! :) I found out later that the glue wasn't dry yet, so I could have displaced some of the boards. Great.....but, supposedly I didn't do any damage. :)

The microwave and the faucet are in. I was all giddy when I turned on the faucet for the first time. Woohoo!

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

it begins...


They started on my floors this Monday. I decided to go with bamboo floors after I visited my sister's friend Peter's apartment. It was the first time I saw bamboo floors in a residential environtment and fell in love with the look and feel. I thought it was out of the price range set by the contractors, but it actually just made it. I've heard bad and good about bamboo. My contractor wanted to just lay them down and leave it. I expressed my discomfort about the spaces between boards(tiny as they were) and they offered to put a coat of polyurethane down for free. I hope that takes care of it and gives it that nice smooth solid feel. I hope I get to tell a good story in the end. So far, it looks good. Tho it looks as if they squished a Gremlin to get the floors to stick....

Sunday, July 23, 2006

floors!


Well, they're still in boxes. They were delivered early on Saturday morning. The contractor claims that they will start on the floor on Monday. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Hopefully, I'll be in my apartment by the end of the week. Nice!! Then again, that's what I said last week. We'll see!

appliances

I got bored, so I am posting up some pics of the appliances that helped bleed my account dry. I decided to go with stainless steel. One of the things that I had always liked the look of. Unfortunately, stainless steel is always the most expensive finish. I don't know why, but it seems that I always lean towards pricey things. Maybe, I'm still attracted the shiney objects. But, because of the desire for stainless, I couldn't afford the top of the line items that I jumped at. I had to go for the mid-range to lower end appliances in the stainless steel family. Not too shabby, but also not top of the line.

This is my Ikea oven. Yep, Ikea makes ovens. Supposedly, Whirlpool makes them. This was a hard piece to find. I looked at many ovens. They either didn't have the look I wanted or they were way too expensive. So, I settled on this one. I like the look and the feel. Could do without the Ikea stamp, but it's okay.

This is my giant Sharp microwave. Why did I get one this large? Not sure. The only thing I wanted to was match my oven. The hole in the wall in the background is where the microwave will be located.
This is my DeLonghi cooktop. I searched high and low for a decent cooktop. This is one that I could afford. Now that I think about it, I wish I would have gone with the double burner. Oh well.
This is my giant Pegasus faucet. It stands 18 inches tall. Its almost touching my wall cabinets. Why did I get such a huge faucet? I didn't know it was so tall....

And, this is my LG fridge. I was quite proud of this purchase. A bit small, but a good size for my apartment. This refrigerator costs about $1000 online. I found it brand new in Chinatown for $699. Nice!!

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

closer look



Here’s a closer look at the counter. As you can see, I do not have much counter space. The cooktop and sink are pushed as far to the sides as they can be to maximize the space between them. Why did I get such a large sink? Not sure. I thought I’d need it. Maybe, I can find something to go over part of it for more food preparation space. I’d also like to find something to place over the cooktop for additional surface space. I went with the undermount sink for a cleaner more streamlined appearance. Plus, a basic rounded on top edge cut also to keep lines clean.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Counter!


Okay, so not that much of a jump. But, yaaay, I got my counter today! I got a Corian counter. Couldn't afford marble or granite, so I went with a alternative. Still very solid, but not stone. My sister got this type of counter as well. It really grew on me. They measured for a template a week ago and came today to install it. I was very pleased. If anyone ever needs a counter, let me know. These guys do counters for Home Depot, but are cheaper. All cash, tho. :) No worries, they're very professional. The sink is on the right side of the counter. Close to the fridge. The opening on the left is for my cooktop. They put a special tape on the cutout to protect from the heat. As you can see, I don't have much counter space. But, because my base cabinets had to be pushed out I ended up with extra counter space behind my sink and cooktop. It actually turned out to be a good thing. It gives me more space to put things. Hmmm, a blender for making icee drinks? Nice!! So, I decided to have the faucet installed at the inner right corner of the sink to maximize my space behind the sink. My floors actually were delivered, but they brought the wrong color. There was only two colors, and they brought the wrong one. Can you believe that? So, that backs my plans up another week and a half. Anyway, my counter is in and I'm happy....... for the moment. :)