Games We Play

This is a little game we like to play with our friends each evening called "guess what was left on the table today?"  We have found there is general appeal for such a game, and when supplemented with multiple bottles of wine (albeit dusty bottles of wine) it is super fun.  Can you find the Aurelio's box coupon?  Or the paper towel roll?  How about the Benjamin Moore fan deck???  Extra points for the emergency box of Starbucks Via!

This week has been a whirlwind of activity.  Every morning starting at 7:30 the crew starts rolling in.  First Ed (carpenter), then Robert (electrician) then Derek and Peter (painters).  It is a bevy of activity and sound (lucky Jim) starting first thing every day.  So much has gotten done this week, it is amazing.  I actually have begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Almost all the paint is selected, backsplash finalized today, countertops will be finalized tomorrow (Jim thought he could escape the granite/marble/solid surfacing warehouse - nope!).  This weekend we have to buy a kitchen sink and a bathroom vanity.  I haven't selected pendant lights for over the island or a fixture for over the kitchen table but feel fortunate that I am married to a handy guy who can do it later on.

This is the kitchen as of today.  It took Ed a lot of hard work to make that corner work by the double oven (the side is a chalk board/magnet board - one of my favorite pieces).  The open sections on the right behind the chalkboard are the double ovens and the smaller space is the appliance garage.  They had to take the door back to Joliet to modify it to fit with the light rail.

To give a little perspective to those who have been in our house before, the chalkboard is roughly two feet in front of the old bathroom door location.

The big job yesterday and today for the painters were the doors (SW 7012 Creamy for those of you keeping track).  They have taken them all down and put them in the dining room (which is finally cleaned out) and the guest bedroom.  The spraying is a pretty cool process.  We think it looks like a door parade!

Here is the dining room..... you can see the hole to the right, Jim installed receptacles for sconces!  We are going to move the china cabinet to the other side of the room and put in some cool sconces (perhaps around July or so....).  As a result all the white on the wall is from the drywall being patched.  Chair rail is gone and we are painting the room blue!!  This is my big risk but I am holding my nose and jumping in.  We have had Benjamin Moore HC-161 Templeton Gray (for those of you who have a fan deck at home) on the hallway wall for a month now and it has really grown on me.  I am excited to bust out from greens, browns and golds.

Here is a sample picture of the backsplash I have selected.  It is Walker Zanger Shabui Bandar.  I saw it in this picture below on a web blog and just fell in love.  You can't tell in the picture but it is very sparkly because it is made out of crushed slate and glass.  Amazing.  I think it is very soothing and goes with the warm colors we have in our house.



Tomorrow morning (Sat) the painters arrive at 8 am!  And no one has any doors so I am sure we will all be awake and ready to greet the day.