It's been a while..

We realize that it has been nearly a month with no new posts.  It has been busy though.  Andy works a few hours most nights after his day job at IBM and most of the weekend.  In addition there has been several dinner parties and other social events including a number of dinner parties that Monica has given in spite of the state of completeness of the house.  She loves to show it off and entertain.


So, the question is: what have we gotten done in the last number of weeks since the last update?

 If you recall from the last post, we were waiting for an installation date for the granite, so Andy really could not proceed much more with the kitchen.  So, what to do next?  He considered working on the tile for the entry and stairway, but Monica wanted to put the Christmas tree in the corner of the stairway and she got her way, of course.

The tree looks nice in spite of the unfinished trim around the stairs.

But Monica wasn't happy with just one tree... she added two more.

The living room (future dining room) received it's usual treatment.

Even the unfinished sunroom has a tree.

That lead to the decision to start working upstairs.  Over the last few weeks, Andy has been busy caulking the trimwork, filling in nail holes, priming and painting the trim and touching up paint.  With the walls and trim in decent shape it was time to install flooring.  Since the upstairs is mostly office with rolling chairs, we wanted something pretty durable.  We chose to go with a laminate product.

We installed laminate in the house about ten years ago.  While very functional and not really too bad looking, it was still looked like laminate.  Laminate technology has really progressed over the last decade.  Andy found a really nice Pergo laminate that emulates very closely a hand scraped hickory hardwood.  And it happened to match the stair treads fairly close in color.

It took a good weekend and a few evenings to install the flooring.  It was actually pretty easy with the new click and lock technology.  Much easier than the first time he installed laminate a decade before.  It also helped that he had much better power tools this time, especially for those intricate cuts required around door frames.  The table saw, miter saw and jig saw was indispensable.  It took another few evenings to install the transitions and quarter round.  We are now ready to start moving in office furniture.

A close-up of the Pergo.  Very realistic looking.  In fact, it fooled my contractor.

A view of the office.  The floor looks really nice in this room.  You can see one zone (Sonos S5) of Andy's wireless Sonos music system and his iPad which has an app to control the Sonos.  He brought it from the master bedroom so he could have some music to work by.

Another view of the office.  The pocket doors lead into the exercise nook.

The other side of the pocket doors leading into the office.  Ryan designed in a nice recess and we used the red from downstairs and the blue from upstairs to frame it in color.

The exercise nook looking from the office.  At the edge of the picture on the right is the passage to the stairs leading down to the entry.

Andy still needs to terminate the data networking (cat 6) and video networking (RG6) cables to the office and nook.  The holes you see in the office and nook walls is where the data and video cables will terminate.  Also, the pocket doors still need pulls and handles.  Otherwise, the office and nook are done.

During one of the first really cold nights, Andy discovered that the new upstairs HVAC unit was not putting out warm air.  Our contractor, Pat, sent out the HVAC guys and they found that the heating element was bad and replaced it.  Such is the joys of remodeling.  Fortunately, the heater upstairs wan't  needed much as the warm air from downstairs along with the sun from the south-facing windows, keeps it warm up there.

In the meantime the installation of the kitchen granite finally got scheduled.  Andy had to take a diversion from working upstairs to prepare for the installation of the granite.  In the sunroom, he had to put on his electrician's hat and run a new electrical connection for the under-counter beverage cooler.  He had to remove the wonderful 3/4 in plywood temporary counter tops and the put on his plumbers hat (and droopy plumber's pants) and uninstalled the plumbing for the sink and remove the sink as well.

Finally the day of the granite installation came and the installers arrived early and got to work.  It was a bit of a challenge for them to bring in one particular slab.  It was 10 feet long and weighed close to 500 pounds.  There was another slab that was about the same size but did have a nice big hole for the sink so it wasn't quite as heavy.  It took them most of the morning to install the 67.5 square feet of black galaxy granite.

Black galaxy granite is a beautiful deep black granite with flecks of gold, silver and  even some red reflectors.  More info can be found at http://stone-network.com/india/granite/black_galaxy.html.

This is a close-up of our black galaxy granite. The reflectors look different depending on which lights are on and from which direction the light is reflecting.  It is a very beautiful and interesting stone.

Then once the stone was in, then Andy had to re-install the sink faucets and drain plumbing including a new top line garbage disposal.  Fortunately, as the sink is an undermount, the granite guys installed that.  Andy finished the sink cabinet by installing the panels, doors and handles which brings the total to 68 handles installed.  Finally the kitchen cabinetry is finished.  Well, that's not quite correct.  There is cabinet trim work to be done once the backsplash has been installed.

The cooking station of the kitchen with Monica preparing for one of the several dinner parties we've had.

Looking from the cooking station down the kitchen to the bar.  We decided on one big and deep sink and are really happy about that decision.  The faucet is one of those Delta touch faucets.  You can just touch the faucet to turn it on and off.  Very handy when your hands are covered in batter or chicken fat, etc.

To finish off the bar, we ordered some under cabinet glass and wine racks. Now the bar looks like a bar!

The bar! We are extremely happy with the result.  While the kitchen cabinet layout was designed even before we hired an architect, this is pretty much a late edition.  Once the house plans were finalized, we had one leftover cabinet and this additional wall space.  We decided to turn it into a major bar area.  What a great bonus!!!

It hasn't been all work and no play.  We have had a number of dinner parties with friends and family.  It is quite a hoot to see the facial expressions when folks see the renovations for the first time.  From the time we open the door and they see a beautiful staircase where a dining room used to be, to the huge open area where a very much divided kitchen, breakfast nook, sunroom and patio used to be to the huge office area upstairs, they are really surprised with the change.  Once the shock is over, then it is down to some serious eating and partying.

One evening over the Thanksgiving, Karen was having a gathering of her friends most of whom live outside of Dallas now.  Andy and Monica were in there room listening to each person as they came in.  The usual expression was something like "Holy Sh*t" when they first walked in and another one when they walked into the kitchen.  We got a great laugh from that.

Next on Andy's list of projects are 1) moving the office to the new space upstairs 2) installing tile on the back door step and 3) installing the backsplash in the kitchen.  Of course, like most projects, plans can change.  We will post back after the new year with an update to see how much he really gets done over the holidays.

Thanks for following our journey this year.  With the wedding and the renovations, it was really an exiting 2010 for us.  We're hoping that 2011 will be a bit more calmer.  Here's hoping you have a joyous holiday season and that 2011 brings you much happiness and enjoyment!

Murphy and Tigger enjoying some nice weather and reflecting on the past year.

Still working on the cabinets...

The focus is still on the cabinets. During the week, as time permitted, Andy installed the cabinet hardware... 66 handles!!!  Then over the weekend, he added some accent lighting to the sunroom cabinets and trimmed them out by adding panels and trim. 

In the meantime, Monica did what she does best, shopping.  Buying more things to fill up all of these new cabinets.  She bought things like martini glasses, beer glasses, drink glasses, party serving dishes, trash cans and so on.  So on Sunday, she started putting things away into the cabinets now that they have handles.

Unfortunately we don't yet have a date for the granite installation so Andy can't install the backsplash or finish trimming out the kitchen.

However the big news is that the dumpster is gone from the driveway and we can park there again!!  It is nice with the extra width that we added.  No more stepping in mud or on wet grass.  Yay!!  I'm sure the neighbors are happy that we have two less cars parked on the street.

The pantry cabinets around the fridge can now be pulled out and used.  The new trash can is controlled by an IR sensor and will automatically open and close.. gotta love geeky gadgets, even in a trash can!!!

The cooking center had lots of handles to install with all of those drawers.  You can see the Monica has started organizing things with her new canisters.

The long wall o' cabinets extends all the way through to the sunroom.  Lots and lots of handles to install.  You can see the all important margarita machine on the counter just just to the right of the tall cabinet.  The margarita machine and the coffee maker will be relocated to the sunroom once the granite is in.

This is where Andy spent his weekend. 

 The original design was just the coffee counter in the right corner and called for one florescent light fixture.  So there was only the one box for wiring lighting below the wall cabinet on the right.. you can see it is now covered with a white plate. 

Andy purchased some LED light kits from IKEA.  Four strips of white for under the cabinet and four strips for above the cabinet.  Inside each cabinet is a strip of multicolor LED lights that look great with the frosted glass doors. 

Andy needed electricity at the top of the cabinets.  So he had to run Romex from the connection up to the top of the cabinets and added two surface mounted outlet boxes al controlled by one switch.  He then had to mount the LED strips below, in and above the cabinet and run all the connectors through the cabinets.  He pretty much spent all of Saturday doing electrical work and installed the accent lights.

Sunday was spend installing decorative panels on the sides and underneath the cabinets.  And at the top, he installed 2.5" decorative trim to finish framing the cabinets which had the benefit of hiding all of the wiring and controls for the lights and speakers.

The box on top of the cabinets in the middle is a zone of the wireless whole-house audio system made by Sonos with two nice Bose speakers on each end.  Andy had to build platforms to raise the Sonos box and speakers so the wouldn't be partially covered by the trim.

Then Monica populated the base cabinets and the beverage cooler with liquor and wine.  Glasses will go in the cabinets.  Andy may add stemware hangers underneath the cabinets at some future point.

You get the full effect of the accent lighting in this pic.  The LEDs had just turned green and is a nice contrast with the red walls. 

The next step depends on when the granite is installed.  If it happens to get installed before Thanksgiving weekend, then Andy can work on the backspash and cabinet trimming in the kitchen.  Othewise, he may start working on the entry or start on the flooring in the great room.  Tune in next week to see what happens.

Recovery

Well, it has been over two weeks since the last post which was, of course, about the big party, aka Anna and Courts' wedding.  We are really still recovering from the hectic couple of months leading up to the wedding.  However, as you saw in the last posting, it was a fantastic event! 

The Swiss contingent that you have heard so much about had a great time.  Monica's biological father, Hans, and his wife Leila left on the Monday after the wedding.  However, the two nephews and their significant others stayed on another week.  So, there was no resting.  There was a lot of eating and imbibing of good beverages.  I don't think we've have ever gone thru so much beer in one week.

Monica had a couple of days off but Andy had to go back to work on Monday.  So, he missed all the daytime activities like shopping, the Dallas World Aquarium, Denton, etc. But somehow he managed to make all of the evening activities which was mostly eating and drinking.  They particularly loved going to the steakhouse as steaks are extremely expensive in Switzerland and not quite as big as in Texas! 

Angelo can't believe that he ate the whole thing while Deborah looks very sleepy.

Marco and Corrine having a great time.

The highlight of the week was the trip to the Dallas Stars hockey game.  Both Marco and Angelo play hockey in Switzerland and are huge hockey fans.  They know a lot more about the NHL than we do.  Angelo said the best part of week was walking into the American Airlines Arena and seeing the hockey rink for the first time.

This was the absolute favorite part of the week after the wedding.

Marco and Angelo wore their Zurich hockey team jerseys.  They got a lot of questions about those.

 On Friday they left for a few days in NYC on their way back to Zurich.  Before they left they had a fun game of "3d Tetris" trying to get the results of shopping into their suitcases.  It was a great week.

The weekend after they left we just pretty much crashed the entire weekend.  Andy did work on the cabinets.  He had purchased addition cabinets for the sunroom and needed to get those installed as the granite guy was scheduled to come out on Monday to measure.  It is hard to get an accurate measurement if all of the base cabinets aren't installed.  So, Andy had to get that done.  Then he got sick Saturday with a cold and was out off and on for a week and is still suffering from some lingering congestion and allergies.  Monica also had problems with congestion and allergies.  We're too old for the pace we had been keeping for a couple of months.  Oh well, it was all worth it and we're recovering.

Since this is a blog about our renovation, we should mention what has been happening with that.  Well, RHD is really finished with their part and it is Andy's turn.  So progress won't be quite as fast-paced which unfortunately does not necessarily make for an exciting blog.  Andy's first priority is to get the cabinets finished.  He did install the additional cabinets in the sunroom and is working on the cabinet shelves, drawers and doors.

These are the cabinets in the sunroom which will in essence be a dry bar, beverage center and coffee bar.  The appliance in the middle is a two zone beverage center with wine storage in the upper compartment and soft drink/beer storage in the bottom compartment.  The door for the cabinet on the left are not installed because of the 400 or so packages from IKEA, there was a mis-packaging of one of the doors for this unit.  So, Andy has to get that exchanged.  This will have the same black galaxy granite that the kitchen will have.. the kitchen is just to the right. 

This is the kitchen wall that is the same wall as the sunroom cabinets.  The cabinet on the far left is an 88 in tall pantry cabinet will pull out shelves.  Just to the left of that is the above sunroom cabinets separated by a wall partition.  Andy left the doors to the sink cabinet off as he has to remove the plumbing, the sink and the temporary counters before the granite is installed.  And then, of course, he has to reinstall the plumbing.

The fridge has two pull out pantry cabinets on each side and a normal above-fridge cabinet above.  Andy will add a trim panel between the fridge cabinet and the top of the fridge to give it that built-in look.

This is the cooking center.  There are a lot of drawers for cooking utensils. Our old kitchen had a severe lack of good storage.  There are four drawers on each side of the range.  The the two outer base cabinets each have two deep drawers and a smaller drawer.  Unfortunately our microwave is just a bit took big for the microwave cabinet on the left.  However it is a great space for the toaster oven.  The range hood is quite powerful with six speed settings going up to a whopping 900 cfm!  That should keep Anna from setting off the fire alarm when she cooks.  I think the old one really did suck any air at all.  Eventually all of the cabinets will have stainless steel colored toe kicks.

As a reminder, here is what the kitchen looked like before.

This is the kitchen before.  Andy is standing in the breakfast area as far back as he can.

This is the breakfast area looking from the kitchen.

Compare that to this picture of the entire new kitchen.

Andy took this picture from what used to be the patio.  The wall on the left was where the outside wall used to be.  The old sink, which was the end of the kitchen itself, was located just in from of where the new sink is located.  As you can see, this kitchen is just wee bit bigger.

Monica is so excited that the cabinets are nearly finished and she can start bringing things back from storage and organizing everything.  Of course, now there is a whole lot of new kitchen stuff to add... so she will make use of the additional space with no problem.

Next on Andy's to-do list is to install all of the handles which is his project for the weekend.

Since we lost the old patio area with the new addition, we really needed something to replace that.  In an earlier post we discussed taking out some badly overgrown bushes next to the house and adding more pool decking to that area.  Well, Andy finally had a bit of time to setup the new patio area.

From left to right.  A little table with two chairs are just outside the sunroom windows.  A great place for morning coffee.  Then the hangout area with an outside sofa and chairs.  Then finally is the grilling area.  It actually works out well.

Going forward, Andy only has evenings and weekends, the progress will be slow so we will probably post once a week unless something significant happens.

The Wedding!!

When Anna and Courts started planning their wedding, we knew that it would be something different and unique.  Anna's personal goal was to have people leaving the wedding with the words unique and amazing on their lips.  Well, she very much accomplished that.  Well done!!!

It started with the venue.  After doing a lot of research and visiting several places, they visited an old 1930's era movie theater in the Lakewood district of Dallas called the Lakewood Theater which now primarily is used for special events.  http://www.lakewoodtheater.com/booking.  At first sight, Anna and Courts knew that this was the place for them!!  It suited their personalities perfectly.
 

The marquee at Lakewood Theater announcing "For one night only, Meet the Griners".  In the background on the right are movie themed posters of the bride's family, the grooms' family and the couple.

The art deco interior of Lakewood theater.  Yes, that is Anna's wedding dress hanging from the lighting platform.

They picked Halloween weekend for their wedding.  Halloween is one of their favorite holidays and wanted to have a Halloween-themed wedding.

Pumkins and lanterns highlighted the Halloween theme.

Even their ceremony was unique.  They did not want a typical traditional ceremony.  Anna did a lot of research to find an officiant that they felt comfortable with.  They wanted their officiant to have a lot of the same life views and values as them.  She worked with them to customize the ceremony to match their style.  One of the favorite parts of the ceremony was the handfasting where they had their wrists bound together with a long ribbon which was then tied with a knot where they literally "tied the knot".  The knotted ribbon will be displayed in a cherished place in their home forever reminding them that they bound themselves to each other for life.

They designed their own "save the date" cards using a movie poster theme, they designed their own invitations and a custom logo.  The logo was projected on the curtain of the big screen as guests were arriving... it was totally awsome!!.  They created movie posters for each family and one of themselves, all imitating well known movies or shows.  We will try to get images of the posters on the blog.  The movie posters were a huge hit.  Some were even taken as souvenirs.  Even the wedding agenda was designed as a playbill.  Everything was custom designed by Anna and Courts which helped make the event absolutely unique.

The Playbill.  Courts designed the pumpkin while Anny designed the agenda as a Playbill.

To make it even more exciting they wanted the guests to come in costume with the reception as a costume party!  Many guests were really excited about a costume wedding but some were a little tentative being worried that they would be the only ones in costume.  We all tried to assure them that if they came without a costume, they would be in the minority.  As we predicted, most guests were in costume with a lot of really, really good costumes.  The aerobic instructors from the 1980's were a hit.  If you were one of the few that did not wear a costume, you probably felt a bit out of place.

Anna had a custom-designed witch's hat to go with her wedding gown for the reception costume party.  Isn't she a beautiful bride!!!

Monica donned a fancy mask for the reception but from the intensity of her partying, everyone knew it was her...

The Swiss contingent really enjoyed shopping for the costume party.  Here are Angelo and Debra.

Marco and Corinne had great costumes as well.  The demented joker was a great match for Marco.  Yes, Corinne is the one who found out on Monday that she is pregnant!!  We are so happy for them.  Even after seeing what it will cost him in the future, Marco wants a little girl... ;-)

Courts' mom, Sophia had a great witch costume while Andy just had just enough time to don a Phantom of hte Opera mask.

John and Rita were so excited about the party, they escaped from prison to attend.  Unfortunately, we had to turn them into the authorities after the reception.  Andy was hoping the reward would help pay for the party!!

Billy is the lion tamer and Fred is the lion.  We didn't go into detail about what they do with that whip!!

LaShunda and Delmar wore their "I was too chicken to wear a costume" costume..  ;-)

Lynn and her photography crew with Anna and Courts.  Yes, the gnome is one of the photographers!!  At the end of the reception, we spied the photo crew cutting a rug on the dance floor.  I'm surprised that they still had the energy.  They worked really hard all day.

When planning the wedding, Anna wanted guests to leave with these words: awesome and unique.  Well, just about every guest said this was such a great wedding, one of the best and unique weddings they have ever attended.

Even the pros, who attend a LOT of these things had comments like: "awesome ass wedding",  "This was a memorable one!" and "Truly one of my favorite weddings. I've never had Beetlejuice at a reception. I can't wait to see the Thriller photos." 


Anna pulled it off.  She picked a fantastic venue, great theme and a great caterer (Greek food..yummy).  Her wedding coordinator, Meredith, her photographer, Lynn, and her DJ, Glenn worked so well together and with the Lakewood theater crew to make this special day run so smoothly with the result being a truly great wedding and party!!

Aren't they cute!!

First dance as Mr and Mrs Griner...

The happy newlyweds making their grand exit.  Not sure that sparklers and dunk people are a good combination, but no fires were started.

Making their escape...

The above photos from Facebook postings by Lynn Michelle Renken (the photographer) and Kristen Haney (a friend).  Lynn will post the wedding images for viewing at: http://www.lynnmichelle.com/courtsandanna.  You gotta check it out!!  Here is a sample of her work from Anna and Court's engagement pics:  http://lynnmichelleblog.com/?s=courts&searchsubmit=SEARCH.

What a weekend!!!

If you have been following this blog, you know that the entire timing of this renovation was a big event in the Perkins family, the wedding of our first daughter, Anna, to Courts Griner.  This long-anticipated event took place Saturday night.  And there were a few surprises to boot!!

The wedding weekend kicked off with the bride, bridesmaids and mother of the bride having brunch and getting mani-pedi's.  During that time Andy took the Swiss guests to Party City to get their wedding costumes.  They were a bit over-whelmed at first but ended up having a lot of fun picking out costumes.  Later in the day, Monica found out that Debra and Corinne had never had manicures since they are extremely expensive in Switzerland, so she took them to a local salon to get their nails done.

In the meantime, Andy was at home with Marco and Angelo who decided that the swimming pool water was warmer that the Rheine river in Switzerland (even in summer) so the decided to take a dip in the pool.  They actually stayed in for quite a while!!

Yes, the crazy Swiss nephews really did go swimming in lat October!!

The weekend celebration continued Friday night with the rehearsal dinner at Sonny Bryan's in the West End.  Yummy BBQ!!  It was a chance for both families to get together and to meet the out of town guests.  It started out by the surprise announcement that Couts' sister, Macey, is having twins!! 

Folks enjoying the BBQ!!

The Swiss tasting Texas BBQ for the first time!!!

The happy couple on the night before the wedding.

 Anna, Karen and Claire spent the night before the wedding at a bed and breakfast while Courts and his friends stayed at a hotel.

Saturday was a long day.  We all got up early to get to the theater by 11:00 am.  Monica and Andy had to bring a lot of stuff to the venue including lots and lots of candy.  The Swiss were very helpful helping us get everthing loaded into three cars, driving one of the cars to the venue and helping us get everything into the theater.  Then they took two cars and spent the day shopping at North Park Center which they just loved.

We had the rehearsal and then then girls got their makeup and hair done while Courts went back to the hotel to get dressed.  Andy did a lot of last minute running around buying water and tissues, retrieving the grooms jacket from home and checking the couple into their hotel getting back just in time for the picture session.

Anna made the choice to have pictures done before the ceremony.  That was a great decision as it allowed the wedding participants to get right to the party after the ceremony.  Needless to say, it was a great ceremony and party.  It was definitely not your ordinary ceremony or party.  More details in the next post.

After the couple made their grand exit, a few more toasts to the couple we loaded up all of the stuff and Swiss guests and headed back to the house where we continued to celebrate until 3:30 in the morning!!

Sunday was mostly for recovering from the party.  Just about everybody did a lot of sleeping throughout the day.  By the evening, we had all recovered well enough to go out for a good Texas steak dinner which the Swiss really enjoyed followed by some chillin' out on the patio enjoying the evening weather.

 Monday morning brought the next surprise, Marco's wife Corinne had purchased a early pregnancy test and the results came back positive!!  She and Marco are going to have a baby!! 

A wedding sandwiched between baby announcements... Wow, what a weekend!!