Shades of gray (not the book)....

Shades of Gray (not that book)....

December 22nd  -- I quickly ran over to the house this morning to pick up the Sunday paper and to check on how the paint draw downs look in the morning light.  My house has really lovely morning light through the south side windows. It should be sunny, but cold over the next few days so I am planning to make an intentional effort to study the paint samples at different times of the day.  

Last night I read an article in the newspaper by Marni Jameson about the Color Marketing Group (CMG), (http://www.colormarketing.org/about-cmg) which is a not-for-profit group that forecasts color trends a few years in advance (Seriously, I am not making this up, check out the link to their website).  Two years ago they predicted that THE color for 2014 is something called "Boyz-N-Berry," which according to the article is "a jam-like violet."  Really?  I prefer my jam in a jar or on my toast, and not on my walls.  When asked why, purple and why now, the head of CMG said, "When we pulled Boyz-N-Berry out of the lineup in 2011, many said it was violet's time.  We thought by the end of 2013, beginning of 2014, we would be moving past the economic crisis, and it would be time to have this marvelous color that many customers had stayed away from."  I will continue to stay away from it, but the article suggests that one of the colors that will dominate in 2015 is "Smokey Cashmere, a warm grey with a brown influence."   I will humor myself to think that I am ahead of my time as I am attracted to the gray palette for the interior colors, but more with the blue and true gray influence, rather than the red or brown influence. 

Anyways, this has made me think a lot about just how subjective color perception and preference is and how difficult this process is because there are so many variables that influence what color looks like (the light of the day, surrounding colors, mood and so on). I guess groups like CMG and Pantone Color Institute are trying to be helpful by forecasting color trends, but in the end this is all about subjectivity.


So, here are some photos of the color samples, that will of course be affected by my camera and your computer monitor, but here's what I'm playing around with for the interior colors. Over the next few days I'll try to post some better photos of the color samples in different rooms at different times of the day.





The white strip at the edge of this photo is the bright white, high gloss trim, the top color is an option for the ceiling and the bottom is one of the shades of gray.  

Here are two more possibilities with a lighter option for the ceiling, a gray with a bit of red influence to the left (of each photo)  and a darker gray with a gray influence to the right (of each photo).  The darker gray might be an accent wall, but is too dark for my tastes for all of the walls.

This is a really beautiful shade of gray against the white trim that has more of a blue influence

I haven't really zeroed in on anything yet, but I'm partial to these two shades (which look so much darker on my computer monitor, and maybe yours).

These two photos show you how deceiving color perception can be depending upon the surrounding colors, camera, angle, etc.  To the left is a photo of the same two colors above, and the photo to the right shows the same two colors, but with one of the ceiling color choices placed in between them.

Later this week I will post the color names for these shades of gray and ask for your own subjective preferences -- you've been warned!!

Floors laid, next up the finish carpenters.....

Floors laid, next up, the finish carpenters....

December 20th -- With the new hardwood floor already laid in the kitchen and gathering room on the main floor and the master bedroom on the upper floor,  the floor guy returned to the main level to work on the guest room hardwood floor that  needed to be repaired with patch work and new sections.  Below are photos that show how new pieces of oak have been fitted into the original oak floor.  Eventually, the new pieces will be almost indistinguishable with the older pieces after filler, sanding and staining the old and new wood will make them blend together

December 20th and 21st -- The finish carpenters are not from Finland.  They are however, a very interesting bunch of guys, and I've only met a few of the crew so far.  The main man is a very thoughtful guy who spent a good part of the first day plotting the strategy to attack this very complicated job.  

There are several things that make this job complicated.  First, is the total lack of space for them to work in because all of the trim, doors, and cabinets are being stored in the house .  The carpenters have to step over piles of trim as they set the cabinets.  By the end of day on Friday they had almost all of the cabinets out of their packing boxes and just about set.  The head carpenter told me that he was concerned about the appliances that will be delivered on Monday because he doesn't know where they will go and where they will set up their saws and work tables.  Sure enough, later that evening the contractor sent me a text telling me that the "head carpenter's head is about to explode" because of the lack of work space.  So, it looks like not only the refrigerator will need to go into my "temporary kitchen/living room" but so will the double ovens, the microwave, and the range top.  Second, the tile is supposed to be delivered on Monday as well and the tile guy will begin work on the file floors in the two main level bathrooms -- yes, that means the carpenters and the tile guy will be working simultaneously.  Third, the head finish carpenter will also need to begin on the AV cabinet and the floor-to-ceiling bookcases in the gathering room and he needs space to work in that room.  Fourth, there is so much mill work to do that I think they are almost overwhelmed by the very thought of all the trim that will go around the windows, doors, baseboards, and all the finishing trim around the kitchen cabinets, the laundry room cabinets, the double vanity in the master bath, and the vanities in the remaining three bathrooms.  Finally, the cabinets are maple painted bright white, which means they need to be very careful to keep them clean.

Nevertheless, these guys seem up for the challenge.  When I got home late on Friday, the day before the shortest day of the year, the three finish carpenters were working with headlamps on as there are no light fixtures in the house.

I got to see the very first glimpse of my farmhouse apron style sink, which was temporarily set atop the base cabinet for the sink that will hide the garbage disposal.  Here are a few photos, but the stainless steel sink looks black because there is no light and the flash from my camera blacked out the sink.

The carpenters carefully took the sink out of the crate to align the base cabinet and then they put it back in the crate to protect it.  They told me that there were taking bets about how much the sink cost. They all lost the bet because the sink looks way more expensive that it was, although I got an amazingly deep discount by ordering it on Amazon after doing a lot of research.  Just wait until they see the faucet!

The head carpenter told me that he thinks all the trim, cabinets, doors, bookcases and built-ins in the mudroom will take over two weeks worth of work.  These guys are a pleasure to have around because they are meticulous, precise, pleasant, and clean up before, during and after they do their work.  

Here is a photo of the cabinet that will hold the refrigerator with the wine rack that goes above it.

In this photo, one of the carpenters is working on the cabinetry (in the dark with his headlamp) that will hold the double ovens.

Here is a good view of how the galley kitchen will open to the gathering room.

The view for almost all of these photos is from the gathering room.  In the next several photos you can see the cabinet that will hold the double ovens, with the cabinet over it with dividers that will hold cookie and baking sheets, and other shallow baking pans, as well as platters and glass casserole dishes. You can also see a cabinet next to it where the double ovens will go, and the space below it where the microwave will be mounted so that it will be positioned under it.  The base cabinets include drawers as well as a desk area. There will be more wall cabinets that will go above the desk area, but they have not yet been mounted.

Here is the view of the north side of the kitchen where the refrigerator, range top, and range hood will sit -- at the near end of this bank of cabinets will be a small penninsula/breakfast bar that will be built later and will help to divide the gathering room and the kitchen.  I keep imagining myself sitting at this breakfast bar sipping a latte.

I'm back at the house today, Saturday, to meet the contractor to go over a few details.  Before he shows up, I have time to take some new photos.  To the left are the cabinets in the laundry room that have been  mounted on the same west wall adjacent to the where the washer and dryer will sit. There are base cabinets adjacent to the washer and dryer with a corner unit  and base cabs on the north wall of the laundry room.

Here is another view.  Just as I shot this photo, the contractor walked in and told me how jealous he was of my laundry room!   Yeah, baby it is going to be pretty awesome.

While the finish carpenters have been busy the last two days, so have I.  I needed to go select the actual slabs of granite for all the counter tops.  Because the sink, faucet and range top will be the focal points of the kitchen, I needed a granite that would complement the white cabinets, oak floors, and stainless steel appliances, while not "fighting" with everything else.  I decided to go with Nordic Black Antiqued granite.  This is a stone that comes from Canada that is black with cells of grey and mica with occasional veins of white mineral deposits.  I decided to go with the honed or antique leathered finish instead of the polished finish, again to complement the appliances.  

Here is a close up of what the granite looks like.

   

To make a very long story short, for the last two days I spent a lot of time visiting granite yards and I finally was able to locate three slabs for my project.

I also ordered "draw downs" which are 8.5 x 11 inch sheets with selected interior paint colors so that I can tape these to the walls and move them from room to room as the light changes.  I picked up the draw downs and the containers of sample paint.  I will  spend time tomorrow trying to finalize the ceiling and wall colors by throwing some paint on the walls and moving the draw downs.

With the majority of the drywall done, I spent several hours today cleaning.  I used the shop vac to suck up as much as the drywall dust and grime as I could.  Then I did a serious damp mopping.  I also tried to rearrange the space in my temporary kitchen so there will be room to store the refrigerator, range top, microwave, and double ovens until they can be set into the cabinets in the kitchen -- that will be in about two weeks given the holiday.  Also, once all the cabinets are set, the counter top fabricator needs to make a template of all the base cabinets and vanities so that the granite tops can be cut.

The penultimate accomplishment was to order the decking material for the south side deck and the decking for the rear-entry porch.  In addition, I ordered replacement boards for the decking for the front porch.  These materials will be delivered to the house in about three weeks and the decks will be constructed as the winter weather allows.

And, the last triumph of the day was that after I got the contractor to sign the paperwork, I submitted the application and supporting documentation for the 2013 heating system rebate from my local utility -- with 10 days to spare!

A heroic effort....

A heroic effort...

December 19th -- On my way to my house this morning I picked up a dozen donuts for everyone working on my house.  As I pulled up, I saw the head painter and one of the members of his crew standing outside.  They were literally covered from head to toe in white dust.  It turns out that the head painter "pulled an all nighter" and had finished texturing all the walls so that the cabinets can be set.  He will need to do some touch up before painting, but that will wait when he returns from his working vacation with family after the first of the year.   He had worked all night except for two hours that he spent sleeping in his truck.  His assistant showed up at 5:00am and helped to complete the job.  The two of them looked like a wreck but they had actually finished before they thought they would and were so happy to see that there were donuts for breakfast.  I also gave the head painter a Starbucks gift card and told him that I didn't want him to be thirsty when he was at the airport.  This is a huge hurdle out of the way.  I am very grateful that the painters have indeed come to the rescue, although I never imagined that it would take an all nighter to get the job done.

The finish carpenter explained that there was a slight glitch with the installation of the kitchen cabinets and the range top hood fan that he discovered.  He came up with a solution and wanted to run it by me.  Because of the placement of the vent for the range top hood fan, a small portion of the stainless steel chimney for the vent will need to be covered with a trim piece, valance, and molding instead of being positioned between the cabinets.  It was a good solution as there will be a future photo in which I will describe the problem and the solution.  The finish carpenters put a lot of thought into what they need to do before they begin their work, which is very impressive.

The contractor was on site and told me to go pick out the granite slabs for the kitchen and vanities.  When I went to the granite yard, I was told that there were only three slabs of the granite that I had decided upon and was given the location to view them.  All three slabs were from the same block and although granite is known for its veins and fissures, each slab had a serious flaw -- a fissure that looked as if someone had taken a key and gouged a line across the granite.  This type of fissure weakens the granite and will make it more difficult to install.  Given that I selected a black granite with grey cells, this fissure was not acceptable.  Unfortunately, the granite yard was not expecting another shipment of my selected granite.  Ugh...now I will have to see if there is another source for my granite. I will deal with that problem tomorrow.

At the end of the day I returned back to my house to pick up my mail.  The progress that was made in just one day was amazing, in large part due to the painter's efforts.

First, the hardwood floors are done in the master bedroom, closet and hallway, and all the walls and ceilings have been textured, as shown below

Also, the hardwood floor guy had even used my snow shovel to clean up as much of his mess as well as the drywall and texture mud.  You can see the snow shovel in the photos below

The finish carpenters had moved some of the new four-panel doors from the mud room on the main level to the upper level in preparation to hang them.

With the hardwood floors installed on the upper level, it is time to tackle the repair and patch work to the oak floors on the main level in the dining room and the guest suite.  The hardwood floor guy removed the sections of oak planks that he will replace and blend into the existing floor.  In these photos you can see the original fir floors below the red oak floors and the sections that had no flooring because there was a wall that we have now moved.

The finish carpenters were working hard to get the kitchen cabinets in, especially since we need to make room for the appliances that will be delivered next Tuesday.  The contractor will pick up the dishwasher first, and then the double ovens, microwave, range top and refrigerator will be delivered.  All of the appliances will be set into the cabinets, with the exception of the refrigerator, which will have to be temporarily placed in my kitchen/living room area.  The refrigerator will be installed later with the sinks and plumbing fixtures.

When I walked into the kitchen, I was so pleased to see much progress, as shown below:

Here are the cabinets on the south wall of the galley style kitchen

Here is the wine rack above the cabinet that will hold the refrigerator.

Below are photos of the north wall of the kitchen -- you can see the wall cabinets, the venting pipe that goes into the ceiling, and the space where the hood vent and chimney will go over the range top, in between the two wall cabinets, and then connect to the vent pipe. These cabinets have already been set, and the finish carpenters put that big piece of cardboard up against the base cabinets for protection.  As the head finish carpenter told me, this kitchen will be a challenge because the maple cabinets are finished in a farmhouse style, brilliant white and they will do their very best to make sure they leave no dirt or fingerprints on my new cabinets -- I love these guys!

Here you can see one of the finish carpenters working on the wall cabinet on the south wall of the kitchen and the base cabinet where the farmhouse, apron style sink will be set, shown in greater detail in the final photo below

When I left the house tonight I began to feel as if things are getting back on track and in sequence, but there will be several weeks of very detailed trim work to go.