Another Successful Olde Fashioned Halloween

Families enjoyed a day full of good olde fashioned fun!

Wonderful volunteers who made it all happen!

Getting the new popcorn machine ready for business! Today, with help of several local Renton business owners and other volunteers, the 4th Annual Olde Fashioned Halloween Party located in Main Street Square in downtown Renton was a huge success. Several hundred spooky, scrary, Super Heroes and fictional characters alike played games, ate popcorn and sipped on apple cider, all free thanks to donated goods. The Trick or Treaters were also treated to candy at several of the downtown businesses. Thanks to all who volunteered.....another great Halloween had by all!

Happy Halloween

Love all those pumpkins! Some friends and I are getting together

this week to carve a few!

Kitchen Update

New cabinet in dining room that use to be a bookshelf

This will be a built in hutch and desk. Cabinet company forgot to build the right lower cabinet....so we are waiting for that.

Microwave will be in upper cabinet and wall oven in lower cabinet. Refrigerator will be to the right of cutouts.

The sink (which is sitting on top of base cabinet) will be installed in this corner cabinet.

Well we have come to a standstill in the remodel. One reason being a mess up in the crown molding as I ordered and the other reason, and most serious, is that our contractor has come down with the swine flu! He hasn't been on the job since last Wednesday. He was planning on completing a small window job last Thursday and Friday at another site. I learned from my kitchen designer friend that he became sick early Thursday. He apparently contracted the flu at last weeks Seahawks game! Along with a ton of other fans. So beware! Here are a few pictures of the cabinets. All the lower cabinets are installed minus the lower right hutch baser.....the granite will be installed on Thursday. Looking forward to it! On to paint choice, stair rail posts and wrought iron balusters.

Kitchen Progress

Today is not a fun day with the kitchen remodel. The first setback is Saturday evening, after all the monsoon rains, a previous roof leak reappeared in the dining room. Which means the sheetrock is wet and will have to be patched after the roofing company comes back to repair the roof once again. Then the cabinets arrived today, and not without their set of problems. The corner sink cabinet arrived 3" shorter than the plans, thus making the sink selection I was planning on impossible. So, I am back to looking at sinks that will fit the cabinet. The contractor we finally decided (and my personal hero), will shim the cabinet to make it all work. I can see that this project will result in more wine than expected.........

Kitchen Progress

Well the hardwood floors are installed and they start staining them today. I love them and can't wait to see them finished. Today I'm off to pick out tile for the kitchen backsplash and bathroom floor. I also need to pick a kitchen sink and faucet and paint colors. The painter starts tomorrow. This is all happening so fast!!! Yikes!!! Matt, the contractor, is so proud of me.....I made two major decisions yesterday in a matter of minutes. Floor stain color and interior doors.......I think it was because of inhaling the fumes from the floor stain samples!

Unfinished hardwood floor in living room

Going with the top stain (Golden).......makes the wood grain really stand out.

Kitchen Progress

Friday all the sheetrock was textured and sprayed. It looks really nice but a huge mess! Dust everywhere! They took off the doors into where the new pantry will be and into the garage and believe me it's cold! I hung a blanket up to help stop the cold air from coming in. I spent yesterday at Home Depot looking at stair railings, garage doors, tile, sinks and faucets. I also went to several new home Open Houses near my house to look at sinks, stair railings and paint colorst to get ideas. I then continued to McLendon's to pick out paint and purchase a few sample colors. It was a long day! Today the hardwood starts. The guys have only been here about an hour and already all the carpet and stair rails are gone. They will start laying the hardwood after they finish prepping which might take awhile. I finally will get rid of all the "squeeks" in the floor. Along with all this Friday morning as I was headed down the hill to meet with the granite guy.....I was rear ended. I will be going to get estimates on my bumber later today.

Kitchen Progress

Today brings the first delay. The plumber......still waiting for him. The kitchen sink plumbing needs to be moved along with plumbing for the refrigerator and gas lines. The wallboard went up yesterday and they mudded and taped. They will do another mud application either later today or tomorrow and Friday they will texture the walls and ceiling. I had a wall in my bedroom that had wallpaper on it and we had actually scraped the texture off to help the wallpaper stick better. I've decided to redo my bedroom and so spent Monday removing the wallpaper. They taped it yesterday and will retexture on Friday as well. Another couple of side notes is my 18 year old cat, Tabby, has found that she loves crawling in the open cold air vent that was removed. We have to remember to keep it covered otherwise she constantly keeps crawling in. And this morning we noticed a hole in the ceiling in the living room......there was a bees nest in the attic and they've chewed through the wallboard! The pantry is in and I know I'm going to love it! Off to look at sinks and wrought iron stair rails for the stairway today.

The hole from the bees nest

View standing in kitchen looking back into dining and living room. Amazing how different it looks with the wall down. The half wall will become the raised eating bar.

Kitchen Progress

Things are moving along with the kitchen remodel. The electrician spent the last couple of days here adding all the new outlets and can lights. We also added an attic fan. Both kitchen windows have been removed and boarded up along with moving of the door from the kitchen to the garage. The new location of the door will be to the walk in pantry. I picked my granite Thursday. The plumber is scheduled for Monday and the new wallboard goes in on Tuesday. Kitchen eating space window gone.

Kitchen eating space window before.

Kitchen sink window boarded and garage door moved to new location. Temporary door.

Before kitchen window and sink

Kitchen Progress

Well we just got back from our trip to Napa and the kitchen is totally gutted. I took some before pics before we left and a couple as to what it looks like now. Lots of decisions to make! I think we have finally narrowed down the granite to two.....which is a long process! My popcorn ceilings in the kitchen, living and dining room are gone too. It's amazing with the dining room wall out how much light there is into the kitchen now. Fun watching the progress. This is taken from the dining room looking back towards kitchen......same spot as the picture below with the wall gone. It will be replaced with a half wall and raised eating bar.

The picture above is from the dining room looking back into the kitchen........both walls are gone.

The one on the left of the doorway and the one on the right of doorway. And the attractive 1978 linoleum is no more!

This is from the kitchen looking at the wall that separated the kitchen/dining room. Blank space is where the refrigerator was.

Yesterday and today included adding of the can lights and the framing of the walk-in pantry.