Caesarstone

Today we are having to decide which edge to have on our Caesarstone countertops for our kitchen which is going to be installed this week.  With our mocha caesarstone topped island, and shaker style cabinet cupboards, I think we like number 5 above - the bevel square.

This cool tool helped us make the decision:
http://www.caesarstoneus.com/products/edge-options/

Jane and Brian's Bathroom Project - part II

So whilst the rest of the house was being torn down at the rate of knots, we felt that we needed to add our own sweat equity to the project and get our hands a bit more dirty.  Pedro's team were swiftly breaking down walls, removing the appliances and old cabinets, and demoliting tile but we also wanted to get in on the action. 

We had been back and forth on whether to completely remodel the master bathroom, when Jennifer suggested that we could give the tired painted vanities a new lease of life by stripping the paint and revamping the bathroom that way.... and so we did!

The white painted vanity units

After the first coat of paint stripper.

and another!

Chosing a shade of stain!

 To be honest we haven't got much futher.....

 

Flooring

You might have seen from some of the earlier posts but most of the first floor had wonderful oak wood floors.  It's just that neither of us particularly liked the shade of stain that had been used.

And as you may recall the kitchen had some seriously hideous tiling.   

With the demoliton of the kitchen, the tile was removed and then came the matching of the wood floors.  New oak floors were installed where the tile had been and then the whole of the first floor was resanded and then all restained so it would all match throughout.

The new wood laid.  You can see the old colouring.

Then the sanders came in....

it was a pretty dusty day:

The camera picked up all the dust in the air

Sanding took the old colour off the wood.



That's a lot of dust!

Jose Angel and his team did an amazing job, it just took us a little unaware that we were not going to be able to get back into the ground floor of our house whilst he was working on the floors.    This caused a little problem considering we were only using one room to live in and that was upstairs!

Brians ingenuity overcame the issue, as he worked out that getting upstairs just meant climbing a ladder to the first floor den, and then balancing on a beam to get across the newly stained floor to the bottom of the carpetted stairs, which we could walk on!

Our escape route:
from the Den on the right over the plank and up the stairs on the left....

Unfortunately I didn't get back quick enough to be able to get a picture of newly stained floors before we had them covered over again to stop them getting nicked by the cabinet installers or splashed with paint.... you'll just have to wait and see!

The Kitchen gets going....

We had the inspiration, chosen the style of cabinetry and worked out we would knock through to make a large kitchen opening into the dining room next door.  There was a possibility that we would encounter a load bearing beam but Jennifer and Pedro had some ideas of how to deal with that eventuallty. 

Before:

These are the pictures as the kitchen went from straight out of the Eighties with tiled floors and old cabinets to an large open space waiting for the cabinets and appliances to arrive.

Week 1:

Interesting place to store a dolly!



The last piece of tile hangs on!



Week 2:  The blue tape was used to give us an idea of where the various appliances and cabinets would be placed.

Week 3:  In order to be able to remove the load bearing beam which was smack bang in the middle of the kitchen (and would sit in the middle of the island if we couldn't move it), a steel beam, the length of the kitchen had to be installed.  Supposedly it took six guys to install.

 Week 4:  Reframing and building the computer desk area.

Week 5:  Finishing the structural work.  Covering the beam, plasterboard (sheet rock) and patching.

His and hers into one huge walk-in!

Just off the master bathroom there were his and her closets.  They were both kind of small so we decided to knock the wall through and create a large walk-in we can both share....!

From his and hers with ugly wood shelving......

Just a few hours later they were gone....

.. and so was the nasty flooring.

and some of the ceiling so the wiring could all be re-routed!

and then all that was left was a large open space, which was reframed and then painted ready for the installation of the new closet.

Brian and I spent a morning at Casablanca Closets choosing the new closet layout and finishes.  We were sold by Glenn's patented curved corner units. 

After lots of deliberation we chose the chocolate pear raised panel with satin nicklebar pulls.   It will be behind beveled mirrored sliding doors.

Here's an idea of how the units should look:

and here's the doors:

http://www.casablancadesigncenters.com/index.html

Neither of us can wait for the closet to be installed as currently sharing the guest walk-in wardrobe is proving a little cramped!

The Wine Room

One of the things that Brian and I were drawn to with the town house was the fact that it was mulit-level.  The gargage and storage area is under the house and there is a direct entrance into the main house directly from the garage.  When we both saw the two storage rooms off the back of tha garage we both thought that we could easily create a wine cellar from out of one of them.  Our friend Greg who owns D Vine Wines with his wife Sara have a wine cellar and its definitely something we both coveted!

So one Sunday afternoon we set to work finding wine storage units that we could build and installl and we got to work.

So here we go:

First we had to remove the shelving units that were already installed to make room for the racks.

Once removed we repainted the walls, and started on putting together the flat packed wine racks.

After a few short hours, the wine racks were put together, then it was just the dilema of where to place them in the wine cellar.

Now we just to need to fill it! 
A few weekends later we took a trip to Paso Robles, and two wine clubs and a barrel later!  

Here are a couple of our faves:

We actually bought out  the entire stock of this delicious pinot

The other wine club we are now a member of. 
It is twinned with the Domain Beaucastle

One of the reasons for the visit to Paso Robles!

 



We are well on our way

but there is certainly a lot of room for more!



Greg we hope to make you proud! 

For anyone interested in Greg and Sara's ethical wine business, please follow this link:

http://www.dvinewine.co.uk/2.html