Intermission: in the Kitchen

Monsignor five week delay has expanded into six whole weeks... so I'm keeping motivated with some decor porn. Dig.

Philosophy.a.

I figure you can have it cost-effective and quality but not on time (us), not cost-effective and on time but not quality, or quality on time and extremely not cost-effective. Choose your battles.

Phase I: Kitchen.c.

Kitchen:
Two Five weeks to go! Despite the delay, I can taste the peanutbutter chocolate chip cookies if I stare long enough at the stove... nomnomnom.

Progress:
Hardwood flooring installed (note the parquet corners & transitions between old & new hardwood meshing mis-matched flooring seamlessly), cabinets - not pictured - were halfway installed, appliances in place... all this happened painfully slow eventually. Working with a nearly 100 year old house has it's quirks (challenges include: levelling, three-five point measuring & custom templates, extreme patience with fitting). So... this stage of the game has put us at least three weeks behind schedule with several of the cabinet pieces being re-milled due to ill fitting. Thankful we have a cabinet-maker who takes pride in his work.

Luxuries:
Range: purchased second-hand, tuned up, and she'll be ready to go! Our 48" electric-gas hybrid range (Bessy) has been a dream for our family of homegrown chef's since move-in date. These six seven long months of Kitchen renovation will have a cherry ontop once we can get her dirty with our foodie-vibes.

Bessy

Sacrifices:
Time:
Big time. Three weeks behind schedule has cramped some seasonal must-haves, like our outdoor living this summer: deck building/patio & gardening.

Next Up:
Concentrating very much on getting those cabinets in! Countertop  following close behind... but we've learned not to hold our breath with the trades.

Later:
Respect for the established architecture and period of the home will be maintained in the permanent-semi elements (flooring, trims, flooring, cabinets, etc.), and we will create our own bridge from here into our own personal style with furnishing and other non-permanent features.

Furniture and Lighting:

Pieces will be evolving, as we strive to keep the spaces neat and minimal in essence, but also functional while we hunt down the items that are to stick.

This look-a-like Saarinen tulip table will inhabit the breakfast nook (unless the tulip-table Gods bless us with a second-hand version of the classic).

Mid-century tone was set by the defining piece for the decor in this Kitchen: a brilliant vintage pendant with milk glass and walnut fob. I fell in love with this light, and best of all it met our budget at $15! Can't wait to see it in place...

And so, we are hunting relentlessly for key teak pieces, and plotting how to transition between furnishing in a mid-century modern look and enriching with something more us... chunky shots of Zen and chasers of disco.

History.a.

1909 Nutana

History:
This photo found in the City's archives is pretty cool. Our house is just out of the shot... but our neighbours' houses are there! Coolness. The off-Broadway Hose & Hydrant is the "water tower" this photo was taken from, and you can see the now-shell of the Refinery middle left on the corner of 12th and Dufferin.

Next Up:
We're an impatient little family waiting for the Kitchen floor and cabinets to install tomorrow... then I'm staying up late (thanks to this incredible iced coffee recipe) to move furniture... which these days, is an exiting Friday night! Hahaha... *sigh*