What????? Are the pics not working???

Joel PROMISES that once he is done knocking out the brick for the Master Bedroom window, he will upload the pics on his INCREDIBLY fancy schmancy digital camera. It will be TONIGHT.

Ivette

Okay, the "DURING" pics are ready to go! I had a heck of a time going through the hundreds of durings I've taken. But I couldn't bore you with them all. I hope you like these!

Ivette

Here is a link that might be useful: Ivette's Remodel Photo Album

Hey Ivette-- I tried clicking on it, and it put me into my OWN yahoo account!! LOL

Is there something you should tell me? :-)

Oh what the heck???? I made sure it's all public. I have NO idea why it isn't working!! Anyone have a clue?

Here try this, it's a link to the specific album, instead of ALL of them. I hope it works.

Ivette

Here is a link that might be useful: Just the

This link appears to be "me-specific".

Ivette

Here is a link that might be useful: Hopefully ALL the albums

The Lacanche is breathtaking! And the cabinets are stunning. Thank you so much for posting your inspiration photos as well. All I can say is... I'm inspired!

OMG ~ she IS a beauty, your Lacanche is gorgeous beyond description! I love the way you are planning to showcase it on a wall by itself.

Cabinets look amazing, too! Take plenty of those before pictures, as I have a feeling people aren't going to believe it's the same house when you are through!

Thank you for the pictures Ivette!!!

Very nice!! That stove is HUGE!! I like the window in the master bath, too. Very nice touch! I assume that's where the jacuzzi's going to go?

Thanks guys!!!!

No, no jacuzzi, but a nice clawfoot is going there yes!

You guys are so sweet. The new bedroom window "hole" was made this weekend and the new windows went in. They're INCREDIBLE! They easily increased the view in that room ten fold. It's very exciting!!!

Ivette

Ivette-- You gonna set it into a deck, or let it freestand?

The reason I ask is you have a real nice set up for a deck, with a raised shelf there in the bay area of the window to put plants on (and maybe candles?).

I mean, could you imagine something like this for a shelf in your window?

Maybe put a nice 6" wide candle in the middle of it?

Happy, Happy Birthday Ivette ~ Hope you had a wonderful day!!!

Ivette--

Just tried to phone you to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY in a real voice, but got your cell phone voicemail. I realized I don't have your new home phone number, and Information couldn't give it to me--unlisted?--and my email program is corrupted, I just found out, and all my email and addresses have vanished. And my mother just had knee replacement surgery, and, and, and.

ANYWAY--I am thinking of you, and just saw your super house photos, your lovely cabinets, your beautiful Lacanche, and aren't you just too, too happy??!!! (Tired too, I know.)

So happy, happy day, dear, and please send me your email address again, and your phone number. I'll call you...
XXXOOO,
Pamela

Pamela: You've got mail.

All: Thank you!!!!!!!! :)

Bill: WOW! That is really beautiful! We're planning just free standing right now though. I don't think we have space for what you're showing. It's really quite a small bathroom. But boy is that pretty! Will definitely run by DH.

Ivette

Happy Birthday, lovely Ivette!
You bring sunshine into our lives as we follow your adventures.
AnnaLeeF

Hey Lady!! I didn't know it was your birthday!! I hope it was a good one!! :-)

Bein' that you're an Aquarian, your bathroom's gonna HAFTA be top notch!! :-)

Whooo hoooo!

Here's the latest update: We passed our framing/plumbing/electrical inspection today! Poppin the bubbly!

It is SO exciting to see the plumbing rough in all in. Suddenly, that extra bedroom IS a bathroom and the new kitchen layout is THERE and not just in my head or on paper anymore. On to drywall and flooring. It's too exciting.

Ivette

Fantastic!!!

Isn't it just the best to finally see your project shaping up? Did you convert the extra bedroom into a master bath? I am very interested in your project Ivette, as we hope to do something similiar - buy a ranch (probably a fairly non-descript one) and transform the kitchen, master bedroom & master bath (french doors off the master onto a deck with spa tub & spa-like master bath)

Hi paulines!

Yes, that is exactly what we did. We had three bedrooms upstairs, the original master bedroom was a very nice size. The master "bath" was a tiny 5X6 room with just a shower/sink/toilet. Across the hall were two bedrooms, slightly smaller, with two closets. There was also a full bathroom off the hall and adjacent to the master bath.

So what we did was we took the two bedrooms and ripped out the closets, taking that space for the master bedroom, thus making it bigger. We then took most of the second bedroom for a master bath (which is still relatively small, but 8 X 10 with a bay window (new) for the tub. We took the tub space from the hall bath and gave it to the original master bath, turning it into a decent size bathroom for our son, and turned the hall full bath into a powder room. This, on top of gutting the entire kitchen and completely changing the layout. Whew!

Ivette

Hi Ivette, Yes I have tried to leave Kitchens and concentrate on the cooking but I thought of you, and WOW! I'm soooo glad I saw the before because I can really appreciate the during --->on its way to the completed.

And a belated Happy Birthday!!!! Love and continued progress to you.
Maureen

Hi! and Thanks!!

Listen, the next time you are over here visiting daughter in law you HAVE to come over for some tea (made on the camp stove, bien sur) and see the progress for yourself! You know you are always welcome sweets!

Love,
Ivette

Like today????? (Sunday post 11:59am) Email on its way to you. I will prob visit family and the Super H on rt 50 today. It's either you or Wegmans as #3 in my usual Triple Crown swing round the Metro area. :-) Maureen

Maureen:

It was LOVELY to see you! Thanks so much for popping over to check on our progress. Now you can say you'll have seen the Before, During (gruesome as it is) AND After!

Ivette

Belatedly getting back here...I do cook now you know!! and don't come over very often to those of you in the unending white dust.

Ivette's house is really coming along and I am soooo glad it's not me who's painting those lovely cabinets. I realize I'm either too old or too impatient and more likely both. However, I bow to my painting betters. (see my curtsey here)

Joel was busy at work while I inspected the studs and the housing parts here and there. So much of the house is being done, it's really really a major undertaking.

I'm sorry I forgot my camera, but I have to say the one thing that I won't forget is the lovely arch between the kitchen and the dining room. It's a small detail but it really talks to me. For those who did the Sept pre-destruction tour, the hallway is also opening up a lot. I can't quite explain it but the light comes in (in addition to the can lights which will be working soon...)

I'll prob be back in early March...be forewarned Ivette! I think dh will have to take me to Maggiannnos... hehehe. Maureen

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. can I come too??

So glad you like it Maureen, especially our arch! I can't believe what a difference it makes taking that wall out.

Our appliances arrived yesterday!! Joel is upstairs putting drywall in. And so it continues....

Ivette

LOL...True love, when your honeybunch does drywall for you on Valentine's Day. Joel, you know your woman! Maureen

Ivette:
Just checking on you, the remodel progress, the brother, the whole house renovation, the cabinet painting, the plunge into coursework - all the heavy loads you carry. There is light at the end of the tunnel & I hope that's looking closer. The drywall stage always seems so slow, though.

So the appliances arrived - unscathed? Did you end up with the Sub-Zero with or without the glass doors you toyed with last year? After I expressed doubt about having frig contents on display (& the necessary cleaning vigilance), my DS got one and it does look neat in his kitchen, I must admit.

Anyway, thinking of you & hoping you have made enough progress in the last 2 weeks to feel like there is an end in sight.

Hi Anna!

Oh how kind of you to ask! I've been meaning to post an update, but life is just BEYOND insane. It just gets nuttier and nuttier. But I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

After two months with us, my brother has a great new job and starts next week. So that saga is over. He was a big help while he was here and helped with lots of heavy lifting. And it was nice to catch up after two years of my being overseas. My dad's surgery went perfectly well and he is doing great, although his cat died and now he's ALL alone which really breaks my heart. I'm hoping to persuade him to come for a long visit in the Spring.

The appliance have arrived! They're all lined up in the living room like little soldiers. They seem unscathed, but who'll know till they're plugged in? The Lacanche is still in the garage. I had to cancel a visit from some friends who were going to help when the stress level clearly got me down with what I self diagnosed as Ebola. I missed almost a week of work. As soon as we have another strong back, we'll move the Lacanche into the living room too.

The drywall work IS going slowly, and there is alot of it. But it's soooo exciting to see the spaces for real now, not just on paper. I was surprised that I didn't suffer from the "gee the rooms seem small" syndrome. On the contrary. I've selected the paint colors for everything, so will be ready to buy paint and get to work once the drywall is done. I still have a couple of windows to paint (new kitchen window hasn't arrived yet) but am almost done with those. New front door awaiting installation and paint. Same with new interior doors. Joel is also installing our matching hardwood floors as he gets bored doing drywall. The only thing really left to buy is the tile for the bathrooms, and the new trim throughout the house (which is selected of course, Hey! It's me! but hasn't been ordered yet). Joel's parents are coming for a couple of weeks and Dad is a trim "King" so we should get ALOT of trim work done in that time.

I did not get the glass sub zero afterall. Got the stainless. She's a beauty. Part of me will always want that glass door. Who knows, maybe in 15 years when I've passed the Scooby Doo yogurt phase? :)

So that's that. I'm hoping to upload some update pictures soon and will post another link when I do, for the curious (or those who like to revel in their own superior situation since they're DONE! And who can blame them??)

Love,
Ivette

P.S. I just don't have as much time to spend on the forums as I used to, now that work is in full force. But I really hope to be back in earnest when it's all done, handing out advice left and right.

Ebolla - I hope not! I suspect the recovery time is a little longer than a few days. There have been some wicked flu and viruses going around up here in the last 2 months.

Joel is amazing - I think you are both (actually all 3 of you) going to need relaxing spa time after all this is done. Good news on your Dad's surgery and your brother's change of fortune. Is your Dad able to take care of a new cat or kitten? They are so therapeutic. I saw that with my parents when they arrived here after Rita and we happened to have a new kitten. They were absolutely enthralled with him and they are not pet lovers historically. They still ask about him first on every call. He was so absolutely gentle with them as though he understood how fragile they are.

My advice is to be patient with yourselves and your remodeling progress, no matter how often we all ask to hear about progress and see pictures. It will be done when it's time and no sooner. Go with the flow and enjoy the process. You'll have a lot to be proud of when you are done and can identify every hour that went into the smallest details of the house!

Thanks Anna!

We are enjoying the process for the most part, I must say. I'm surprised at how much fun it is, despite the dust and dirt and noise and upheaval. I guess it's just the knowledge that this is our project and we're doing it and the anticipation. Who knows?

Unfortunately, my Dad is REFUSING to get another cat. He's not one to be persuaded. This was my mother's cat, he never wanted it, but ended up loving it of course. Now he says he can't go through that again. Maybe in time, after he's mourned her a little, I can persuade him. But he is not one to be persuaded. When you look up "stubborn and hard headed" in the dictionary, there's a picture of my Dad (right under the picture of me). ;)

So hey! I got a B+ on my first design school assignment. I'm actually BUMMED! What is this HIGH SCHOOL?? I didn't get an A, WAAAAH.

I need a life!
Ivette

Ivette,
Belated congrats on your B+, not too shabby! I thought it was a picture of my Dad posted under stubborn and hard-headed-lol Sorry about your Dad's kitty, though and I hope he has fully recovered from his surgery.

Just wanted to see how everything was by you.

Hey Ivette and all -- I haven't been on lately either (busy with school and other projects) but I got a quick catch up here (yay!) and will look forward to pix.

My living room sofa and chair were picked up for upholstery on Tuesday -- Ivette you're catching up to me if you're nearly ready to paint. Also finished off my basement (big relief) and actually getting it organized.

Still trolling for special "unfitted" kitchen sideboard and plate rack (yes, another one I'm turning into displaygurl) -- have missed a couple at auctions but I'm staying determined.

Keep us posted Ivette and hi everyone. -- Jane

Hi to you too, Jane. It sounds as if you are really making progress. Any particular style & color sideboard and plate rack you on the look-out for?

Stay well!

Hi Ivette...I bet you are getting some spring fever and ready to have it keep happening. I know it hit me when the days got longer and I soooo wanted it done faster than it was getting done. However you have a ft live in contractor so maybe you can sweeten your contract on occasion!

Our hump at work is more or less over and now it's the downhill to April 10th finish, less a big wrap up mailing. Then a deep breath and 9mo interim work which is the easy part of the year. My VA family is due a visit from Nana so you may get one too before mid April. (ds is getting two weeks leave from 'the big suck' about then. I'm trying not to count...) Love to you all in kitchen land. Maureen

Hey Maureen, when are you coming back up my way?

Pauline, I had a very nice "no thank you" from that woman but she's keeping me in mind. I wrote back and said I understood and thanks and really wasn't surprised as she has a 7 y.o. and the person who left did all the autocad drawings. (I've already got enough eye strain).

I'm looking for an old sideboard, preferrably 18c or up to 1880 with one of those big facing front style plateracks, hoping I can afford blue or gray or white and dreaming of yellow. I saw one today which had hinges at the front and opened in reverse over 2 slides -- like a secretary where you pull out those supports -- so it was a 24" sideboard that became a big square buffet. So clever, but not in such great shape and it looks like someone had their kid repaint it. So either I get outbid or there's something wrong. I've decided to go with a sideboard instead of a table since that space is a hallway basically.

If someone is interested in going to Brimfield in May please email.

Hi guys!

Jane it sounds like you're making SO much progress. All I ever seem to do is paint windows. The new kitchen window (to replace the botched one) arrived. Of course it's BIGGER, which is a good thing, but MAN it takes me two hours a coat to paint this thing!!

I hope to have new pics up soon. Joel's dad is in town and he has hung all the doors and fixed the arch in the kitchen/dining room, and they've installed the kitchen cabinets! Unpainted, but it's exciting anyway!

Still SUCH a ways off. Ah well. We'll get there.

Ivette

Hey Ivette,

Courage!

And it sounds like you're doing great in school as well! Isn't it fun? Maybe we can do something together when we both graduate. I actually placed my first wholesale fabric order this week!

Please send pics as I'm anxious to see the new windows. The previous pics looked so great and it WILL end and be so totally worth the work.

I so admire all you and DH are doing -- I never would have had the energy. It's just fabulous.

My progress now is linked to furniture arrivals. I'm doing ok. I didn't get the green clock I showed you but did get another one that's similar. I'm waiting for the delivery of my new desk, chairs and the clock. My two sofas and one chair are at the upholsterer.

School is taking up most of my time though and it's been so much fun but as I posted on the other thread, I seem to live in this odd little world right now. Everyone else has such big life things happening and while I had those last year right now I some quiet.

In May it will be 3 years since the start of the reno and we planned for a year before that. No wonder it seems like I've been "house-ing" forever.

Guess you feel the same. I won't even ask when you're coming to visit. LOL!

Hey Ivette, want to see something eerie? Your kitchen and mine could be interchangeable!
I don't drop in often anymore,but when I saw your name I just had to look! Needless to say, I love it!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our kitchen

Jane: Oh WHO knows? Siiiiigh. Maybe in late Spring? Design school IS fun, you're right! P.S. I can't believe you didn't get the green clock!

compumom: Oh my GOD! That is too funny! Is it functional? Puhleese tell me it's functional! Can my finished kitchen be just half as pretty as yours?

Ivette

Oh yes, very functional! I love it and it's fabulous for entertaining. Your kitchen looks like it has all the right 'moves' and I'm sure it will come out great!
Keep me posted with final finishes!

Ivette, I did get the green clock -- just not the one you saw. Another one that has a slightly different shape that I preferred, that is guaranteed to work because it has been working and has been in someone's family for generations. DH gave it to me for Xmas and I'm waiting for the delivery as it arrived last week. Found it after the one you saw. Very exciting.

You should take a break and come up if you can. Come to class with me at the Frick next month!

Here is a link that might be useful:

Drool! Love that clock, Jane!

Oh it's BEAUTIFUL!!!

Class?? At the FRICK???????? DO TELL!!

Ivette

Jane,
Your clock is gorgeous, love the color & shape (it's not blue, though ;).

Thanks all.

Pauline I never got the sideboard -- was outbid. Thought I had it when I looked at the results but no. So I'm back to go.

My dream clocks were blue. 2 that were unaffordable (for me anyway). So I got green which goes with another piece of furniture in the same room and with blue. Very 60s powder blue and olive green like one of my favorite outfits of long ago.

Yes, Ivette at the Frick. She takes us around and lectures on the various objects. We have to choose 3 objects from either the Met or the Frick for the final paper. I've decided to write on the French rococo. LOL!

I'm sorry about the sideboard, that suxs!

Are you going to attempt Brimfield?

I believe so, yes. But I'm trying to understand it first. I don't get the thing about it opening at dawn. And someone told me all the good stuff is gone by 7 am because the dealers go so early.

So where to they stay and what's up with that?

Planning to stay in Stockbridge with my stepdaughter if that's not too far. I mapquested it and it's supposed to be 1 h 15 mins to exit 8 but I'd want to leave at maybe 8 or 9 and it sounds too late.

If you have any suggests I'd be grateful. I could always stay closer if everything isn't booked. Need to decide soon anyway.

Brimfield has the antique show yearly in May, July and Sept. Some folks feel the May show has the best merchandise, but the bargains are better at the Sept. show ~ we haven't noticed much of a difference.

The place is huge with a great and varied selection, and wonderful whether you're looking for antique furniture pieces, hardware, jewelry, silver, light fixtures (some amazing art deco ones last year!), rugs, etc. etc. etc. There are different areas set up - a few do open at 5:00 am, geared primarily towards dealers. We usually try to be there by 8:30 am and haven't had a problem with parking or traffic. The roads into Brimfield are backroad, single lane, so you don't want to get involved with traffic, if you can help it.

I would imagine the motels in Brimfield are booked by now, but you could try Sturbridge (next town over, 10 mins to 'Heart of the Mart').

Here is a link that might be useful: More info...

Thanks Pauline, you're such a doll.

I do have the website bookmarked. I need to check around in Sturbridge.

What I don't understand is the different venues and how they're organized. Looks like you could spend 3 days just walking around.

U going this year?

Jane, we are definitely going. My DH even loves it and he's a riot to watch there (think big, intimidating, biker kind of guy) talking about 'the patina of a piece'.

The show is held along a country type road about a mile long. You have your big, well-known antique dealers that have a large amount of space (usually under tents), all the way down to everyday folks that rent a table and sell yard sale type goods. It's not organized in any particular fashion (for example, rug dealers are not grouped together), so if you are looking for something special, you probably would want to walk the whole show (wear sneakers). There are plenty of clean port-a-potties and booths with fair-type food & drink.

I always have certain things I look for, but keep an open mind when looking. Also, most important, if you see something you like, don't leave it with intentions to come back later - it'll most likely be gone (ask me how I know).

The best time we had was 2 years ago, went on a overcast/rainy day. The crowds were sparse and the dealers were anxious to sell, we got some great buys!

And brush up on your hondeling (negotiating) skills - it's required form at Brimfield.

Pauline maybe we can talk closer to the date and meet up there to say hi. I'm supposed to go with a friend who's a dealer but she has a 5 m.o. and 2 school age besides so I'm not so sure if she'll get away.

I'm dying to go and know I might be able to pick up some smaller things I could use.

If only DH had the patience. He's a great negotiator (I'm terrible) but no interest. He sees stuff after and is just as happy. He's super about other things but just doesn't care much about stuff. You're fortunate yours likes the shows. Now if it was a baseball game....