You are so right, Mama!

I do not have the required skills to do the video taping such a human dance with equipment would deserve. But whether it is the men using the T-square special tool, or the razor knife and simple hand guides to score a 12 foot long sheet of wallboard, or a young man swinging up a half sheet of that trimmed board and then sawing off the over lap after fastening it in place, or the voices calling numbers across the room, from measurer to trimmer, trimmer to nailer, they have the rhythm.

And yes, Mama, I remember how you said it quite a while back. I remember it well.

When I had our barn framed, the crew of six definitely had a rhythm, and it was fascinating to listen to the rhythmic hammering and sawing. With me working alone, it's more of a slooow ballad LOL!

There aren't very many good things about living in a house under construction, other than as you watch the spaces evolve, you can get a better feel for how to use and decorate the finished space, rather than trying to guess beforehand, or make the decisions in a rush after the fact. Pay attention to the way light moves across the room, and how the family traffic flow will work in the space. That way, you can make (small) changes as the work progresses, and picking finishes will make more sense.

We haven't had to make many changes, but we have dropped ideas that we thought we wanted, and added a few things that we didn't see ahead of time.

having an open house for those who worked on it is a really nice idea!

and yep, it's gonna be greater and more workable/usable/comfortable for you and your dh when it's all done.

Thanks for speaking from your experience, Jay. I feel all you say is valid and checks with what I'm observing now. Some things are evolving because of the way the wall splits the two new rooms. One effect was the moving of the under counter fridge from the peninsula (which lost 12" of base cab space because of the wall location) over to the spot next to the large fridge on another wall, the one facing south, because the contractor made it 10 foot deep instead of 9 foot. That is where my extra foot walked off to. Perfectly fine, because that wall is the one backing up to the electrical service, and the power users are mostly along that wall.

And while I had hoped to have a wall space for pegboard surface in honor of Julia Childs and her kitchen feature, I must sadly give up the idea. Keeping things simple is my motto. And I don't want it to look like I'm trying to jam every idea in the world into this large kitchen in a small house.

Actually we might not be a REALLY small house anymore. But I'm seeing that the house has "breathing room" which is important to being comfortable. Like a hearty eater who can let out his belt another notch and sigh with relief.

In this house, I hope I've learned the purpose is not to have a multitude of small spaces to perform select chores in select spots. But to have enough space to make it a pleasure to do each thing. Give it the attention it deserves. Make it FEEL ENJOYABLE, and claim more moments of your life on the HAPPY SIDE. This house, I do believe, is going to fit us like a glove. A BIG GLOVE.....perhaps a MITTEN?

:)

"Make it FEEL ENJOYABLE, and claim more moments of your life on the HAPPY SIDE. This house, I do believe, is going to fit us like a glove. A BIG GLOVE.....perhaps a MITTEN"

that's a wonderful thought about it - I hope it will be that way every day for you!

moccasinlanding, you do have a way with words. :)

Thanks, Steph and Mama both.

I'm looking at the pine tongue and groove boards that we found beneath the linoleum of the original 12 x 8 foot kitchen. It is not level, and that must be taken up and a new subfloor installed which will allow the front (by the dining room) and the back (by the addition) of the kitchen to be leveled to receive the new hardwood floors. One side is over an inch higher than the other side, which is level with the oak floors of the rest of the old house. So, the pine (and the subfloor) must be up taken.

I'm liking the looks of it really. I don't think it will all come up whole boards, it might be broken, so I want to save as much as I can of the pine (maybe some subfloor too) to perhaps use it as wainscoting somewhere--one of these days.

We will see what we wind up with.

I hope you can save a lot of it. always good to reuse what we can.

Steph, the pine subfloor mostly splintered to pieces. It was so so dry and not good quality to begin with. I am very happy tonight to let you know that the new flooring is laid in the new kitchen, almost done with the whole house in fact....perhaps by Monday we can begin with the baseboards and case out the final two openings and perhaps order the counter-height kitchen window. Since it won't be a tempered glass, it can be ready within a week I imagine. I have more pictures in my camera taken of the progress to date. Wish I could figure how to make a quick upload to here.....from the camera....

sorry to hear you couldn't save the old flooring. glad to hear your new flooring is almost done. You must be just thrilled with it!

yes, been waiting for more pics. check on kitchens for a thread about photos. I think it's about posting them. I'm gonna have to learn how to do that here also.