Days 14-18

Another week has passed and we have lots to show for it in the renovation department!

On Day 14, our exterior bricks were dropped off. Even though this was all that happened on that day, it was still exciting to know that the place where our old kitchen door was would soon be a distant, covered-by-bricks memory.

On Day 15, our new hardwoods (on the other side of this plastic) got a good buffing and their first coat of polyurethane. I was nervous about this before it happened, but it actually wasn't all that smelly. We kept the windows open, but closed the doors to bedrooms and bathrooms. We also hung out in the basement a bit more. No sweat.

Here's the dining room (we redid the floors in that room, too, since there was so much weaving of the new floorboards with the old ones)...

And the view into the kitchen!

On Day 16, the floors got a second coat of poly.

On Day 17, the brick guys began to build the brick up around the new window and where the door used to be. Hard to tell the new brick from the old, isn't it?

And our floors got their last coat of poly.  Bee-yoo-tee-ful!

Then on Day 18, our new fridge arrived! I'd like to say that it was easy for the Sears guys to bring this sucker up the stairs and into our kitchen, but it was actually quite a harrowing experience (for them and us). Phew! (The good news was that having a new fridge meant that the old fridge could be moved down to the garage and OUT of our living room. Hooray! Another great thing is that we sold our old fridge to a neighbor who will be picking it up this evening!)

This coming week, our new countertops will be installed and the rest of our appliances will arrive. The kitchen cabinets will get some molding, and a variety of other loose ends will be tied up. And that means that this time next week, we just might be celebrating our new kitchen by cooking, baking and toasting some champagne in it. We can't wait! More to come!