Light at the End of the Tunnel... (Kitchen Renovation Part 5)

(ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 2003)

Boy, we sure have accomplished a lot in the last month. Gabe hung all the cabinets. He did all the lower cabinets by himself (Heaven forbid he should call a friend to help), and our friend Jack helped with the upper cabinets. All the cabinet doors have been installed and the knobs are on all the doors. He still has to put the knobs on the drawers. I am allowed to put things in the cabinets that have knobs. So I started doing that right away. I know you will find this hard to believe but I have everything organized by category. All Tupperware is in the same cabinet, all cooking and baking materials are together, as are all boxed and canned goods. I even have the boxed and canned goods organized by type of food, and everything is lined up in nice, neat rows with the labels facing out so I can read them. I know this will not last but it gives me a sense of peace starting out this way. Hey! Stop laughing at me! The granite countertops have also been installed but they are currently covered in plastic so I don’t get paint on them (see painting story below) so I did not get good picture yet.

The 3 season porch is almost complete (Porch 12). Gabe has roughed in all the electrical outlets and put up paneling where the exterior clapboard used to be. For the past 2 weekends we have been laying floor tiles and grouting. What a pain in the neck (and back, and shoulders, and arms, and legs). I spend most of Saturday on my hands and knees like a washerwoman, cleaning the grout off the tiles. All that’s left to complete the porch is to connect the electrical outlets, seal the tile grout, and put up some trim molding around the French doors. Then I can put my furniture back in and decorate. It will be so exciting to have a room done! I can’t wait. We will be out there every night. Well, we will actually collapse out there each night once it gets too dark to work in the kitchen!

Now let’s talk about painting. My vacuuming nightmare has been replaced by the painting nightmare. I want to paint my kitchen red. Brick red, barn red, something nice and warm and rich. My first mistake (from what all the “professionals” tell me) was going to Home Depot to get the paint. I found a color square that I liked on their Glidden display called Victorian Red. I had them mix me a gallon and went home to paint. My second mistake was not painting a test area first. I just started painting. It was pretty bright and on the pink side but I figured it would darken when it dried and I would need to do at least 2 coats anyway. Those of you who read my last update know how clumsy I can be so I was very careful going up and down the ladder with the bucket of paint, trying to be aware of my surroundings at all times. I was even talking out loud to my self – “Move the paint can."  "Put the roller down before moving the ladder."  "Oh, oh, where are the paper towels."  "Don’t trip over the dog.” I painted the entire room in 2 ½ hours. Just as I finished Gabe walked in and said with a sharp intake of breath “Oh! Is this the color you really want to paint the room?” Since I had been staring at the paint for hours it was looking pretty good to me. I called my cousin, who lives next door, to get a second opinion. When Kerri walked in she said with a sharp intake of breath “Oh! Is this the color you really want to paint the room?” I started to think I was in a little bit of trouble so I called over to my Mom, who lives a few houses down. She could not come over but my Aunt was visiting so she came and had a look. When she walked in she said with a sharp intake of breath “Oh! Is this the color you really want to paint the room?” Now I know I am screwed! Off I go, back to Home Depot. This time I picked out a lovely Oriental Red. A darker shade than what I had on the walls. I got a gallon and headed home to paint again. When I walked into the kitchen after not looking at it for a few hours I understood why everyone was gasping. It was bright red/pink! Like a dummy I decided the new paint would be just what I wanted so I started painting the whole kitchen again. After another 2 ½ hours of painting I finally got finished…and it was too dark. Almost red/purple. Aarrgghh!!! I’m a little slow but I finally figured out that I should paint a test square before doing the whole kitchen. So I had Gabe cut me a few pieces of blue board and I painted 3 coats of each of my 2 colors on them. One was still too pink and the other was definitely too dark. Now that I was getting smarter I decided to go to a real paint store with real painting professionals to get my next color. I went to White Street Paint. I picked the 3rd color and went home to paint one of my squares of blue board. After 2 coats I realized this was the wrong color too, too orange. I was starting to despair that I would never find the color I was looking for. I went back to White Street with the blue board and paper swatch from the first color red. I showed them what I wanted (paper swatch) and what I got (blue board) and asked if they could give me the color I was looking for (yes, the 4th color). We looked through all the paint samples and I picked a color called Ruby Red. I put a couple of coats on the blue board Gabe cut for me and it looked like what I wanted so I went for it. Gabe put a coat on the kitchen Saturday and I did another coat on Sunday. It still needs one more coat to cover the previous colors completely but it looks great! Boy, by the time I finally get finished painting I will be a pro!