The Kitchen Project

On Friday, we painted the trim a subtle white called White Chocolate. The arrival and installation of the cabinets before all of the crown molding had been installed meant that Greg had to do some stretching, craning, and awkward weight balancing on sills and cabinets to reach every corner of the room. I stuck to the windows and door frames. We did two coats one after the other and are happy with the results.

Although the kitchen is far from functional, we are now eating out of the new refrigerator and freezer. It beeps when the door isn’t fully shut and we have learned when it is closed and when it isn’t.

Yesterday, we turned our attention to the hallway. The replastering of the entrance to the kitchen required the hallway to be touched up, and since we lacked the paint we’d used in the rest of the hallway and had never finished the ceiling the last time, we decided to finish the work started years ago while moving in a slightly different direction in color. The ceiling was repainted white over the existing patchy single coat of gray. Greg chose a slightly greener tone for the walls, which he loves and I’m learning to appreciate. I don’t think we’ll need to redo the white trim around the doors, but the crown molding bears the scars of both ceiling and wall paint and needs to be done. We may replace it to match the kitchen depending on the cost.

Sunday was also devoted to working in the backyard. Our garden has been out of sight, out of mind since we handed over the back porch to construction. We’ve kept it under some control with basic weeding and mowing, but the most successful shrubs needed clipping, the tomatoes had yet to be put in the ground, and wildflowers had swarmed our perennials and needed to be pulled out in large clumps. I also removed several years’ worth of dead blackberry canes. The blackberries always ripen the week we’re away at the beach, and the birds get to them before we do; let’s hope this year is different.

The crown moldings and bottom rails on the cabinets have been installed. The baseboard molding and last bits of the wall crown molding have been put up. We need to paint the crown molding soon, which will be a challenge as some stretches are quite inaccessible above and behind the cabinets. All of these are visible in the photo below:

All of the appliances save the dryer have arrived. We’re hoping to see the electrician and plumber next week. The dryer should arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday, at which point they can cart away our old fridge.

The templater for the countertop pulled up to our house just as I was leaving for the busstop this morning. I’m looking forward to hearing from Greg how that went.

Our cabinets arrived from the warehouse today, and Johnny and Billy (and another helper, whose name I forgot) worked to put them in place for us. Mark and I couldn’t wait until we got home, so we dashed home at lunch time to see the progress. They started at the fridge side, and have been working counter clockwise from there. While we were there, they put in another large top cabinet to the left of the stove and were installing the cabinets that flank the stove and dishwasher, including our new trash can. When we get home tonight, everything is going to be in place. I really can’t wait.

Mark keeps scratching his head over the wall color, but I think once we get the counter top in, the color will seem perfect.

Our third gallon of paint was not sufficient to undo the damage caused by the second gallon of paint, so Greg set out to find a Benjamin Moore dealer with the top of this third, “good” gallon to match the tint.

Our Somerville dealer was closed. Our first option on a Sunday afternoon was a hardware store on Charles Street in Beacon Hill. It’s probably the priciest hardware store in the state, but it was the closest, and how much could they charge for one gallon of paint? We never found out; their machine spit out lime green in place of Marblehead Gold, and after two tries the clerk gave up.

The next stop was Warren Hardware on Tremont Street near the Boston Herald building, and Greg had better luck there. He came home and we completed the paint to our final satisfaction. As you see, we conserved by only painting areas that will be visible.

Later, we applied a second coat to the ceiling, and painted Alyssa’s name in white on a spot destined to be hidden in gratitude for the use of her camera. Greg scrubbed the paint splashes from the floor.

Oh, and we bought a faucet.

We’re ready for the cabinets.

Today started well. We oohed and ahhed over our kitchen color. Alyssa came over to help paint, and we had brunch at Sound Bites. She brought her telescoping brush, and we made quick work of the room. It was a slightly different color, but we all assured ourselves it was just “drying” and would look better when it dried.

Well, to be frank, the color still didn’t look right. I painted the ceiling and waited longer. We went to Wolfers to look at lighting, and Mark and I decided on a fan, a pendant, and a new light for the dining room. We went off to Home Depot and got a sink, couldn’t decide on a faucet, got a doorstop, and realized that replacement parts for the fan switches we have aren’t available. By this point, I was sugar crashing. We had great Korean food over the hill from us.

Tummies full, we went home to see that ill green on the wall where the pretty gold had been. I opened the next gallon of paint and it was beautiful. I compared it to the one we’d just put up, and it was different. Same formula on the paint lid, but different. Fortunately, we don’t have to cover the entire room again. Only about 30% of it won’t be covered by cabinets, so that’ll be our next big task. After Mark finishes cutting in the ceiling, and I spackle the trim, I’ll try the good color again.

Today, I made pancakes in the electric frying pan. It’s basically my way of making sure Mark is going to be psyched for whatever the world throws at him. Something about chocolate chips, bananas, and maple syrup does the trick. I had also painted a big splotch of our winning color on the wall, and we decided to go for it. Then I called Billy, our contractor, to see what was up.

He’s coming Monday to install the cabinets. We could have the countertops measured Tuesday, and have the appliances come Wednesday. You mean…. I could cook something on Wednesday for dinner? And wash dishes? And clothes?? Far out! A quick call to Yale Appliance. They should have everything for us Wednesday, except maybe the dryer and fridge. Okay. I can live with that.

Then we were off. Up to North Reading to National Tile, where Karen, after securing an invitation to our eventual kitchen unveiling party, agreed to help us pick out tiles for our feature area, gave us more samples, and sent us on our way. Jenn called us and said their templaters could come Thursday. That works. We went to Benjamin Moore, got loads of Primer and Paint, and headed home to prime. Four to five hours later, the first coat is up on top of the primer, and we did a decent job. A few places we need to touch up, but it’s good. Another coat goes up tomorrow after breakfast (We’re going to Sound Bites, so I’m not cooking!) and then it’s off to get sink and faucet.

A darkhorse has won. We’re going bold.

Watch this space.

Update: We primed with a tinted primer. It’s drying already. Tonight, we paint.

So, we learned today that we have to find a color and get it on the walls by Monday, instead of after the 4th of July. This calls for an adjustment of our plans and taking personal days off of work. Greg is getting testers in the city for our last two alternatives to Desert Tan. We’ll judge tomorrow, make our decisions, and start priming and painting the first coat.

Also on the docket for tomorrow is the tile store and possibly Home Depot. Saturday may be the second coat and the recording of our camera donor’s name. We’ll get this done.

Top row, left to right: Beverly Hills, Marblehead Gold, Desert Tan, all by Benjamin Moore. Single coat photographed this morning after 10 hours of rest.

I couldn’t believe that was the same Desert Tan we saw in D.C. This wasn’t gold; it was, well, tan. I e-mailed to verify that they’d gotten the name of the color right, which was kind of tricky considering these are people we just met who’d kindly hosted us for drinks and dinner and here I was implying they were either dishonest or negligent in telling us their choice of paint. It felt like correcting someone about the pronunciation of his own name. “AHN-drea? Oh, you must mean ‘ANN-drea.’”

Anyway, having seen some photos, I’m pretty certain the only mistake was my expecting that a color would look the same under artificial light in Boston as under late afternoon sunlight in Washington. It goes very well with our hardware and is still the front runner.

I have a coworker with a real knack for choosing colors for interior decoration who recommends Bronze Beige, again by Benjamin Moore. I’m going to try to get a can in the city and bring it home with me on the T.

As promised, I got up early and drove to the Benjamin Moore store at the opening to get our testers. Not surprisingly, Monday morning at seven turned out to be rush hour for painters. Not only was the store open earlier than expected, but there was already a small crowd of professionals stocking up for the week when I arrived. I got a quart each of Desert Tan, Beverly Hills (peachier, but highly recommended, and reflective of a color in the countertop), and a “Summer 2008″ color called Marblehead Gold which crosses over into olive but seemed worth a try.

I thought Billy and John were back today, but Greg said we’re not likely to see anyone until Wednesday when the floors are sanded. Greg would like us to prime again before we paint the room. I envision a weekend of painting.