And thus starts the long, sad tale: shortly after we leave for Spain and Portugal and Italy, the deconstruction starts, and the project comes to a halt because the electrician did not anticipate the concerns of the the city's electrical inspector.
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| So, now we're back and at the beach while the E-ville kitchen remodel is underway |
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| Lauren Mabry bowl, to match her sewer pipe |
Sheetrock, before taping:
A few days later, taped:
Bathrooms: sheetrock, no taping:
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| Full moon in time lapse (?) |
Bathrooms taped, one vanity now has a counter top!
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| A washlet seat cover, straight outta Japan |
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| The latest heater, now gone and sheet rock/taping completed |
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| The heater "before taping "pic |
Kitchen cabinets installed, before countertops and appliances
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| Our first Mariko Kusomoto piece, from 1997 |
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| Our second Mariko piece, made in 2003, purchased at auction 2016, |
Details from the second "box" of wonders:
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| A wind-up music box plays and the lobster dances! |
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| Refinished display piece |
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| It's crowded in the 2nd bedroom |
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| Kati Tuominen bowl arrives safe and sound from Milan |
Fridge, ovens and freezer drawers installed while we are in Switzerland
We're back from Switzerland and Prague, what does THB do right away?
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| Take a selfie at the A's game...A's win! |
Here's how the kitchen looks on July 24:
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| Kitchen light controls |
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| New panel in pantry |
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| Freezer drawers |
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| Fridge and ovens |
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| the stove top, just resting in place |
The Brits are in town to celebrate a wedding:
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| The couple, and one giant Princess cake |
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| M, G, and DB |
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| Moby Dick spotted to port side |
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| Heading for the boat! |
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| Monterey Aquarium |
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| Owl below beach house |
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| Plover in the wild |
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| M reading during the few moments of sun at beach house during their 4 days |
What's happening at the loft: temporary covers over plugs; end of July: no countertops, no kitchen sink, no back splash, no dishwasher, no mirrors in bathrooms, no sink in guest bathroom, etc.
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| And new light controls for kitchen |
Another month goes by, what was THB doing?
Meanwhile, back in E-ville, progress is being made on the kitchen and bathrooms:
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| Not really a yard stick |
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| Notice anything? |
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| The same contractor installed both vanities |
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| The new vanities are about 3" difference in height! |
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| Counter tops are in: major milestone |
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| The dishwasher is on the far left now |
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| Freeze drawers: very nice! |
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| Even some art is now in place |
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| Dish towels imply cooking is going on; we eat lunch at the kitchen island shortly after THB is home from the Rio O's |
Another week goes by, time to install bathroom mirrors and make sure the kitchen back splash fits
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| But first, let me show you where the contractor burned holes in the floor (someone on the crew decided the microwave on the floor was functional if you could plug it in); this happened months ago |
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| And let me show you what is now behind our ladder to the loft |
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| Holes punched into the sheet rock, caused by closing the ladder with force and pushing the rubber bumpers into the wall |
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| Not an outline: a rectangular punch in the wall |
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| August 31: the birds are on the field at AT&T Park throughout the later innings |
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| The mirror is up in the hall bathroom, no problema |
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| Not so good in the master bathroom: the mirror won't fit around the faucet |
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| Emergency call to plumber to set aside the faucet so the mirror can be installed |
Another week goes by, and on Sept 2 (Happy B'day bro!) the lights are finally fully installed:
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| LED lights in grooves in the ceiling |
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| You know where THB was going after taking the pics |
and another few days go by and we find out that one of the back splash pieces needs to be redone: no new dates for repair and installation
We decide our contractors are off the project! We're close to being done, and they are not adding value. No more DSF.
What did DSF bring to the project: no anticipation of the electrical requirements, burnt holes in the floor, a couch with the outline of a bucket, a broken toilet, vanities at different heights, a broken wall and smooshed bumpers behind the ladder, many many slipped delivery dates (well, no project plans so we couldn't track all the slipped dates), and tirades about what bad clients we were in (among other things) not respecting their home lives.
The new pantry "art" door is installed (it still needs coverlets for the hardware and finger-hole insert
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| These are weeds from the empty land across the street from the loft (backlit) |
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| The artist, Nora Pauwels |
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| Kati Tuominen bowl on the dining room table |
On Sept 23, the glass backsplash was installed:
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| The pantry has been re-arranged and all the dry food is stored away and easy to get to on pull-out drawers |
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| All the dishware, and most of the pots and pans are near the stove top |
And, the next day we went to see the latest art installation at the Presidio, Home Land Security (sorry, I don't have pics of the art), an excellent show.
The opening Bertrand Russell quote is amazingly apt:
Neither a man
nor a crowd
nor a nation
can be trusted
to act humanely
or to think sanely
under the influence
of great fear
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| The show has a great booklet and an awesome stamp! |
It's early October, a short trip to LA for an opening of the Boardman collection at LACMA and a stop at one of THB's fave bakeries, Huckleberry:
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| Sunday morning and many to-go orders for pick-up |
We're out on the Bay with the Snows, watching the Blue Angels during Fleet Week:
And, we're almost done with the kitchen remodel, only a few things are left, the most important of which is finishing putting the art back in new and exciting ways!
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| Dishes are re-arranged after an extra shelf is put in place |
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| It looks familiar, a few pieces are in the same spot, some not, and the rug has been cleaned |
We're back from Seattle (mid-October), which included visits to two different Macrina Bakery locations
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| This is the one near the ballparks |
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| And, we've had our sofa cleaned in situ; you can just see the faint outline from something circular and weighty that had been left on the sofa too long during construction |
It's now 13 days before the election, Game 1 of the World Series goes to the Indians, and Game 1 of the NBA season is a debacle for the Warriors. This season will not finish with an 82-0 record or 41-0 at home.
And, the kitchen is pretty much done, only one or two cosmetic things left to go. We settled up with DSF (exchange of paper and check at a neutral site). The art is back in place, and here are pics of how things look as Halloween approaches:
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| Note: the Mariko pieces are now side by side on a pair of new ledges and All Eyes has moved to a new position, and the Kati bowl is now on the floor |
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| Terry Turrell head has moved to the loft |
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| David Reekie piece also escapes the TV display and is now on a new Eric pedestal |
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| Richard Shaw piece is where All Eyes used to be, Lauren Mabry piece is back on the table |
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| Note: The Eric Powell display piece has been refinished and two more of Eric's pieces are now in the loft |
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| The old coat rack is down, replaced by hooks and Gail Tarantino's piece is now in front hallway |
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| Wesley Anderegg's piece escapes the TV cabinet |
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| The countertop on the island is larger, and is a big improvement for assembling and prepping. The fridge is larger (we'll never fill it up!), the lighting is way, way better, and overall the magic triangle seems more functional. |
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| Larry Calkins' piece has moved to be atop the old tool chest (which has moved out of the bathroom) |
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| Molly Hill's work has come up from the beach house |
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| Hap Sakwa's bowl now on a newly purchased Eric pedestal |
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| No changes except finally THB has his old office/workout space back |
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| The sink is a bit smaller, the counter space more usable, and the vanity holds more with deeper drawers |
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| A new "unfinished" plywood stand to highlight jewelry pieces |
Now we are starting over from scratch learning how to cook: new induction stove top, a steam/convection oven, a second just-convection oven, using probes, slow cooking, oven pans that allow drips onto other pans, and new recipes. The election is only days away!! Everything will be new and different in the future...and THB will be older and harder to train!
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