The painter arrived bright and early this morning to patch holes. When we came back from lunch, some necessary appliances were being delivered by G&H. The cooktop is required for the granite template, and the oven is required for the cabinetry.

Painting in the family room continued in the afternoon.

Shaker Beige in the family room.

The sink was delivered this afternoon as well. The recycled content promise on the box makes us feel better about cutting down trees in Brazil for the floor.

Recycled AND easy to clean!

Mad props to Isaiah the cabinet installer who came in at 7:30 pm to fit the sink in time for the granite template tomorrow.

Farm sink.

We learned that our backsplash choice has come in about 25% over budget. I went to Dehart Tile in Christiansburg to shop around and found a possible alternative, but with a squirming child couldn’t fully explore the options. I have learned however, that natural stone is WAY more expensive than ceramic tile.

Today’s first photo is of the spider that lives in our mailbox:

I want a new mailbox anyway.

Cabinet installation continued. I noticed some discoloration on the hood, which I was told is easily repaired.

Mid-day progress.

Missed a spot.

After pondering how the laws of physics would accommodate two 18″ cabinets and a shelf before the beam, we got our answer:

Cabinet fit fail.

We decided to change to one larger cabinet that will line up flush to the beam, and put another set of shelves right under the beam. Thus arose an opportunity. We still have two 18″ cabinets that are ours to use. We are trying to come up with a way to turn them into wine storage.

By the end of the day the first part of the cabinet crowns were installed:

Cabinets meet the ceiling.

Useful nook!

Cabinet installation started on Saturday.

Saturday cabinet installation

It continued today with the vent for the hood being installed as well. We’re looking forward to deep-frying, stir-frying, and searing without filling the kitchen with smoke and oil. We like to subject our food to high heat.

Corner cabinets with vent running through the ceiling above.

Shiny vent.

Custom cabinet visible in the nook.

The bar was also built out today.

Important that it's level so that the martinis don't slide off.

All of this was accomplished via the carpentry set-up in the immaculate lawn.

Power tools and suburban finery.

The delivery truck arrived this morning, and the crew unloaded the cabinets:

Cabinets!

They left us in a sea of cabinets until the cabinet installer arrives:

Cabinets!

Cabinets!

The cabinet installer arrived this afternoon and moved them around a little bit:

Cabinets!

Cabinets!

He’ll be back tomorrow.

Lunchtime at Joe's Diner.

The color we chose for the walls is Shaker Beige, alphanumerically designated HC45. The HC stands for Historical Color, and the 45, well, that must be the order in which it was named.

The Sheetrock was finished today, followed by a first coat of color on the walls before the cabinets go up.

Final coat of Sheetrock drying.

First coat of paint.

HC45 FTW!

Even though we chose low-VOC paint, the odor was still fairly strong at first; so Julia and I went to Salem to check out the antique shops. No barstools were spotted, but they did have this guitar:

Phil wants to go check out this blurry guitar.

Julia and I enjoyed a bagel and some walnut cookies at the Easy Chair Coffee shop for lunch today, and we all went to PK’s for Tijuana Toss night, where we actually won the toss for free pizza.

The deck at PK's.

Waiting for pizza.

It’s a long three day process of Sheetrock application and drying, and we’re only on day 2. Actually, the application takes less than an hour, it’s the drying part that is excruciating.

Sheetrock. Again.

Leaking drain was capped.

Jason delivered an updated schedule. He still has the project end date as 18 July, but we’re also still a day behind.

We’re looking into having the family room painted as part of the project to keep it consistent. The rooms are open and two of the walls are shared. The charge for 2 coats of paint and 1 coat of trim is $300. We could just have the wall paint done for less (no quote on that), or we could opt to do it ourselves, or approach the painter for an estimate for after the kitchen is finished. It seems steep, but the paint would be the same lot and, well, we won’t have to do it ourselves.

Or we could just swing.

The crew arrived EARLY this morning to finish drywall prep and sheetrock.

No more gaping holes.

I've always thought the Sheetrock application looks cool.

No luck at any of the antique or consignment shops in Christiansburg for barstools, but the antique store in Cambria kindly gave me the names of three places to try in Salem and Roanoke. The Antiques on Main shop in Christiansburg was surprisingly huge, taking up the entire lower level of that brick building on Main and Franklin.

Bonus photo of cute baby.

The plumbing rough-in included lowering the drain and inlet pipes to accommodate a farm sink and replacing some damaged (leaking) pipes that mysteriously appeared in the last few days. One had a screw in it, source unknown, and the drain pipe was slashed in two places – the crew boss placed the blame squarely on the electricians’ sawzall. The old dishwasher plumbing was removed, and holes in the floor were filled to prevent our little hobbit friend from snacking on kitchen crumbs.

Plumbing rough-in for the sink area.

Drywall process is very dusty.

The crew got started on the drywall installation, and they started padding the beam for the wood wrap.

Padding the beam with pine.

I haven’t been antiquing for barstools yet, but I did find some really cool ones online made from re-claimed oak wine barrels for about twice the price I was looking to spend. The ones made from full length barrel staves are awesome, but too short for a true bar. These are still pretty cool:

Wine barrel bar stool.

The first week of eating out has taken us to the following restaurants:

Chu-Cho’s on Monday for margaritas and beer, along with some fairly decent fajitas and tacos. Probably the best Mexican-style restaurant in the area, because it’s not just fifty combinations of the same 5 or 6 items with either beef, chicken, or beans. The tableside guacamole is fresh and delicious. Their margaritas are ridiculously huge.

On Tuesday we hit the Rivermill for bar fare for lunch and Gillies for dinner for some healthier options. While Gillies can be hit-or-miss and very inconsistent, we have some perennial favorites there for lunch or dinner. Julia really dug the spinach-artichoke dip with both the pitas and the vegan peanut butter oatmeal cookies that we ordered for dessert. They used to have a decent selection of wines by the glass, which I would welcome back, because while I love beer, I would prefer wine with dinner there.

We tried Bull and Bones on Wednesday, and while I appreciate the site-brewed beers, the food there is decidedly lacking. The dinner salad I got paled in comparison to the one I’d had at Gillies the night before, and the mac and cheese on the children’s menu was clearly not made with actual cheese (more like a “cheese product” – it stayed orange and creamy after refrigeration – that’s trans-fats at work!). We stopped at The Chocolate Spike afterwards; their Mint Julep truffle tasted exactly like an After-Eight mint.

We went to a favorite spot for lunch on Thursday, Our Daily Bread. The bean salad and the beet salad there were both delicious. We also picked up some of their fabulous breads to have with cheese and chorizo for dinner at home. Wine would be an excellent addition to their menu.

After catching the end of a concert on Henderson Lawn Friday evening we headed to the Cellar for a great beer selection and mediocre pasta. We were glad to see that they were now serving drinks outside.

Both Saturday and Sunday mornings started at Bollos for coffee and pastries. Saturday we had brunch at Gillies, which was horrible. The eggs were over-cooked, the grits were gluey and flavorless, and part of the order didn’t make it to the table until we finally flagged down the waiter toward the end of the meal. It had been a while since we’d been there for brunch, and I remembered why I used to order off the griddle instead.

We had a great afternoon at the Summer Solstice Fest listening to the Panjammers under the shade of the beer tent and having Red Stripes on the Cabo beach while Julia played in the sand. We sought shelter at Awful Arthur’s well-protected covered outdoor patio during the storm and grabbed some appetizers – huge portions of greasy bar food.

After a trip to Roanoke on Sunday to visit the Roanoke Star, the Mill Mountain Zoo, and the Taubman Museum, we found ourselves at back in Blacksburg at Sake House for snacks and drinks. A couple of appetizers (fabulous fried tofu and teriyaki mushrooms) and sushi rolls later we found ourselves ordering more sushi and calling it dinner. We hadn’t been to Sake House in a while, but it quickly moved up the list to one of my favorite NRV restaurants.

I very enthusiastically described my floor findings to Jason this morning, who said he would work with whatever I chose. We really liked the Brazilian Koa in a 5″ plank; so he’s placing the order:

5" Brazilian Koa on showroom floor.

The electricians finished the rough-in today:

Nook wired for refrigerator.

Beam wired for pendants.

I also was lucky to find a fixture for over the kitchen sink that I really liked right away. Sara (my sales rep and a lovely person) at State Electric liked it, too, and placed the order for me today.

I’ve looked at a couple of places for bar-height chairs – the antique shop in Blacksburg and the Upscale Attic consignment shop in Christiansburg. Both are excellent, but didn’t have what I am looking for. I scouted out 2 more antique shops in Christiansburg and may visit the slightly-less-upscale but interesting The Designer Consigner, also in Christiansburg, in the next week. Of course, online searches will commence momentarily, but I would prefer to find antique pieces.

The first week is behind us, we’re slightly behind schedule, and we have at least 4 more to go.

Cheers-