House Remodel: Kitchen shelves

Sandi and I originally discussed adding a pantry to the south wall of the kitchen.  That is until an expensive project turned into a much more expensive project.  For a fraction of the expense, we turned our dream pantry into a dream storage area. 

 

 

 

 

House Remodel: Kitchen

The kitchen looked old when I moved in 11 years ago.  It was actually part of the attraction: within five years I was going to rip out the existing and build new cabinets.  Five years turned into ten and I decided there was no way I was going to build any cabinets (building the vanity last year informed that decision). 

Since the hallway is under construction, let's add the kitchen too. 

White-painted yucky pressed-board cabinets here



White-painted yucky pressed-board cabinets there

White-painted yucky pressed-board cabinets everywhere!

 





We found a great deal on new cabinets at a local cabinet shop.  We chose 'cinnamon' stained maple cabinets to replace all the existing. 



The formica will soon give way to black quartz



And the floor will have the same vinyl Teak as the hallway.

To date I tore out the upper cabinets and the floor.  

I tried to talk Sandi into keeping the 70's floor.  She insisted on a new floor.

Our sink is a bit small.  The next one will be a larger undermount.

Sandi making due in the midst of demolition.



 



Our storage area

Only a couple more weeks until the new ones arrive.  When all is finished, our cabinets will extend about a foot beyond their current footprint (towards the garage). 



House Remodel: Hallway

Sandi and I have talked about redoing the hallway for a couple years.  In January we decided to do it.  Its fairly dark and the carpet has to go.

The problem

The solution

 

I painted the doors white and installed a new vinyl floor 'Teak Rose'.  Two doors were beyond painting so we are replacing them which is why the garage is full of door parts.

 

To be continued....

 

Snowshoeing

A friend invited us on a snowshoeing trip to Mt. Hood last weekend.  The goal was to hike around Trillium Lake.

 

 

The snow was shallow and icy. We probably didn't need our snow shoes but we rented them, so we might as well use them.

 

 

A snow bird came and posed for us during lunch.

 

Look at my snow shoes!

 

Mt. Hood is supposed to be behind these clouds. 

We hike around 6.5 miles.  It was a fun day with sub-par snow.  Someday we'll have to come back and snowshoe on powder.

All I want for New Years Day is...

Whenever Sandi and I go on vacation, especially camping, I crave a savory, snacky-lunch.  Bummer that Sandi doesn't share my enthusiasm ("its not a meal").  She must love me because New Years Day lunch came and we filled our table with all the good finger-food we could find (not shown are the wheat crackers that made it on the table shortly after this photo).  

 

So happy!

Moolock Shores

Sandi and I have talked about going the coast in the winter for a storm for a few years.  This December we decided to make the trip.

 

Moolock Shores is a little motel between Beaverly Beach and Newport.  The Central Oregon coast is a great place to watch waves crash against the rocks. 

 

view from our hotel room. 

I was a little surprised that we never stepped foot on the sand.  The tide was either too high or it was too rainy.  The wind and rain woke me up at 3:00 AM.  It was fun to listen to knowing that the cabin was solid. 

 

 

Devi's punchbowl

These next photos are from downtown Newport.  Incredible surf. 





A Day in Seattle

I promised Sandi a date in Seattle over Christmas.  We originally planned on seeing the usual suspects: Space Needle, waterfront, Ferry to BI (for lunch) and Pikes Place.  We modified our plans over breakfast that morning and came up with this:

Starbucks just opened a new roasting place called "Starbucks Reserve."  The line outside is to purchase coffee.  We walked in just to look around.

 The photos don't do this place justice.  The colors and décor are very warm and inviting.  Dark leather, copper and wood mix with the smell of roasting coffee and comfortable chairs.  Its an easy place to relax if you are playing more than just the role of a tourist. 

After lunch at an Indian buffet near the Convention Center we headed over to the Underground tour.  I remember going on it (and enjoying it) as a kid. Sandi had never been. 

 

I love Seattle for all the reasons that one should love a city.  But have mercy, its history is sordid and repulsive.  I marvel that a city so steeped in corruption and incompetence from its early days can be so vibrant and healthy today (acknowledging present challenges).

 

We are walking on what used to be the streets of Seattle and looking at the first floor of a building. 

 

If you walk near First and Stuart you may see stained-glass areas on the sidewalk.  This is a very of it from the underground.

 

From architectural disaster to an architectural work of art, we walked over to the Seattle City Library. 

 

 

Neither of us had been inside of it so we took our own little tour.

 It was kind of a maze how the different floors worked together.  As we took the escalator all the way up we were confused how people got to the intermediate floors.  It wasn't until we started walking down (imagine driving a car around and around a parking garage to descend to the street level) that we figured out what was going on.  There were a ton of computer terminals and a lot of tables/cubbies to study.  I'm not sure if I would enjoy using it as a library, but I think I could work on my laptop for a hours there.

 

As we began our day with Starbucks, so we ended it.  From the library we walked 1st Street towards Pike's Place Market. 

 

Sandi wanted to get 'Market Spice' tea and I wanted to see the original SB location.

 

Mission Accomplished.