Getting There

I had promised pictures of the kitchen repair to some friends on FB yesterday...but things didn't come together quite as much as I had hoped...

Isn't that the way it always is with repair/remodel work?

Please forgive the messes...we are still in the middle of finishing up! :-/

Earlier this summer I flooded the ceiling due to a broken swamp cooler line and that caused a significant amount of damage. All the work I did to repair the ceiling from a previous leak...ruined...and then some.

The guys ended up having to take down all of this...

It doesn't look like that much from this angle, but it's about an 8'x16' section.

The really unfortunate part is that the insulation in the ceiling is the blown-in type, so the entire kitchen was tented off for 4 days while the guys pulled sheetrock and loose insulation to make sure there wasn't any moldy parts left. To get from one end of the house to the other, we had to go out the kitchen door, across the patio and in through the sliding door. For FOUR DAYS!! I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, but by the time Monday rolled around...I was damn ready for that tent to be down and to be able to use my kitchen again.
Maybe I should have asked them if they could do a cathedral ceiling. LOL

The last few days have been a flurry of activity. The guys were busy putting back up the new sheetrock and the electrician was making all of the changes to the lights I have been dreaming about....
The only good thing about ruining the ceiling? It made it much easier for the electrician to check all the wiring out...And booyyyy...were there some doozies of DIY screw-ups. It's a wonder this house is still standing. The people who remodeled the house (2-owners ago) did some lovely things like tie into existing wire, patch wires together with duck tape and pushed old fixture outlets up into the ceiling and left them 'live'. Holy Hell!!!

So yea, I glad we ended up finding all of that.

In the kitchen itself there was a single bar of track light. It actually didn't light anything very much. :( The island was too dark as was the stove if I didn't turn on the light over the sink, as well as both stove lights. So out with the track light (although I kinda liked the fixture itself) and I had recessed light put in. One over the bar section of the counter, 2 centered over the stove and one in front of the refrigerator (which you can't really see in this picture)...
That white strip and hole in the ceiling is where the old track light was. The two holes in the ceiling to the right are where the pendulums will hang over the island.

Here's a broader view (that includes all of the messes). The fixture in the foreground is newly positioned to be centered over the table...
The hole just to the right of the new dining room fixture is where the old track light was that was supposed to light the dining room and the 'sitting room' off to the right. It was atrocious! As like the other track light, it didn't really light anything.

Soooo...old light holes need to be repaired and the new sheetrock taped, textured and painted. That's my job...it might be like this for a bit yet. At least until snow flies. ;-)

A close-up of the new dining room fixture...
It's an antiqued rusty look...that I had hell finding because I was trying to match the ceiling fan I bought last year...that I just loved!...And that did not work! I was devastated because my whole lighting fixture theme was around that light/fan that was supposed to go here...
The fan/light I had picked out was a rusty look with raised stars on it, the trim looked like rope and the fan blades had horse-shoes on them. It was definitely a statement piece, but hung to low for this ceiling. I was soooo sad to have to return it and unfortunately they do not make a flush mount in the same style...or anything even resembling it. (boo hoo)).

The guys just finished up the new built-in bookcases today and I love, Love, LOVE them. When I get the finish coat on them they will match the kitchen cabinets. I always knew that wall needed a bookcase to help balance out the fireplace...but I don't think I realized just how perfect it would look.

I dunno...For some reason the whole kitchen/dining/sitting room feels HUGE now. It's amazing what good lighting can do...and we don't even have all of them in yet.