Sneak Peek

The new floor is in and the walls have 2 coats of hi gloss Cherries Jubilee on them. The ceiling and door get done tomorrow and the cabinets arrive! The cabinets are dark brown/black. A color called Espresso.

Also new overhead lights!

The Granite

Last Saturday, we went to a couple of Granite warehouses to choose our counter tops. We looked at a few but finally decided on this one that was called White Rose. (at least at this showroom) Not easy to see in the photo, but it is a white, cream and black granite with lots of dark red splotches that remind me of smashed crasins. Easier to see next to red, so should go well with the red kitchen walls!

So many to choose from!

At first we were looking at this one, but it is a bit more yellow than the one we did end up choosing.

Kitchen Floor tile

Contractor hired. The first thing we had to do is pick a kitchen floor tile. It came down to these two. We went with the lighter one.

Color Me!

Candy Apple or Cherries Jubilee for the Kitchen?

Cherries Jubilee won out. Candy Apple is for the front door!

Here are my color samples. The red on the cabinet sample book is my kitchen red!

The back of the house on the outside will be Cobalt blue with deep lime trim.

One wall in the front room will be striped with these two colors. The photo does not show the true color of the bold teal. 

These colors are for our room. One wall will be striped with black and the bluey purple.

The Gazebo

There is a wonderful metal Gazebo in the backyard. It sits on a slab that long ago held a Jacuzzi. 

The Gazebos original coppery brown patina has weathered off, so my daughter and I decided to give it a coat of glossy Black Rustoleum.

The metal before. .

And after!

Once it is cleaned out, we will put our outdoor table in here for summer night dinners outdoors.

The not so great Divide

The next project was to remove the L shaped too high divide between the kitchen and the front room. We decided that we want the room to fit the way our family lives. So one big Family room and Kitchen area means tearing down this annoying divide. 

The phone jack on the wall ends up being behind todays modern size refrigerators. That will be coming out!

 

In this picture you can see into the front room and out the french doors into the back yard.

Yes this lovely countertop design is continued on the full wall backsplash in the background. That Garden window is staying put however. That ceiling fan will be moved to the front room.

Jeff gives a final heave with the prying bar to the countertop!

Good Riddance!

 WIth the divide gone, the room is much more open.
The door in the background with the glass panes goes to the rest of the house, allowing the kitchen and front room to be closed off from the rest of the house.

First things first

Before we can even move in, this kitchen needs to be renovated. The job is going to need a contractor, but Jeff decided to do some of the prep work himself.

 

The useless Pantry that I mentioned was the first thing to go. Jeff armed with sledge hammer and saw took it out. It ended up being more well built than it appeared to be.

 The old kitchen floor tile from about 2000 is there.

In the picture above you can see the old ceiling light, which was positioned to be hit by the pantry door every time it was opened, Hence, there is no glass in that fixture. And you see? White on white on white = BORING! We will be changing that soon!

These old pantry doors will make a sturdy gardening & planting table later so we are saving those.
There are the Mexican pavers (above) They will be stripped and then re- sealed to get their original beauty back.

The House - Before

It is best to begin at the beginning. We are keeping this blog to document our home creating. 

Why Black Cat Ranch? A Black Cat was the first of many cats to live here, Plus we have an extra fondness for Black Cats. Also the house is a 'Ranch' style, with a huge yard.  So. . 

Black Cat Ranch or BCR for short.

Here is the kitchen before remodeling. The house has been a rental for about the last 5 years.

The house is a Ranch style circa 1962.  Basically small house, large yard. 3 bedrooms, 1 full bath, 1 1/2 bath. The Kitchen has a tiny dining area, a useless 'pantry', As far as appliances it has a gas stove and a dishwasher that was added in 1998. The cabinets are high on the walls and only 10 inches in depth, as a result the cupboards don't close properly with a regular size dinner plate inside.

The front room right side.

The house used to have beige carpet in all rooms except the kitchen and bathrooms. Under the carpet was the original 6"x6" brown 1960's thin tile floor. I hate carpet, so the carpet was removed and the tiles scrapped off. The floors of the front room and hallway were replaced with Satillo tiles, or Mexican pavers. The real ones that are almost an inch thick. There is even one with a Coyote footprint placed in the entry way. The pavers range from a deep terra cotta, to a golden yellow.

Kitchen entry. The dividing wall keeps the kitchen space tiny and that counter and back splash design is hideous!

The Back Bedroom closet wall. . 

And the Master bedroom closet wall. . 

Both closets removed and the common wall between the rooms has been opened up to make one large master room now. Its not like we lost much because the closets were itty bitty!