Shannon's Kitchen--Time to Cover!

After, having the plumbing and electrical roughed in, we received a "green tag" from the city. I love green tags! It means that we passed inspection, yea! Now we can cover everything up. Here is what it looks like today:


The ceilings and walls are covered in 1/2" sheet rock. (If we were installing sheet rock in a garage, we would be required to use 3/4" thick.) In the space where the backsplash will be, we installed hardi backer board, this is a cement based board that is water and flame proof. We use it in all areas that can potentially get wet. We used green rock in the lower part of the kitchen for its water resistance. It will take a couple days to float and tape the sheet rock, then it's on to the floors!

Shannon's Kitchen--The Fireplace

In Shannon's Kitchen, she also wants to add a fireplace in the living space. In the picture below, it will go where the armoire is, and the tv will be mounted to the space above.


Unfortunately, we found that we can not use a wood-burning or gas appliance fireplace because the vent pipe would be too close to the air conditioning unit in the attic. And direct-vent gas fireplaces are not allowed in our city. But that didn't stop Shannon! She researched electric fireplaces and went to a couple showrooms to see them. (It is important to see the product before you buy, since pictures can be deceiving). Shannon found one she liked and we made a frame for it, see the picture below:


It is important to secure the frame to the concrete floor and also to the 2x4's in the wall to ensure stability. We will trim this out with a tile surround and a mantel to complete the look, so stay tuned!

Shannon's Kitchen--Raise the Headers

This is Shannon's kitchen before we raised the headers:


This is Shannon's kitchen after we raised the headers:


The objective is to make the space feel more open, the headers were at a height of 6'8". We raised them to be flush with the ceiling at a height of 8'. In a one story, headers support the roof and/or ceiling. They are needed whenever there is an entry, doorway or window. An engineer determines the height and thickness of the header, then the city approves the plan. All headers rest on some sort of vertical support, such as several 2x4's, or are hung from another header using joist hangers. In the picture above, one end of each header rests on a 6"x6" beam. Later, we will frame this out to be a column and add another for decorative purposes on the opposite side.

Shannon's Kitchen--Demo

This is Shannon's house, a cute, ranch-style house built over 60 years ago. Previous owners added a family room with 16' ceilings to the back of the house and now Shannon is ready to update the kitchen. But before we remodeled the kitchen, I suggested that we raise the headers and change the kitchen lay-out to optimize the space. This is before we started:




After 2 days of demo work, this is what it looks like:



All tolled, there are 4 headers to be raised, plus a couple more beams to be added for support. Check back tomorrow for updates, it is going to be amazing!

Garden News

If you ever have the opportunity to buy this small tree, don't pass it up! It is called a Chinese Fringe Tree and each spring it is covered in these white flowers. After flowering, the tree has berries that the birds love. It keeps it's leaves for most of the winter and then drops them sometime in January. All in all, a nice specimen.


So what do you get when you let a cilantro plant go to seed? Many, many babies for free! Sandwiched between thyme and brussel sprouts, they are really happy this spring.

Interesting Island

This island we built for Lois has so much character! We antiqued the green paint, made a shelf for the microwave, and created shelves for baskets to add texture and interest in the kitchen. Topped with a beautiful, rustic travertine slab, it works really well with the cream-antiqued outer cabinetry and Tahoe granite.

Built-in Wine Refrigerators

During kitchen remodels, I often have clients wishing to put in under-counter wine refrigerators. When the price comes in at $1,100 or more, their jaws drop. (Especially when there are wine refrigerators at Target, Lowe's, and Home Depot for about a third of the price, or less.)

But here's the difference, if the under-counter wine refrigerator is not called a "built-in", then it will probably not work properly, even if you provide the recommended clearances. My 12-bottle version from Emerson quit working after less than a year in a large pantry. From day one, my client's dual-zone wine refrigerator he bought online for $300 would never get to the right temperature. We ended up converting the space to room temperature wine storage with a basket on the shelf for bar tools:


So if you have your heart set on under-counter wine refrigeration that works, pay the "built-in" price! (p.s. that $300 online wine refrigerator works perfectly in the garage!)