Wintering In Bahstan

He may be scratching his head as to why he is wintering in Boston when he could be in Florida, but papa k can scratch all he wants - he's not going anywhere. A few Northeastners, around 60 inches of snow ... and it looks like he's stuck with me for awhile!

"I guess I'll let you take a break from working, but only to dig out my car."

Osa is in charge to make sure he doesn't slack. She demands coffee in the morning, let's him know when it's time to eat (5 p.m. - sharp!), tells him when its time for both of them to go to bed ... why would bossing him around now be any different?

Experiencing Cabinet Complexity

"You've designed one of the most complicated kitchens I've seen," the cabinet guy from Lowe's tells us. Sure, he shares this AFTER the cabinets have arrived and papa k has witnessed the complexity himself. We have cabinets that go to the ceiling, molding that separates them and light rail that finishes the bottom. While they look amazing, it hasn't been a simple task for papa k.

Kaylyn helps paint!

We kept the original wainscoting, pulled out the baseboard heating and painted it white. Next will be to add a baseboard to match the dining room.

We love the depth and shadows that the molding and light rail have added to the cabinets.

A room definitely goes through phases; I think we'd all agree that the room looked small in the beginning; big when the walls were down and framing was in; small when the sheet rock was in; and now big with cabinets ... and fingers crossed that the darker back splash adds some depth and keeps the room looking large.

Falling In Love With The Floors

I hope Pete understands that its a different kind of love, but its definitely love. The floors are beautiful. Perfect. Gorgeous.

White pine, 14' straight stripes of tongue and groove flooring, stained black (Ebony).

Love them!

Breeze Be Gone

It was like our own tropical paradise ... sitting in a cabana with a strong breeze going in one end and out the other. All is perfect, except ... its our house and its cold.

While we love the nostalgia of the old wood windows, irregular glass and pulley weights, they weren't working. Unfortunately, ours rattled with every move and the strong breeze became less and less desirable as winter approached.

So, we bit the bullet and purchased Harvey vinyl windows. And, the vinyl was the toughest bullet - but, now, we couldn't be happier! The Harvey don't look too vinyl-y; they are tight and clean, keeping unwelcome noise, breeze and smells out. The Harvey were by far the best choice for the money, over Pella and American, and come with a lifetime warranty. Did I mention "for the money"?? ... that becomes very important when you're replacing18 windows!

Love them!

Inspector Is In

Less smiling and more working, boys!

Air in Force

The crackle, snap and pop, that one of my favorite little guys (Brigg) calls "scary" is scary no more! We have forced air, including air conditioning, and we've started to tear up the baseboards. Don't ever believe a northeastener when they say you don't need air. I spent a couple summer months in this 3rd floor 1890s home, and I'm so happy to not have to drag the portable air conditioner from room to room next year. And, no more scary noises!

The system is in the attic:

A Case of Spaghetti Plumbing

Personally, I prefer to eat my spaghetti, but when the walls were opened we discovered that the plumbing resembled a plate of noodles.

If you shut off the water at one point, it came out another way ... cap it in a place and water came out another. One hundred years of adding and updating and making pasta!

Ahhhh ... after the plumber worked his magic. Like Holmes on Homes always says ... "do it right the first time."