Renovation officially commenced four days after I threatened legal action and started asking for a refund.
Closed on property Sept. 19 (national talk like a pirate day)
Demolition began Dec. 16.
Here's proof! Instead of before/after pics, I am presenting before/during pics.

Here's the gnome kitchen... I can't believe it actually looks SMALLER with the cabinets and everything out of the room.


Here's the main room (1). Home Depot decided to deliver all of the materials BEFORE demolition commenced. Brilliant! (so f'ing stupid I can't begin to tell you.)
and #2:
The original floor (covered up by 4 or 5 other floors) is probably gorgeous, but would never survive a refinishing. It was laid in 1902 and from what I could tell, it looked like thin-strip hardwood set horizontally. I'm having a leveler set and then wide-plank espresso stained hickory laid, vertically.

And now, for the grand finale! The haz mat room known as the bathroom!

The funky, original bathtub (from 1902!) was hauled off... I can only imagine how much it weighed. The drain stopper was located OUTSIDE of the tub - it looked like a random pipe sticking about a foot and a half out of the floor next to the top of the tub, with a complicated catch at the top that you had to pull up and somehow reverse latch in order for the water to collect in the tub. The original tub was really deep, and sometime in the 40s, Mary (previous owner) added a shower head. Now, you'd think that you'd either connect the shower head pipes to the bathtub pipes, but that was impossible (apparently). So next best thing (you'd think) would be to install the hot/cold on/off handles at, oh I don't know... counter height, right?
Not in this case. The shower handles were installed DIRECTLY above the bathtub handles. Whatever.
So the pipes are in pretty bad shape, but that's all part of the job as far as I'm concerned.

The contractor told me he has 2 full crews on the job until it's done, because the job's been so botched up from the start. That's nice to hear, but I don't believe it for a second. Although last Wednesday, I stopped by around 10pm and the plumber and one assistant were still there, fixing a "big problem" with the new bathtub. I didn't even ask what the problem was. (But to be fair to me, I *did* go get them Starbucks venti's and sammys.)

I have to price new windows and kitchen appliances and I feel what's left of my money slipping away, but somewhere deep down, lurking, is the start of some excitement! Quickly overwhelmed by a feeling of dread that my beloved bedroom furniture (which is black) will blend right into the espresso flooring.

later

vote

I registered to vote by downloading the form from Rock the Vote's website, and sent it in on Oct. 8. Rock the Vote told me to send it to Albany - the state board of elections. Then they kindly told me via email that there was some trouble brewing - a combination of massive volume, plus it was all being sent to the Albany office. Normally, registration forms are sent to the county board of elections office for local processing.
So I'm not *technically* registered to vote. I'm not "in the book." Which means, I guess, that I'm not listed on the voter rolls for my polling place. I have to ask for a provisional ballot, which will be very likely thrown out when they reconcile the votes after 9pm. If my name still isn't "in the book" by then, my vote is thrown away.
So with this background, I started thinking that I would just skip voting, since NY is going blue anyway. Who needs my vote?
But this morning, I woke up at 5:30am. Polls open at 6am. I'm going to vote before work. And since I have a 9am meeting, I want to do it before work. Local TV is showing extremely long lines at UES polling places.
I'm going to cast my ballot, despite the very strong chances it's going to be thrown away, because it's fun to be a participant in history. It's kind of cool. I want to trade experience stories with my friends at work... "OMG, the election judge was KRAZY..." "...I had to wait 2 hours!..." "...It was no problem, except for the homeless man who thought it was the methadone line."
So.... I'm off to vote. Yay democracy!

Here's the Rock the Vote warning email that something might be "up":

Hi everyone,

Thanks to all of you who checked your registration status in NY State and sent us an update. We were appalled when we learned that the state of New York was so far behind in processing all the registration forms they received, but with your help, we’ll do everything we can to make sure each of you and really, all new voters, get on the voter rolls and are able to vote in November.

Here is the latest:
After lots of conversations with lawyers today, I have learned that there was a huge backlog of data-entering the registration forms at the county level in NY, but as of Thursday the 23rd at 9:30pm the last form in New York County was supposedly entered, and the other counties should be caught up as well!
I really want to believe this, but our votes are too important to leave to chance. So, here is what we need you to do:

1—CALL THE COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS ASAP. If you turned in a registration form, you should be in your county database now. The person answering the phone can look you up and confirm that you are in fact registered. There is a lag between the county database and the public voter look-up on the website, so you need to call. Here is the list of phone numbers: http://www.elections.state.ny.us/CountyBoards.html

2—LET US KNOW THE RESULTS. Please email vote@rockthevote.com and let us know if you are still NOT on the voter rolls according to the county. This will allow us to identify any problems by county, as well as follow up on your status and ensure you can vote. When you email us, please put your COUNTY as the subject of the email.

If you sent your completed registration form in to a NY State elections office by October 10th, you will be able to vote on Election Day. We'll help make sure of it.

Thanks,
Heather & the Rock the Vote team
P.S. I am emailing all of you because you used Rock the Vote to get your voter registration form. But this backlog in processing registration forms affects all new registrants in NYS. Feel free to pass this message along to others you know who might be having similar problems--we'll help them too.

kitchen redux

So... a slight change in the kitchen design. Instead of the ultra modern blazing white glossy laminate cabinets, I'm going with biscuit-colored cabinets and light capri granite countertop and backsplash. It's leaning French Country rather than Warhol. This was a cost-driven change, and I'm pretty happy with it. I always had my doubts about that blazing white glossy character.

spinning the color wheel

For the kitchen walls:

Saffron/orange-ish. Inspired by The Gates by Christoph.

The rest of the kitchen is glossy blazing white, matte dark grey countertop and backsplash and espresso-stained hardwood.

For the bathroom:

watery lightest jade possible. In fact, the background color of this pic is closer to what I'm thinking than the actual earring color.

totally european...

I've decided against a 2-burner cooktop, and I'm going with an induction system instead. There are portable induction hotplates available (I purchased one at PC Richards for $99) that you can put away when not in use, leaving the valuable counterspace open.
The problem with a 2-burner cooktop is that I would have to place it on top of the under-counter refrigerator, and would have to raise the burners 3-4 inches above the countertop in order to separate the heating elements from the fridge. And I have to place the burners 4 inches (minimum) away from the wall, which would place it square in the middle of the only open space, effectively cutting in half the open countertop space. Yuck.
The place is still wired for gas, so any future owners could opt to reinstall a gas oven/cooktop.
I've been reading up on induction systems and it doesn't look too bad.
And from what the dude at PC Richards told me, induction is "very European." (And if I lived in Europe I would fit right in... but is New York ready for induction?)

the heart of the home... (whatever)

The kitchen is the heart of the home.

Not in my new place.

In my new apartment, the kitchen is a closet. See the picture here? That's it - the whole thing.

So here's the plan:
Switch the sick to the right side (by the window). Put in an under-counter refrigerator on the other side. No range or oven - install a convection/microwave on the left side, mounted under new cabinets.

Countertop & backsplash: dark grey, white-veined granite.

Cabinets: high gloss white sleek, no hardware.

The floors will be the espresso-stained wide plank hickory hardwood.

I have no idea what to paint the walls... something kind of neutral but not white-white.

i love whiteboards

I love whiteboards. I'm gearing up my 2009 communication plans and wanted to wipe my current board clean, but we still have a couple of months left in 08 to finalize.

So I took this pic. This 2008 plan was first put up on the board in March, and I'm pretty happy that we kept to it for the most part. Some things have moved dates, some things we didn't do... but overall, it held up quite well.

A quick tour of the fun parts:

Far left side, middle of the board - guesses on where oil would go. Joe B won with a guess of $142. I came in second with $137.

Some lame ass (MORGAN?? ALEX??) wrote in brown at the very top "I am the ruler of this board! Bring me your finest wine and cheeses!"

Top of board, right of center, blue marker: "Living the F-ing dream, one barrel at a time!" Yes, oil dominated most of our summer discussions. Thank you Rob M.

And best quote of the year goes to Fiona (lower right quandrant): "You can never say in Illinois (that) you never saw it coming." Fiona, astounded at how frigging flat the Midwest is.

And keeping us humble, middle of the board, right of center: "Are you on the bus, or do we have to throw you under the bus?"

the kitchen....

The kitchen is a mess. A hot tranny mess.
Yup - this is it. The whole thing. Several great ideas to renovate, including going with a 2-burner cooktop instead of a range and having an under-counter fridge under the cooktop. (Back to the college dorm, anyone?)
I'll have to rip out the cabinets and install a microwave/convection oven. This is going to be a problem because those cabinets are only 12 inches deep. The microwave will jut out quite a bit. I guess I can match the depth below but I'm not sure if that's going to make any difference whatsoever.
Tried switching the sink and cooktop and extending a narrow countertop (12 inches) along the long wall, but that's not going to work either. I'll have to go with narrow plate racks along that wall and some kind of open pantry shelves or something. I'll have more storage above the microwave but I just realized I don't have to keep any of my oven-pots and pans. Just my sauce pans for the cooktop. So (one) problem solved!

choices, choices

I started making some choices for the renovation yesterday. Should've done this 2 weeks ago but the designer was "too busy" that day. More on her later.

So first up: The bathroom. Gut reno, but keeping the tub.

before pics show the grossness. Blue-sky paint (super thick, btw - it must have been from the 70s. I remember that gloopy thick paint. It may have to be sand-blasted off. The floor has the iconic NYC pattern from the 30s. Wall tile is exactly the perfect shade of bland.

The vanity is unfortunately going to be a casualty of this reno. It was purchased brand-new when the owner's estate started upgrading the place for sale a couple of years ago, and has never self-actualized. And god willing, it never will.

Note also the dual-controls for the tub and shower faucets. I have to wonder why the shower head controls were placed so low. If you're going to the trouble of having dual controls, why not put the shower controls higher? No matter... I'm going with a single control.

On to the choices:

I was planning on getting a vanity for storage, but I can't find the perfect one. I'm starting to lean toward a pedastal sink, something with ledge-sides. I don't like the simple-rim ones, but I don't like the ornate architectural ledges either. Something simple and blocky. Straight lines. You could say I'm pretty square.

....

Now... on to the designer. You could say we have a client relationship problem. We could have done all of the choices when I walked in to the store (to be unnamed to protect their otherwise stellar reputation), but she was "too busy" that day. The contractor measured the space 10 days ago - she still hasn't gotten the measurements. (Her first response: "I don't have email." Which I then re-translated to her as "You mean you haven't received the email yet?" and she said "Yes - that's what I said.")

I can't understand a damn word she says, and the liberal in me (the dying-on-the-inside liberal in me) is committed to getting this done with her as proof of my committement to diversity. But... I have to say... it's getting harder and harder. She's a pain in the ass. That transcends diversity, in my opinion.

She wanted to start with kitchen options, and I told her (after a controlled rant about time-is-money and you have no respect for my time) that the kitchen is the last thing I care about. I need the place habitable by the end of October. And by "end of October" I mean the 25th because then I have to move within a 5-day window. Classic line: "Can you guarantee it's going to be done by then?" No answer. Because... wait for it.. she doesn't have the measurements, and doesn't know how much material to order!

Whatevs.

I also chose wide-plank hickory hardwood in an espresso stain for the main room, hall and kitchen. Still choosing the specific wall colors - but I'm going to go with a brownish khaki on the walls. Overall palette will be brown khaki, black accents and white trim.

Comments are welcome!

The Debate is ON like Donkey KONG!

Must follow:
Fake Sarah Palin Twitter feed
Fake Joe Biden Twitter feed

renovations begin in 3, 2, 1...

It's been a while. Things have changed. I'm a homeowner again. And I have renovation dreams. Well, really more like renovation requirements.

The new apartment (as opposed to The Old Apartment by Bare Naked Ladies) is a postage stamp of a place in Hell's Kitchen. The main room (pictured right) is roughly 12x16 feet. The things on the windows are a crude security measure. Even though it's on the fourth floor, you can't be too same. (Broken broom handles taped to the glass, jimmying the window.)

The floor is laminate parquet tile (gross) and the subfloor is hopefully in good shape, though it does bow in the middle about an inch.

I feared the walls would require all new drywall - but turns out they're plaster and only need a good chemical wash.

BACKSTORY: Legend has it that the owner (let's call her Mary) lived there happily since the 40s. She took ill in the early 90s and moved to Florida, where she passed away in 2001 or 02. The apartment had been wrapped up in the estate settlement since then, and had actually been close to selling about 3 years ago. Mary's family went so far as to buy a new toilet and sink/vanity for the bathroom, but hadn't even had time to install it before the seller backed out of the deal. So Mary's family just stopped updating the place.

... well... somehow, a SQUATTER found his way in and made himself a nice home there, even bringing in a full size refrigerator (thoughtfully placing it in the main room). But there was no running water (the sink having never been hooked up). That didn't stop him from using the toilet, though. yuck.

So I have to get HazMat in to clean the place.

And the funny thing is: I've had to hire HazMat before! Story to come....