Jarrett Interaction Design

Renovation  is largely complete on both the kitchen and bath, including the bonus work on the bedroom and hallway. We’re down to just a punch list and inspections. It’s amazing: gorgeous and lots of space.

We spent this weekend moving back in, buying a few fixtures and decorative elements. I’ll post more pictures tomorrow. Today, have a look at the completed bathroom. The glass block and tub/shower stall are really cool. A standout, architectural piece is the new sliding barn door with rectangular cutouts.

Bathroom nearly complete:

We got the idea for the barn door from the May/June 2005 issue of Inspired House. We’re going to paint ours a dark, aubergine purple. Here’s a partial photo from the magazine to show you the inspiration.

The trim has been completed in the kitchen, bath, and bedroom. The glass block window and half-wall for the tub have also been installed. Getting close! Plumber is supposed to come in and do the finish plumbing today or tomorrow.

Kitchen trim:

Glass block in bath:

They finished installing the granite bartop yesterday, and also got the solid-surface tub surround in. Many 2x4s hold things in place while the glue and caulk set.

Bartop and tub surround:

The granite countertops were installed yesterday, except for the bar top which needs some modifications to mount safely. That will be installed today. We love the type of granite we chose – Galaxy Black – even though it was more expensive. We decided to make that the “big investment” in materials, and save money in the cabinets and floors. It looks great. Notice how different it looks in the kitchen with the yellow walls versus the bath with the green walls. Lovely. The small inclusions have different colors in different light, looking almost copper in incandescent light.

Kitchen and bath countertops:

The butcher-block top and sink were installed Friday. Water in the kitchen! The island is complete except for the drawer pulls now.

While the upstairs is empty, we took advantage of it and painted the hallway as well. Goodbye orange photo wall. Everything is so much cleaner now.

We didn’t buy any new appliances for the kitchen, except for the microwave/vent over the stove, because they were all new in 2005 when we first moved in. We’ll be replacing them all as they fail or get crusty with stainless fronts and black control panels. Not only will that look better in the room, we’ll avoid the ugly yellowing of the handle-plastic we get with the white ones.

Kitchen appliances in place:

All the cabinets are installed now, other than a door where the hinges were installed on the wrong side by Kraftmaid and a broken lazy-susan from shipping. Can’t wait to be able to use the kitchen and bath!

Cabinets in kitchen and bath:

All of the kitchen cabinets are now set in place. One of the major features of our new kitchen is a 5′ x 3′ island with a butcher-block top and a prep sink. I’m really looking forward to it, both for the extra storage and the extra useful counter space. I’m the chopper/cleaner/baker in the family, so the island will be my domain. 15 square feet, all to myself. Bwahahahahaha!

Kitchen island cabinets, front and back: