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Because I know everyone must be insanely curious, I decided to post a quick before-and-after comparison of our kitchen work. Even if this does make this article the second photo comparison in a row. Sorry about that.

On the left, we have our before-kitchen. There was nothing wrong with it, per se. Actually, that’s a lie. The linoleum was peeling up off the floor and the ceiling fan’s pull chain had broken, which was a problem because it wasn’t hooked up to any switch anywhere. Which meant you had to twist the bulbs on and off to ensure you had enough light to avoid tripping over the linoleum.

But other than that, we were mostly all about making the kitchen feel more modern, with clean lines and bright, strong colors. We couldn’t afford to replace the cabinetry, or even buy new appliances, so our options were limited. And by options, I really mean money, which meant options.

So here’s a list of the final improvements:

• New vinyl tile on the floor is slightly less hypnotic
• Cabinets now marble white instead of anonywood brown
• Walls add vibrancy instead of sucking life from souls
• New knobs and hinges match the walls nicely and still complement the remaining wood tones
• Benches got a new coat of paint. Err, tablecloth of fabric
• Old and busted: ceiling fan. New hotness: track lighting
• Wood baseboard replaced previous old vinyl wraparound
• Valences hide our vinyl blind shame
• Tablecloth on the table covers remnant of kitchen fruit motif

And all of this work was done on the fairly-cheap. While I don’t have an exact number (and I’m not counting sweat equity), I’d say we were able to complete this renovation for right around $500. Not bad for such a big change, eh? In my opinion, the difference is night and day. And not just because that’s when the photos were taken.

Patient readers! A lot has been going on in the Land of Rob in the last few weeks. I’ll try and catch you up as painlessly as possible.

The Kitchen – Work on the kitchen is nearly complete! I pulled up all the linoleum, only to discover an entire new floor that also wasn’t wood. So I had to pull that up, too. Then there was the tiling of the new floor. Went smoothly-ish, if slowly. My sanding set off the alarm, and the fire department showed up. That was cool. If you’re into fire engines and large bills, anyway.

Then we took apart the cabinets and painted them Benjamin Moore’s Marble White (you can look it up yourself, if interested). We reattached them with bronze hinges that my parents had half-installed and fully-purchased, so that helped keep the cost down. And we found matching pulls on sale at Lowe’s, so we lucked out there.

After that came the painting of the kitchen. Benjamin Moore again, of course… this time in Sesame, which is a sort of pale green. Not at all the color of sesame seeds. But it looks really nice against the cabinets.

Then, Amanda and I installed the new track lighting and I got briefly wicked smart and figured out how to add the track lighting to the existing three-way switch circuit by just running one new 2+1 wire. There may have been some self-congratulatory fist-shaking immediately afterwards. :) I was pretty stoked that my first attempt at rewiring did not result in fire.

Last night, we got ambitious and reupholstered the kitchen benches. We bought a couple of these tablecloths from Bed, Bath & Beyond and cut them to size. They look pretty nice against the green walls. We also bought a beige tablecloth to go over the kitchen table, a beige curtain to go over the window above the sink, and beige valences to go over the two other kitchen windows.

Today, we ordered the Anise wall decal designed by Ilan Dei from Blik (the graphite color). So in a couple of weeks, we’ll have that decal growing up our green wall from behind our black benches. It should look really nice.

So really, all that’s left is to is lay down the new baseboard. We’ve bought it, and I took a swing at it last night, only to realize that 1) I don’t have a proper adhesive, and 2) It’s a lot tougher than one would think to get one’s miters cut to the perfect length. So that project is going to take a while. But I’m still hoping to have it done by Saturday! Because we’re moving forward with the pre-Thanksgiving dinner. We’re expecting around a dozen friends Saturday evening… we’ve rented a couple of banquet tables and a bunch of chairs, and plan to briefly turn the living room into a dining room, and the kitchen into the serving area. Fingers crossed.

The Job – I scored an interview with Workbench, which I think went decently well. The next day, they gave me a test assignment: write a four-page article on building a room divider screen. It was a pretty interesting assignment… I’d never written exactly in that style before, but it was a fun challenge. And now I have a half-finished room divider screen sitting in my garage. :) I plan to finish it once the kitchen is put back together. But the good news is, I turned in my article last night, so that’s taken care of. Now all I can do is wait and see.

The Future – I’m slowly moving into the 21st century. Last weekend, as part of my randomly ambitious wiring stint, I installed a programmable thermostat. It’s just a cheap little $30 model from Lowe’s, but good lord is it awesome. The house automatically cool down at night the way we like it, which helps us sleep better (and saves energy), then starts warming up half an hour before our alarm goes off. It’s a lot easier getting out of bed in the mornings when the air isn’t frigid. Then it cools down during the day, and warms up again half an hour before we get home. Kick. Ass.

Also, I think I have Amanda mostly convinced that Roombas are not (completely) scary or (entirely) evil, so maybe I’ll be able to get one of those someday. At the moment, I most definitely can’t afford it. Refinishing the kitchen has pretty well taken care of any excess monies I might have had. ;) When I can afford it, though, I’m grabbing myself this model here. You can’t schedule it, but it knows to go home when the battery is low, and that’s key to me.

Well, that’s that. Tune in next month (or hopefully much sooner) for another exciting adventure in the Land of Rob.

Gentle readers! I know it’s been quite a while since you’ve heard from me, so I will spend a very short period of time catching you up, but then we need to get down to business, okay?

What I’ve done in the last few weeks:

I went squirrel hunting with my dad a few weeks ago… we saw four, shot three, and killed two. I also managed to get a nasty bit of poison ivy that I’m just now getting over. I took the squirrels home, cooked them, and convinced Amanda to eat them with me. A couple days later, I went on a jog with Miles, and we saw 19 squirrels in 20 minutes. From now on, I hunt in the city.

I’ve been doing a cardio class after work on Thursdays. I’m the only guy there, so I feel a little out of place, but it’s kicking my ass, so that’s gotta be good. I’ve managed to stay within a few pounds of my goal weight since going off my diet (three under my goal today), so I must be doing something acceptably well.

Work has kept me very busy, which is a large part of why I haven’t been writing here. In work-related news, I’m applying for a new position within August Home. I’m going up for an Assistant Editor position with Workbench magazine. It’d be a huge career shift, obviously, which makes me nervous. But here’s the thing: I love writing, and I love web stuff. And I can’t seem to find a job that lets me do both in balance, so I’m stuck choosing between the two. And it might just be time to make the change.

Okay! So that’s the abridged version of my month. Now on to the cool stuff (for me, at least). Amanda and I are refinishing our kitchen, starting tonight. Here’s a general outline of what we’re planning to do (in the general order we’re planning to do it):

• Replace the kitchen floor
  • Remove the vinyl floor moulding
  • Tear up the old linoleum
  • Smooth out the existing subfloor
  • Lay down new vinyl tile
• Redo the lighting on the SE end
  • Remove the (broken) ceiling fan
  • Install simple track lighting in its place
  • Rewire the light switch by the door to control the track lighting instead of the garage light
• Paint the kitchen a shade not yet entirely determined
• Refinish the cabinetry
  • Remove all doors, knobs, and hinges
  • Sand down the existing wood finish
  • Paint the cabinets and doors a shade not yet entirely determined
  • Reinstall the doors with new knobs and hinges
• Install new (wood?) floor moulding

And that’s that. The best part is, we’re going to try and have all of this done by November 10th, because we want to host a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with our friends before they scatter to the four winds for family dinners of their own. It should be an exciting next three weeks. :)

Ladies and Gentlepersons! I would like to introduce you to the Woodsmith Shop, which is August Home’s most recent foray into the fascinating world of 20th century technology.

As many of you know, I work for August Home Publishing. They produce, among several other titles, a great woodworking magazine called Woodsmith, which is published bi-monthly and filled to the brim with useful woodworking information (and no ads!). Woodsmith was their first magazine, and this evening, it becomes their first title to reach yet another medium: television!

At 6:30pm this evening, Iowa Public Television will be airing the series premier of the Woodsmith Shop, August Home’s first-ever television show, hosted by our CEO, Don Peschke. If you can’t catch it tonight, they’ll be re-running tonight’s episode at 1:30pm Saturday afternoon. And they’ll follow that schedule (6:30pm Friday, 1:30pm Saturday) through all 13 episodes of our first season.

I’m proud of our company for the work they’ve done putting this show together. And having just come from a private screening of the series premier, I can happily say that their work has paid off. It looks really good (shot in high-def and everything), and was even able to hold my interest for a half an hour… which is pretty impressive, considering I’m not exactly what you’d call a handyman. Yet. Maybe after 13 episodes I will be. ;)

And guess what? Because I was responsible for building the Woodsmith Shop website, I get a credit at the end of the show! It’s very fast and listed with a couple dozen other names, but if you look in the upper-right hand corner of the list, you’ll see my name there. Awww… baby’s first television credit. Go me!

Anyway, I hope you all get a chance to watch the show. I probably should have mentioned it earlier in the week, I realize, but I’ve been working nonstop getting the website together. They requested a lot of difficult functionality at the last minute. :)

Amanda and I have been busy little bees these last few days. So has Miles, actually. Observe.

Amanda’s mom was in town over the weekend, so we spent a bit of time hanging out with her. However, Saturday morning/afternoon was deemed mother-daughter time, so I was stuck at home by myself. Struck by a bit of boredom-inspired productivity, I decided to clean and organize the back porch. The porch has been my impromptu storage room ever since I moved in to the house nearly a year ago. There have been boxes stacked everywhere, furniture shoved uselessly against the back wall, and random stuff my parents left strewn about. As of Saturday evening, though, it was clean and usable as, well, a back porch. Featuring seating for 8, even.

Miles was also productive during that afternoon. He used his spare time while I was occupied to learn how to jump over the back fence. He escaped the backyard four times in total. The fourth time, I had to drive around the neighborhood to find him, then wrestle him to the ground in a stranger’s yard to get a leash on him. And then I rearranged the stuff in the yard slightly to make it tougher for him to get out.

Sunday was friend Juan’s birthday, so we celebrated with a brunch at Hannah and Juan’s place. It was a delicious time – we had authentic Costa Rican breakfast cuisine, Bloody Marys, and coffee cake. Miles was kenneled, so he was generally good.

After work on Monday, Amanda and I decided to drive out to West Des Moines to go to Lowe’s and Petsmart. We picked up some sample tiles at Lowe’s to try out in the kitchen, as we’re planning on redoing the kitchen floor in the next couple of weeks. I also bought some grass seed and mulch so that I could try again for some grass in the backyard. We stocked up on pet food at Petsmart, and also got new a new toy, tag, and box of treats for Miles. I guess we were feeling generous. When we got home, we discovered that he’d gone Number Two in his kennel (which is in our bedroom) while we were gone. It was pretty nasty to clean up, as it required climbing headfirst into the kennel. I was feeling significantly less generous after that.

On Tuesday, we decided to let Miles back into the backyard in the afternoon while we were at work, since the drizzling rain was supposed to have moved off. Of course, it poured that afternoon, suggesting we’d have a soaked puppy when we got home. However, Miles was pretty dry when we got back after work, which meant he was smart for once and stayed on the porch during the rain. He must’ve gotten a little bored, though, because he chewed the arm off the wicker loveseat I had just gotten cleaned up and arranged the Saturday prior. I was fairly annoyed with him as I grabbed his water bowl and headed inside. He didn’t seem to notice, though, because he happily jumped up on me as I came in the door, sending the water bowl crashing to the floor, sending ceramic shards everywhere. My annoyance went up a notch or ten, and then a bit more when I sliced my thumb picking up the pieces. I spent the rest of the evening seeding the back yard, trying not to use my thumb. Miles spent a good portion of his evening in his kennel.