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This weekend was one of those where a LOT of stuff got done. I was on a roll (no pun intended) with the primer (and also successfully getting. it. everywhere.). Mom and Granny came over again to help me tackle some of the other projects (like Mt. Washmore and painting another wall in the living room). And we even took Granny to Hooters for lunch (we expected it to be a laugh riot; it wasn’t).
But there were also a few speedbumps, like the rain. In my pursuit of a perfect paint finish on these cabinets, I’ve opted to wait one more day’s dry time between the primer and the first coat of paint. It’s absolutely killing me to wait. Considering that I already live in a humid climate, extra wait time for the right finish is probably something that I should have planned for anyway (especially when the between-coat wait time is going to be 16 hours). So maybe the rain is a blessing in disguise. A very soggy, frustrating, stressful blessing.
I’ve also just realized that this is the most complicated corner in my house. For one, the space is so tight that the upper drawer wouldn’t come out unless I opened the oven door. For another, the narrow cabinet next to the stove where I keep all of my cookie sheets is too narrow for my cordless drill. Which means I have to turn the screws for the hinges by hand. Which is very difficult to do on 30-year-old screws that don’t want to budge and would rather strip. So I’m going to have to go to the store to pick up a short screwdriver that will hopefully do the job (I got the top one out; the bottom one is still thwarting my every countermove). Any tips from experience?
And in a funny sidenote: Charlie gets a little too excited when my grandmother comes over, and a small elderly woman/energetic dog simply don’t mix well. So Charlie had to stay up in the guest bedroom for a little while to calm down. When I went up to retrieve her, I realized that she somehow had locked herself in the damn room. Wtf. After a few minutes trying to figure out how I might break in, I realized that the knob was pre-equipped for minor irritations like this, and opened it back up by using a butter knife to turn the groove in the front of the knob. When I opened the door, Charlie was sitting upright on the guest bed, perfectly pleased to see me.
And that’s the day I realized I have a toddler in a fur suit. Except for the locking unsupervised in the bedroom part. Pretty sure you can’t do that with children.
My cat once locked himself in the bathroom (I had closed him in there because he wouldn’t let me sleep) by pulling open a drawer in the bathroom cabinet. The cabinet was right next to the door and when the drawer was open, it blocked the door from opening. It took about an hour before I discovered a heavy wire hanger I had was skinny enough to slide under the door but strong enough to push the drawer closed without bending.
And of course I had to pee the whole time…
years later when I replace the bathroom vanity I got one that had doors, but no drawers.
Never even thought o’ that. Now I’m even happier with my door-only vanities.
My drawers are on the other side of the vanity (left side) so the vanity doors are closest to the bathroom door… but i don’t have any pets or kids to worry about . But that is funny that pets do that…
Sarah,
Sounds like you are coming along. Can’t help with the jacked up screw thingy but thought you may like the post from Sandra today. It is on cutting molding–I saved it in my “How-To” section because we all know it can be a bleep. I don’t know how savvy you are on trim molding but I know your kitchen is going to have it…so no disrespect, but thought you may like to know “miss no-pants” has two “how-to” posts on it today. And we know she can rock it like nobody’s business:)
I took her molding class at Haven and took a ton of pictures for her templates, but this is even better! She’s brilliant. Thanks for the info!
Your welcome–I hesitated as I didn’t want to offend. Sometimes I think “am I going to be asked not to post because of XYZ”. Or look like the “crazy comment lady”.
That won’t really happen on this site. Not only am I actively working on getting a thicker skin when it comes to internet comments (again, thanks to Haven), God knows I’ve had the wonky text message here and there myself, so I am familiar with how well-meaning comments can go awry. Besides, you’re a regular commenter – even if, I would probably just shrug it off as having a bad day ;)
I have something like this – http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100097677?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100097677&R=100097677#.UhJi46zcNc4 – to get into tight places. Takes a little practice at first but it works. YAY PROGRESS!!
Perfect. Maybe now I won’t curse so much (just kidding, I probably still will).
Cursing actually makes it work better. True story.
Now I want Hooters….bad
Hey Sarah,
I’d recommend either a cordless power ratchet with a converter for your screw driver bit or just the converter that’ll fit on your (hopefully) existing non-power ratchet. I’ve used this many times and it works like a charm.
I’m sure you’d rather go with something you can use power with, but I thought I’d show you one of my favorite hand tools. http://www.amazon.com/Kobalt-Double-drive-20-Set-0409432/dp/B00A3KEXR8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376960505&sr=8-1&keywords=double+drive+rachet
it works as a regular rachet, but in tight spaces you can just turn the handle like a rachet screwdriver.
Actually, your little furry friend is exactly like a toddler in a fur suit–I’ve had my kids (as toddlers) lock themselves (accidentally) into a room. But congrats on making awesome progress!
A couple ideas for that stubborn screw location. 1) DeWalt just came out with a nice right angle attachment that will fit your drill (or even better your impact driver!) I’ve seen it at Home Depot & Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DWARA100-Right-Adapter-Attachment/dp/B00C0VSNKQ/ 2) If you have a Dremel or similar rotary tool, you can use a cut-off wheels and make some sparks! (safety glasses!!) Cut the head off the screw, slide off the hinge, and unscrew the screw stub with a pair of channel lock or vice grip pliers. Good luck!
Did you decide on a color?
Yep – I’ve been testing out the paint and so far so good! Can’t wait to show it off later this week.
for the tough to get screws – my hubs bought a flexible drill bit extension thing that has come in handy on more than one occasion when we’ve had to deal with scews in tight and/or awkward spaces…
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-11-in-Flexible-Shaft-Bit-Holder-A10FB11/202078690
hope you find something that works! i’m excited to follow along with your kitchen reno while i am still just dreaming about updating mine :)
HA! Charlie is exactly like a toddler in a fur suit. I have 3 little boys and 1 big one, along with a fur-baby. I think every single one of them has been locked in somewhere at some point in time. Or even just closed in and totally loosing their schmidt thinking they couldn’t get out!
My new favorite is the kitchen quirk my youngest (3) discovered. If you open the pantry door all the way, then open the fridge door all the way, the latch on the pantry will seat in the fridge door flange. Our pantry happens to have a lock on the inside (what?!), so he has been able to lock us into the garage on more than one occasion this way!
The dumb dog just likes to wait until we have to tie her out in the yard. Then she meticulously wraps the cord around the BBQ and the entire gazebo (it’s 50 feet of tie-out, geez!), then proceeds to haul it across our tiny yard while barking encouragement at the screeching metal. True story.