Duct Work: Ask and You Shall Receive

We were having trouble figuring out how to hang our new pendants over the pool table. The beam we wanted to hang them on was obstructed and we didn't want to hang them to the side, leaving them off center. Now that we spent the time and money to get the pool table's exact coordinates professionally calibrated, we can't move it. What's that pesky obstruction overhead? Oh yeah, just the HVAC duct.

We casually slipped this conundrum into conversation with the maintenance manager. His solution? "Lets just hack the duct up and move it over 6 inches!" Ask and you shall receive!

During the course of this project we also received a couple other surprises:

Noise complaint from the neighbors - check!

Smell complaint from the neighbors - double check!

I guess people don't want to hear the rip of power tools and the smell of burning metal during their work day. Weird.

Kitchen Madness, pt. 3.

The kitchen is finished!  We had to wait a week for IKEA to restock some of the wall cabinet doors.  They called this morning, I picked them up, installed them and we can finally cross the first project off the list.

The original:

New and improved:

All in all, I don't think I'll ever go anywhere else except IKEA for a kitchen.  For the price, you can't even come close to the vast amount of styles, options, accessories, or customization available there.  The quality is truly top notch, it may not be solid wood, but it's tough as nails.  We loaded the cabinets up with plates, glasses, pots, pans, etc. and the shelves don't even try to bow.  The counter tops are solid beech wood butcher block.  Best of all, the whole kitchen has a 25 year warranty, which we will probably never have to utilize, but future tenants may find useful.

The biggest downside I see in getting a kitchen from IKEA is that all the work has to be done by you, the customer.  When I purchased the kitchen, quite a few pieces were out of stock, so I spent a lot of time driving multiple trips to both Chicagoland IKEA stores over the course of 2 weeks to pick up various parts as they were restocked.  In typical IKEA fashion, every part comes flat packed and needs to be completely assembled which is extremely time consuming.  Then, because the kitchen is modular, certain parts have to be custom cut and fit to your specific space.  I would never attempt to install an IKEA kitchen without at least 2 experienced people and a bevy of power tools.  (Table saw, drills, nail gun, and reciprocating saw at the very least.)

You have to weigh your options, but when it comes to that bottom line, IKEA takes the cake by a long shot.

Bathroom Bonanza.

The bathroom vanity just got ripped out along with the electrical and ventilation.  Aside from a fresh coat of paint, the bathroom is a bust.  No idea what to do with it.  We'll spend some time digging for ideas.  We may have to deal without a vanity for a while.  Joan is pissed.  But no vanity is still better than the abomination removed today:

Urine yellow walls, waterlogged laminate, and a fluorescent light that is at my neck height.

I wish we had a bathtub, but at least this shower's ugly!

Big Plans.

Before we get started on all the work, I drew up some plans to get the measurements nailed down and give us (and the contractors) a clear idea of where we're going.  The main changes will be:

-Build a wall to separate our loft from the one next door.
-Build an "L" wall to form the bedroom.
-Create a bedroom closet and shift the hall closets to accommodate our washer/dryer.
-Enlarge the kitchen to include a dishwasher and more cabinets.
-Gut the bathroom and start over.
-Paint!

This is a quickie plan I created of the loft in its existing state.  The horizontal piece of wall at the top left is technically new.  It divides our apartment from the adjacent one.

This is the proposed loft plan which includes the new construction and some furniture placement.

Contractors arrive tomorrow to start working.  We have two days to find a kitchen.  Is that even possible?

Welcome To The Loft.

We found one.

2 months of searching and dozens of apartments behind us, we've signed a lease on a converted factory brick loft in Chicago's West Loop.  The space has never been lived in and it shows.  Using Joan's Master's Degree in Interior Architecture as a bargaining chip, we negotiated a budget from the management to remodel the loft into a desirable living space.  Looking at the space, we see we have some work ahead of us.

Each of us has moved EVERY YEAR since coming to the city and we're effing tired of it.  We're staying here, sink or swim.

Empty.  Raw.  Feed me.

That enormous kitchen island? Going bye bye.

Enormous Western facing windows.  Indoor tanning anyone?

What a tasty delight this kitchen is... not.  It has to go.  And yes, that bathroom is yellow.

As you can see, aside from the vast open space, it's not much to look at.  1,275 square feet of pure converted factory potential.  We know it's ugly, but we have big plans.  Our lease includes a budget to remodel the kitchen and bathroom, install washer/dryer hookups, build a bedroom and closet, and make the space not only livable, but rentable in the future.  The fun (read: challenging) part of it will be making something great out of a very measly budget.