A small kitchen update

We don't have a lot of storage in our kitchen. We have this odd corner near our back door that we had some metro shelving in to hold things:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/6041923028/in/set-72157627015931945

It hasn't been ideal because our microwave was up over our heads (too wide to put on a lower shelf). It's a bit unsightly, cluttered, and not kid friendly.

After shopping around a bit we ordered a custom wood microwave stand/cabinet at http://woodstuff.com/ on Moody Street. It was $225 for a custom all-wood cabinet, that we would finish with the paint we had at home leftover from painting our cabinets when we first redid the kitchen (they used to be white). It took 5 weeks or so for them to complete it, we picked it up Sunday and Brian got it primed and painted on Tuesday night. It looks GREAT!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/6148699090/in/photostream

The microwave is now at a normal level and behind the doors we can store small/fragile appliances that we can put a child lock on later. We still have one Metro shelf, but things have moved around on there. Our litter box fits under it now (rather than next to it) so we can actually open our back door all of the way now. Our litter bin is above it. Above that is a small workspace of sorts - our Kitchenaid mixer and our blender on top of a cutting board so that we have a solid surface. Then we have a small high-up area for everyday cookbooks, paperwork and that sort of thing. The top houses our bread machine and a basket of 'stuff' (where crap is thrown until I can figure out what to do with it), all safely out of the way.

The new microwave cabinet does cover our radiator, so we need to get a piece of aluminum sheeting and screw it on the back to help radiate the heat out and up. It's not an ideal place to put a big wooden box, but it is the best we have been able to come up with given what we have to work with.

Yay for minor home improvements! That corner of the kitchen looks so much neater and open and purposeful now. And mostly child safe (there really isn't anything we can do about that litter box.

Now the fridge (of doom) 'nook' part of the kitchen - there is just no way we could kid-proof that! There's much too much going on there (tall elfa shelf with dishes and pantry stuff on the left, tons of spices on the wall on the right, cat food and fountain on the floor). http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/5102815667 We'll get or make a gate to close that part off from the babe when the time comes.

Getting the Lead Out

We had our house tested for lead quite a while ago. Being built in 1900 we knew they would find some - they found surprisingly less than we expected. The inspector told us that our house was actually in good shape, and that typically kids with lead poisoning get it because either:
A) the house is in disrepair and there is peeling paint for kids to easily pick up/pull off and eat
B) construction occurs disturbing the lead paint, putting it into the air and it is ingested simply by breathing it in

He told us that given the state of our house and where lead was, and the fact that all of our windows have already been replaced there was only a minor chance our kid could end up with lead poisoning. I grew up in a house that was never deleaded (and we did a ton of construction), and all of us turned out just fine. That slight chance - it was something I was curious to look into at least.

The inspector filed the report with the state (though they don't do anything to follow up on it) and gave us a list of suggested contractors for us to call for quotes. I compared them to Angie's List reviews and to friend's own suggestions and we called three companies: Alpine, Oxford and a third I'm forgetting now. Alpine and Oxford were the only ones to call us back, and there was a bit of phone tag, e-mail tag and blowing off going on. We finally got Alpine out last week to look at the house (after having reviewed the full report from the inspector online). We received their quote yesterday. $5k for the outside work and $6k for the inside work. This is pretty much what I expected.

We aren't convinced we want to do this at all, but least of all, we definitely are not concerned about the outside work at this point. Additionally, we have no desire to do the work in the basement (some old windows need replacing). Lead paint is the least of our concerns down there given all of the mess and pointy things and chemicals from Brian's prop building. That area would be off-limits for a long time to the babe. Brian is going to get in touch with Alpine to see what they say to that.

I wanted at least one other quote to compare to. Oxford still was blowing us off. The third initial contractor never even replied. We had called a fourth (after getting a name of a smaller 'Jack of all Trades' type guy who did our friends house in Dedham) and haven't heard back from him yet. Well Brian said yesterday "they must smell it". Oxford got back to us and wanted to come over today to look at the house, jumping all over themselves to be accomodating. Our schedules and such being what they are, they are going to come by next Tuesday.

At least we'll have 2 quotes to compare, and then we need to decide what (if anything) we want to do. We do know that the neat dutch door that goes between our dining room and den (the den was once just a porch but now is a year-round, heated room) will have to go. The whole thing is lead and stripping it will be such a pita, given the split in the middle. On the one hand it will be nice to open up that room as a kind of normal living space (we always keep the door open anyway). On the other hand we won't be able to easily lock our bunnies in and our cats out. Though our bunnies are OLD (10) and we won't be getting any more once they are gone. It is a pretty door, but it will need to go. I've taken pictures of it at least for memory sake - I love the brass hardware on it. It is original to the house:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/6135928159/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/6135927297/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/6135926049/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/6136471250/in/photostream/

Anyway, we have a bit more waiting and then some decision-making to do. If we do have the work done we will need to live somewhere else for the week or so until the work is completed and it is reinspected. Brian's company has an apartment for out-of-town employees, so we're hoping we could stay there (we could bring our cats with us). The lovely September has offered to take our bunnies as has a friend with a son who would just love taking care of them. Given their advanced ages though, I would feel TERRIBLE if something happened to our buns (as we are expecting it will "soon") in a child's care, so I think the Tember household would win out. Funny, since they also have a snake there (our buns are large enough that a snake wouldn't think it could eat them, presumably).

Fun. Or something. :)