Kitchen Remodel Week 4 -- Floors are In!

So, in preparation for week four, we had to clear most of the first floor, most of which went down to our basement.  Below is how we're living for the next 10 days or so:

I feel a little like how it might be like living with a hoarder.  Stuff piled all over the place.  And this room isn't even the worst.  All of the little stuff is in our guest room, and I'm too embarrassed to share a picture of THAT!  Even though the floors and carpet are all in, the painting starts on Monday, so we figured we'd keep everything cleared to help our painter out. Fewer things for him to work around.

But the floors are in, and they are great!  I love the cork so much!  Thank you to Bruce Brown at Floor Max  (http://www.designbiz.com/net6/CompanyWelcome.asp?CompanyID=62345). He gave us the best price, the crew was really great, and even though there were a couple of minor hiccups, they followed through and made everything right.  Below is the finished install.  It's a little hard to get the full effect, with all the crap in the middle of the floor, but there's a close up to get a better view of the detail.

In case you were wondering, here's a link to the product, which is Almeda brand, style Tira, color Cinza. The only bad thing is that I'm now so paranoid about getting them scuffed or otherwise damaged, especially since we still have a lot of workers coming in and out this next week.  I've been making everyone take off their shoes right when they step inside the door.  Yup. I'm going to be the crazy lady making everyone walk around in stocking feet.  :-)

Also, the shelves from Virgin Timber Lumber Company came this week.  Here's a picture of the two smaller shelves:

They are gorgeous!  It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but the striations are part of the wood grain, with lots of interesting marks, and I can't wait to see them installed!  The only thing I would have done differently is maybe made the shorter shelf (which I specified at 12 inches) a couple of inches longer (like 15 inches -- nit-picky, I know!), but that's my fault.  The folks at Virgin Timber made these exactly how I specified, even finding the the exact same wood (maple) and the same stain (gunstock) as the cabinets that make up the island. They're still gonna look great!

Hopefully, with this next week, we're looking at the last of everything: paint, counters, sink and the last of the lighting.  I'm glad, because I think we're all getting a little tired of the close quarters, sandwiches, salads, eating out and microwave meals. The chaos is starting to take a toll, emotionally, on all of us.  It'll be nice to get back to a regular structure and routine.