3/21/08 - After two weeks of painting and minor carpentry, I declare the renovation complete!!!  Now we enter repair and replacement mode.  Replace refrigerator.  Repair wood floors (water damage from Katrina and sap from ill-cured boards).  Install cabinet handles (technically in earlier phase, but we are still not sure we are going to do it, so it was moved to the R&R stage).  Next I need to finally post photos of the "After" stage.

3/11/08  No more "time out!"  We are finally getting around to finishing the kitchen.  It mostly required the repair and replacement of molding, patching around windows and repainting.  Since three and a half (!!!) years have passed since starting the project and the house got hit by Katrina, it also required repair of cracks and water leaks.  The good news is that it is that we have hired a carpenter and painter to "bring it home" for us.

1/12/07 Update:  We are still in "time out" mode now that the bathroomectomy has begun.  We are also focused on redoing our "utility bedroom" into a full-fledged closet/office and, oh yeah, preparing a baby room for the arrival of Numero Uno.  Additionally, our crack handyman, whom we expected to perform most of the fixes, is off working on other more worthy construction projects that will allow people to reoccupy their Katrina damaged homes.  Somehow a kitchen punch list seems a lot less important these days given all that our fine city of New Orleans has endured.  The good news is that the kitchen functions well and has served us faithfully for several years. 

3/30/06 Update:  OK, we had a second "time out" with the project, this time caused by Hurricane Katrina.  The good news for us is that our house was not severely damaged, as documented elsewhere on the site.  The kitchen sustained a ceiling leak and the floors were damaged by melted ice leaking out of the freezer when the power was off for a couple of months.  We are getting back on the punch list items, which are many, but we are finally making some progress.

5/25/05 Update:  After a little "time out" with the project, we are now stumbling towards completion.  We replaced the stove a few weeks ago, and the stainless steel backsplash wall is expected to be installed in early June.  Once this is complete, we will install the vent hood, which was purchased 10 months ago but has been sitting in a warehouse in Gulfport, MS since then.  We also need to have many of the details "re-carpentered" after our partially documented misadventures with the first carpenter.  The crooked windows will be fixed as will all of the molding and the doors that don't shut.  Then it will be done, and new photographs will appear.  ...And then we will move onto the bathrooms ... and the back yard.