Week Four, Day Five, Part Two

After Mom and Dad got back from Brooklyn yesterday afternoon, they took me by the apartment to check on the work that was done on Friday. The bedroom wood floor and baseboards are in!

All that's left in the bedroom now is painting. The contractors covered up the floors with heavy cardboard so that they don't get damaged during the rest of the renovation, but Dad moved a piece so I could check them out.

Progress was made in the bathroom too. Here I am lying on my new marble floor. It was hot outside but the cool marble floor felt nice! I plan to lie there often once we move back in.

The white onyx border is completely finished. I'm happy to report that since the thinset dried, the white onyx now actually appears white and Dad is very happy about that!

Mom and Dad also took me to the lighting district (just down Bowery from our East Village pad) to order the kitchen chandelier. The shop is custom making it to be only 18" high. Perfect for a NYC kitchen, and perfect for Mom and Dad (ok, mostly Mom) to prepare my meals in style. It is made of Swarovski crystal and will look great in our new kitchen!

All in all it was a pretty eventful weekend and we got tons done for the apartment. This week the bathroom should be finished as well as the floors. They are also hard at work fabricating and painting the kitchen and pantry cabinets. I can't wait to see everything!

Week Four, Day Five, Part One

This morning Mom and Dad ventured out to Greenpoint, Brooklyn to pick our our granite countertops for the kitchen and butler's pantry.

An owl guards the stone warehouse. I would like to eat you, owl.

They looked at many slabs of granite and marble, including several of Virginia Mist and Jet Mist granite, and picked the one below for our countertops. It's a polished slab of dark gray Virginia Mist granite with white veining and specks.

Afterwards Mom and Dad went to brunch in Williamsburg. I can't believe they didn't take me!

East Village 'hood

I've gained some street cred from living in the East Village. I go past Mars Bar daily on my walks. The other day, one of the regulars yelled to Mom "Hey! I want to talk to that dog." Mom wouldn't let me talk to him.

But if this guy can go in there, I certainly can! [EV Grieve]

Week Four, Day Three

The maple flooring was delivered to the apartment this morning! Here it is stacked in the corner of the living room before being installed. We're using Mirage engineered maple flooring, in 3 5/16" width planks with a semi-gloss finish. I can't wait to run and fetch my toys on it!

They were able to cover about 3/4 of the bedroom. It looks amazing, and so much nicer than the old oak parquet! The room also seems brighter as the flooring reflects the light coming in from the window. Maybe it will even make a sun beam for me to lie in.

The white onyx mosiac for the bathroom border was also delivered today.

They put it up on one wall in the bathroom and assure us that when the thinset fully dries we will no longer see a darker color behind the onyx. We're all looking forward to seeing it in its final form. Mom and Dad are a bit worried about the color, but I am color blind so it looks good to me!

We also received another cabinet finish sample today and selected it for the cabinets. We're going to be using a white matte lacquer finish.

All in all, a very eventful day!

Waiting For Dinner

My temporary East Village apartment has a glass table - perfect for trying to score some of Mom and Dad's dinner!

Week Four, Day Two

Today tile work in the bathroom continued. It seems to be taking a long time. I can chew 5 rawhides in the time it seems to take to put up a marble wall.

The shelves at the corner of the shower were installed and the marble was grouted.

Here's a close-up of the shelves. They're canted downwards slightly so that water will not collect. As long as my shampoo is not on them, I'm happy!

Also, the marble pencil trim was installed around the doorframe and it fits perfectly! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for giving it to us!

I had thought that the onyx border and floors would start being installed today, but I guess the contractor had other plans. Hopefully tomorrow. Dad is a little sad that they were not put in today. I gave him extra licks to cheer him up.

We also hope to receive additional cabinet paint samples tomorrow so that we can finalize the kitchen and pantry cabinets. I will keep you posted on this tomorrow!

Union Square Gay Marriage Rally

While visiting my apartment today I ran into a rally on 14th Street in support of gay marriage. I'm glad that my neighborhood supports this important cause!

Week Four, Day One

Week 4 of construction starts today. I have officially been an East Village dog for 4 weeks now (we moved in a week before the construction). I like my new neighborhood as its very dog friendly, but I miss Union Square too. Mom and Dad say I will be back there in just a few weeks!

Today they finished installing the marble in the bathroom up to the height where the white onyx mosaic border will go. The border was delivered this afternoon and will be installed tomorrow. They plan to finish the bathroom this week!

Grandma and Grandpa had some extra crema marfil pencil rail in their house that they gave us to fill in the gap between the door frame and the tiles. The marble on the walls is thicker than the tile that was previously there, so we needed some trim so that the marble did not appear thicker than the door frame. Luckily this matches exactly and will be installed tomorrow too. Of course my grandparents would have an extra box of perfect marble trim just laying around my country house!

They also re-hung the closet doors today in preparation of laying the maple wood floor. The flooring will be delivered tomorrow and they will start putting it down in the bedroom. I can't wait to see my new floors. Mom and Dad say I better not pee on them.

Lastly, today, the marble backsplash for the kitchen arrived. It looks great and we are all excited to see it installed. Hopefully next week.

Week Three Recap

Monday - the bathroom floor was put down and more electric work in the kitchen and pantry area.

Tuesday - the bathroom wall tiling began.
Wednesday - the shower rough plumbing and bathroom electric were completed and bathroom wall tiling continued.
Thursday - the cabinet plans were approved and more bathroom wall tiling.
Memorial Day Weekend - trip to my country house to visit my grandparents and Sasha! I was busy with some of my favorite activities: eating a steak bone, lounging on a pool chair and floating in my O boat. I also had to share a boat with my sister which is hard, but Mom made us! I am resting up now on the couch for a long week of construction ahead. Hoping they finish my new bathroom and start on the wood floors this week.

Memorial Day

No updates this weekend -- I'm headed out to my Grandparents' house in the country for Memorial Day!

Week Three, Day Four

The tiling of the bathroom continues! Two and one half of the walls are now tiled up to where the 4" white onyx mosaic border will be placed.

At the corner of shower there will be three 7" quarter round shelves, also made out of crema marfil. Here they've notched the wall tile to install the lowest shelf. As long as Mom and Dad don't keep my shampoo on the new shelf, I'll be happy. I don't want anything that makes it easier to give me a bath!

The bathroom vanity and sink also arrived today and are sitting in the bedroom. We'll post pictures as soon as they're unboxed.

Cabinets

The cabinets are in production!

Dad met with the cabinetmaker this morning and approved the plans for the kitchen cabinets, butler's pantry and medicine cabinet. He will start building them today and the medicine cabinet and the first kitchen cabinets will be done next week.

The last big cabinet decision is to pick which finish we want: a brushed finish, a semi-gloss sprayed finish, or a high-gloss sprayed finish. I wonder which will show my nose prints less?

Week Three, Day Three

Today the work in the bathroom continued.

The wall cutout from the old medicine cabinet has been enlarged to fit the new cabinet. The cabinetmaker is custom making us a recessed cabinet, so we're able to specify the exact size and are gaining about 11" of storage. Mom is excited because it will fit all of her beauty products. I, on the other hand, am beautiful without any products.

New insulation has been added inside the wall and an outlet has been placed to the right of where the vanity will be installed. Also, Dad received a call today that the vanity and sink are in stock.

As you can see in this picture, more of the wall has been tiled.

It turns out that the mystery plumbing contraption from yesterday is the shower valve. It was installed today, along with the rest of the shower plumbing, and the wall closed up.

Tomorrow morning, Dad is meeting with the cabinetmaker to sign off on the kitchen plans. It will take around two weeks to fabricate everything. I can't wait for my new kitchen!

Week Three, Day Two

Today they started tiling the bathroom walls. The old walls were very uneven, but they did a good job smoothing them so that the marble will look nice and smooth.

The line drawn on the upper part of the wall is where the white onyx mosaic border will be. It's pretty tall and I'm so close to the ground, but hopefully I will be able to see it.

I found this sitting on the desk. It looks like some sort of plumbing part. I'm guessing that it has to do with the shower body, which will be installed tomorrow or Thursday. As long as I don't have to get a bath there any time soon, I'm happy.

I also found this on the desk. It's made out of wire. Either it's some sort of fancy electrical contraption, or one of the workers was bored and made it for fun. Only time will tell. Sometimes when I get bored, I chew my bone.

Maybe I should bring them some rawhides tomorrow.