8) black kitchen appliances, 9/23/06

Jeff L. and his family were finishing up their kitchen and family room renovation and were ready to get rid of their old appliances. A full set of black kitchen appliances for $250. I contacted him right away!

After Chris and I loaded the appliances, Jeff refused to take any money. He said that he listed them with the intention of giving them away, but did not feel that people would be responsible about picking the appliances up if they were listed for free. I personally think that he just wanted to help us out because of Katrina and what we were trying to do with the renovation. Either way, we really appreciate it! And the end result is striking.

The cabinets (while not from CL) are recycled from the house my parents renovated in Chattanooga, TN. They are metal cabinets (c. 1920-30's) that were white. John spent many hours cleaning and painting them.

The stainless counter was from the same kitchen. It had been sitting in a barn at my grandmother's farm for years. It looks great after lots of Brasso and scrubbing!

Pat fashioned the butcher block counters from a cast-off, warped piece from IKEA. He also fit all of the crown molding (recycled courtesy of my friend, Skip). Note: The kitchen ceiling is the original beadboard porch ceiling (with many coats of caulk and high gloss white paint!).

16) 2 Kohler Sterling toilets, 1/17/07

We needed two more toilets for the back apartment. Then we spotted the listing for two Kohler Sterling toilets. Only $50!

Clayton W.'s neighbor had two toilets to get rid of, so Clayton offered to list them on CL for him. When we arrived, everyone was in front of the back yard fire pit - maybe a little tipsy : )

While warming our hands in front of the fire, we hung out and talked about renovations, NOLA, and Katrina for awhile. Then, while Chris was loading the toilets, Clayton W.'s neighbor gave me a tour of his house (that he was modifying substantially). Very cool curved staircase in the entry!

The bathrooms look great!
John designed and installed all the slate. The top photo is the shower-only bathroom. The bottom photo includes the other clawfoot tub from my house that collapsed during Katrina.

UPDATE! Doors and Granite 7/06

The giant, heavy doors are installed! (The granite is still leaning against a tree in my backyard in Georgia.)

Check out the back apartment kitchen!

Chris and I drove into Atlanta to remove the cabinets and appliances from a condo off of Peachtree Rd in midtown. We returned later to load and transport it all to NOLA (on my parent's too heavy car trailer). We scored the whole kitchen (cabinets, appliances, granite, and a stacking W/D) for $2200. I think that just the refrigerator listed for over $2k new. Chris J bought the condo next door to expand his living space and did not need the extra kitchen. He said that he priced it for what his contractor quoted to remove it. So we removed it for him. It was a LOOOOOONG trip to NOLA after we loaded the trailer (and thanks to Chris J for helping!). We slept overnight in a rest stop on the MS coast rather than pull into the city at 2AM with an open trailer full of a complete kitchen when pretty much everyone in the city needed a kitchen right about then.

It is finally installed and looks AWESOME!