Getting to the details: cabinets, walls...and changes.

"Success is the sum of details."

~Harvey S. Firestone

So much progress has been made in the last few weeks.  Cabinets are in the galley. Sub walls are in the head.  Trim has been stained, polyurethaned, and is ready to go up.  

As with life, the renovation of my boat has been sprinkled with good times, challenging times, successes, failures, happiness, disappointment, dreams, realizations and lots of changes.  This entire process has been exciting, frustrating, stimulating and fulfilling.  It is very fun to watch it all start to come together.

During a difficult time in my life (and her renovation) when my motivation was at its lowest, a contractor called me out of blue--inspired to help and be a part of her rebirth.  I can't express how much I appreciate his entering the scene just when he did--taking charge and pushing the work forward.  I appreciate his fine craftsmanship, his dedication, his skill and his art, his patience and most of all, his friendship.  Changes in his life have required him to take a step back and take care of himself a little.  His new role is one of consultant and coach (and I appreciate him just as much in this role).

Jerry Williams of twin hills construction

And, as in life, I am lucky in boat renovation too.

In this most recent time of need, in walked another contractor.  Glenn Tepe of Tepe Construction has been putting the finishing touches on the boat.

He installed cabinets in the galley:

Glenn Tepe of Tepe Construction

The cabinets are from Ikea.  The variety of colors and sizes made it very easy to choose cabinets that fit my space perfectly.  OK, actually nothing fits the curved hull of the boat perfectly.  Glenn had to cut each of the bottom cabinets to fit the hull:

And, he had to cut 2 inches off the cabinets above the window.  We had only 10 inches from the ceiling to the top of the window, but the length was almost 80 inches--too much potential storage space to ignore!

We found a horizontal cabinet that was 15 inches high, but trimming 5 inches was almost impossible.  Then we found a 12 x 39 inch vertical cabinet.  Glenn said that he could trim it down 2 inches and hang it horizontally--so I bought 2 (10 x 78).  This required quite a bit of altering, but I am VERY happy with the result and with the added storage:

If you look closely near the bottom right corner, you can see the light color of the bottom cabinets.

The cabinet doors on the bottom will be light in color to match the birch theme, and the cabinets on the top are a mahogany color to match the coffers and ceiling trim.

The cabinets fit like a glove, and I am very happy with the detailed work that Glenn Tepe is doing on my boat.  He has an eye for design, and is very precise in his work.  I definitely recommend him for any job you have that requires an artful, meticulous touch (513.615.7817).

He finished the birch walls:

And installed sub-walls in the head:

We chose Hardiebacker Backer board, since I plan to tile.  This material resists water and mold.

I also painted the helm.  The helm was woodgrain Formica.  It was faded from the sun, and did not match the color or look of the new interior:

I started by sanding and cleaning the helm.  Then I taped newspaper everywhere to protect things from the spray paint:

I used Rust-Oleum Hammered paint in black.

And I'm very happy with the final product!  The Old Ship's Wheel will look amazing when placed at the new, shiny black helm:

In the next few days, we will add trim and counters.  We are getting down to details...and success!