Looking more like a kitchen

On Friday afternoon, after much sweating it out to try and get people to the house and coordinated (it's like a domino effect...one thing has to happen before the rest can happen) there was a flurry of work after 2pm. The rest of the cabinetry was installed and finished to the ceiling. The counter tops were brought in and installed. The microwave was installed (he had to work a bit because the venting didn't quite line up with the old vent, but he worked it out.





Josie was thrilled because the microwave guy had his daughter with him and she had a playmate for awhile (the boys were a bit jealous).

On Saturday we looked at flooring options (no decision yet), looked at a light for above the sink, and we bought and installed knobs on the cabinets. I got all of the cabinets vacuumed out, wiped out, and I am in the process of putting down shelf paper.

Hopefully the rest of the appliances will go in easily.

Soooooo much brighter!

The above is a really old picture of the kitchen when we first moved in (none of my kids have been in high chairs for quite awhile now....)

Below is a picture of what the kitchen currently looks like.

It's not done, but this is definitely progress.

Jim took some time off (and had Veterans day) and his parents came up to help. We tore out all of the original cabinets. Took up the flooring. Threw out the old appliances. Then we sanded the walls and started painting. The Shaker saying, "Many hands make light work" is definitely true!
Monday morning the electrician came and did some work (including dealing with some things in the next room...but that is another story. Just consider if you get progressively blind as you age, that another option to adding additional light fixtures to your dark wood paneled room is to actually paint the paneling to a lighter color. The room was up to three separate and distinct light fixtures.)
Monday the guys came and put cabinets in.
Today the oven and dishwasher arrived.
We are sort of in a holding pattern until the counter tops (and a couple things that somehow did not get ordered with the cabinets) arrive.
I AM very excited because the microwave is supposed to be installed tomorrow morning. It will infinitely expand our food options because right now I am choosing between cooking with an electric skillet, an indoor grill, a toaster, and a coffee pot. There is a lot you can do with those items, but a microwave will allow so many more options until the range is installed.

Converting....

When we moved into the house about 4 years ago, we swapped out a mostly not working electric stove-top for a gas stove-top. Now with the kitchen remodel, we are ditching the sketchy double wall ovens for an entirely gas range (and don't give me a hard time about going from two ovens to one...once, when I spent 13 hours cooking every single piece of meat in our freezer after accidentally leaving it ajar for a 3-day weekend did I use both ovens- so I can easily get by with just one oven).
Since the gas was plumbed straight through the built-in cabinet, we decided it was time to have it placed in the wall. I talked to the guy at 7am this morning. I thought they might come and look at the job and then come back to do the job...

First he double checked that all cabinetry was disappearing and then he started knocking shelves out of the way and sawing out the front so he could get at the wall. Several times the slightly smaller helper was actually in the cupboard.
He double checked several times about whether we had any other things powered by gas (no) and turned off the gas at the meter.
He briefly asked what I was going to cook on (electric skillet, microwave, crockpot, toaster, etc.).

...and in about 90 minutes (including them running out to get materials) we had a pipe in the wall (and Jim has wall repair to do....)

Almost everything...including the kitchen sink!

Progress this weekend includes...

• mostly clearing the kitchen


• most of the dining room is sanded (my arms may fall off....I will finish it up on Monday)


• between the husband, the kids, and a bunch of screwdrivers all handles (which I wanted to save) are off and the drawers and cabinet fronts are on the curb waiting for trash day


• we have ordered appliances


• we have a kitchen sink and a faucet purchased and in boxes in the house

I am progressing on and trying to remind myself to take it one step at a time.