Yippee!

The cabinet doors are here!  And all the appliances are in the kitchen!  Function at last!  In addition to beautiful cabinets we have much better organization and function in the cabinets!  Friday we unpacked and shopped for all the organizing elements we needed!  We had a great weekend cooking and eating in our new kitchen.

Still coming...light, rugs and back splash.

Sneak peaks...

We are nearing the end of this journey.  The floors are complete, granite is in, plumber and electrician are finished.  All that remains are the cabinet shelves and doors, touch up trim and nail holes in cabinets.  New appliances arrived yesterday and they are beautiful!  Area rug for family room and new dinning light are on order.

Backsplash tile is on a boat headed to us but will not arrive until the end of Oct.  I will do a final reveal once the cabinet doors are in and before the back splash goes in but until then here are a few sneak peaks (due to some not so friendly demands).

Floors...darker than they appear here...

Granite

Convection microwave, Photog thinks is silly...soooo not silly :)

Bird I purchased while looking at lighting.

Single handle faucet

New Duel Fuel range.  You can hear angels sing when you see it!

Tile for backsplash...coming soon!

Visit to Grandma's...

Last week we were kicked out of the house for three days so the floors could be completed.  Photog and I stayed in a hotel the first night and then he left with the boys for a weekend of fishing.  Sister, Photog assistant and myself headed to Colorado Springs for a visit with family.  After a visit to the new IKEA (still too new and had to proceed thought the store in a single file due to mass of people with the same idea)  and The Great Indoors we arrived at Grandma's.  Uncle, Aunt and Cousins arrived to shared a nice family meal.  We stayed with Aunt and Uncle and headed over to Grandma's for lunch on Friday.  Photog's assistant, sister and I enjoyed a lazy after noon with Grandma in the backyard before we headed back North.

Same swing that sister and I sat in when we were PA's age :)

DIY Project

Our front door lock has been in trouble for awhile and has been the subject of grumblings from my sister, Tracy the Contractor and others.  It was impossible to lock with one hand and in the past week it had become impossible to open the door with one hand.  Photog's assistant and I went to Home Depot yesterday and picked out new hardware.  This morning I decided to install the new mechanism myself.  Deadbolt was simple.  Checked to be sure the key actually worked and went to work on the door knob.  Removal was simple.  I put the first piece in and the directions, (yes I did read the directions) said to check and be sure that it was installed in the correct direction for the opening.  I did this by shutting the door.  Hmmmm...there is not yet a door knob to reopen the door.  I opened the garage door and went around to the other side.  Kind neighbor Scott was in his driveway preparing for a trip.  With a screw driver he had the door open in seconds and said he would be around for 30 minutes yet if I needed more help.  Determined to do myself I set back to work.  In a few short minutes all was installed and the key worked in this as well.  Success!  That was the tough one now to change the others in the house to match!  Maybe another day...now for a cup of coffee.

Some cleaning and touch up paint is all that is needed!

Ahhhhhh! They arrive...

The cabinets are here.  I have been so nervous about the cabinet color and door style.  I could not wait till they got here today.  The painters arrived at 8:30 to paint the ceiling.  They had to paint the entire ceiling of kitchen and family room since there is no stopping point.  As soon as they were finished the cabinet truck pulled in.  They were unloading drawers and shelves and then finally some pieces that showed the finish.  They look great, but I am still nervous about the cabinet doors. 

They unload the two big pantries, followed by the remaining cabinets.  Next arrives the crown molding which is gorgeous...that is the first piece that shows the chocolate detailing.  Tracy was here to as some question and oversee.  The delivery men tell us thats it and off they go.  I am looking at my soon to be new kitchen and Tracy is looking at a day of work.  Tracy turns to me and asks where are the doors?  I return a blank stare and reach for the phone.  Alas the cabinet maker will bring and install the door once the cabinet bases are installed.  The wait and worry continues.  I feel good about the color, but continue fretting that I picked the right door style.

After lunch with Tracy, his very sweet son (who was his assistant for the day) and Tim the electrician, the work began.  All but 4 base cabinets are in.  There are 3 uppers yet to go in, but they have to wait on granite.  The remaining go in tomorrow and crown molding will go up! 

Photog is en route home...cant wait to see what he thinks!
Kitchen Designer is pleased with his work and sleeping soundly.  (He is a bit irritated that his bed moves everyday.)

Old light will be replaced.

Crown

Photog's Nemesis

Since the doors were open all day Friday during floor installation we have a few or should I say flock of flies in the house.  Photog has been seen flapping arms in the air and around his head.  Kitchen Designer has been snapping his jaw in attempts to stop the buzzing.  Both have looked a bit disturbed at times.  They are more difficult than usual to eliminate, since there are so few surfaces other than ourselves for them to land on.  Lucky for us the fly swatter was located!

FRIDAY

Friday was a big day. With the help of Tammy, Ella and Tracy we cleared all furniture out of the family room and prepared for the new floors. The flooring company arrived and ripped out the carpet while Tracy (our patient contractor)  pulled out the base boards. When we arrived home at 6pm we had beautiful fragrant hickory floors. Tracy came back and helped to move a few items back in so we can have a place to sit until it is time to stain the floors. Painting is supposed to happen Monday and the cabinets are going in this week!  Can't wait to see them.  We have about 2.5 weeks to go...Several decisions have to be made this week.  We need to order lighting, back splash and hardware.  Photog has been enjoying the details I have been googling on how to care for the new surfaces we are putting in.  Kitchen Designer was grateful that the first item returned to the family room was his bed.  The fridge is in the study...kitchen items are in the basement....sink is in the laundry room and microwave is in the garage.  Where do you make a sandwich?  You get a tub put all the fixins in a tub and head for the patio...it is the only place with a surface.