It’s been quite a while since I posted photos of the kitchen progress. We basically came to a standstill two months ago, when we ran completely out of money to do more work. Fortunately, very nearly all of the work is done. Some painting touch-ups, painting the base board, and a couple of similarly little things. We’ll be getting them done in September.
It also took us forever to really finish bringing things back into the kitchen, and arranging them to our satisfaction. Two weeks ago we bought a new kitchen storage unit at IKEA, and that has made all the difference in being able to get things organized enough that we can work well in the new room.
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As usual, Rochelle’s invitation to a recent party is funny and worth preserving. In addition to Rochelle’s birthday, this was the “coming out” party for our new kitchen (even though it wasn’t quite finished). We do regret that we didn’t get to the grilled cheese sandwiches on the griddle, but at least we did make quesadillas.
Worst of all, we forgot to take any photos during the event, especially of people in the kitchen. We’ll just have to try harder (or drink less) next time.
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Regarding the budget overruns of the kitchen remodel:
“Yeah. We spent into the grocery money.”
“Worse. We spent into the booze money.”
In the time since the prior photos were taken, the (old) kitchen sink and (new, temporary) cabinet were installed (and the dishwasher dragged into place), the ceiling, walls, and trim have been painted, the electricians returned to install all the outlets, switches, and lights — and our contractor left to go get married on the East Coast.
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We’re in the home stretch on the first phase of our kitchen remodel. The photos here were taken last week; I’ll be taking some more tomorrow when I can get back in with good light.
Here are the stove and refrigerator in their permanent spots. The walls have been primed and patched, but not yet painted. And we’re having a weird problem with the refrigerator’s rollers, where it’s tilting backwards. We’ve already begun lusting after a new fridge, with an icemaker. Plus the white fridge is going to look so icky in the new kitchen…
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After posting the photo of scope creep, we kind of had a pause in progress, while we back-tracked on a few things. So we’re finally making progress again today, getting to the point where we can finish all the taping and mudding, and the subfloor can be laid in. That’s when we’ll get to move some furniture back into (semi-)permanent positions, and get to start having a life in our kitchen again.
Here’s the before and after of the pantry doorway:
The difference is pretty subtle in the small photos, a little more apparent in the larger ones (click photos to view). Basically, the door now starts 16” from the wall, instead of 4”, and it’s much wider.
The difference isn’t subtle when you’re standing in the kitchen. We are incredibly pleased with how much it changes the room, by having the pantry be more a part of the room, rather than a hole hidden in the back of it. And if it looks this good before trim and paint (and all the rest of moving back into the kitchen), it’s going to be fabulous when we’re all done.
It’s not often you can snap a picture of scope creep, but I caught it this evening, after Rochelle came back from meeting with a kitchen cabinet consultant.
Like all decisions we’ve made, this one seems reasonable. And in the end, it’ll be the right thing. All we’ll really lose by moving the pantry door is some time (which is expensive) and some sheetrock (which is cheap).
What I’m struggling most with — aside from how to pay for it, of course — is where to move the Cat5 and speaker jacks, now that the cabinet in which the Sonos ZonePlayer audio unit was to be housed is no longer on that wall. Fortunately, with the extra expense of moving the door, it’ll be a while before I can buy it, so I’ve got some time to figure things out…
When we took out the kitchen sink cabinets, and the walls behind them, we found what our plumber called a “masterpiece of modern art.” But really, it was a baroque mess:
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