Cabinets, Counters, and Everything (well, almost everything)

We now have a kitchen. It'll be a working kitchen by the end of the day.

Last week we had our cabinets installed.



We were happy even then, because we just put boards on top of the open lower cabinets to make counter space for the week.

Then yesterday the counter guys came. They did the final cuts to the stone in our driveway (luckily it was done yesterday because today it is pouring Texas-style).




All said and done, this is what they left us with:





Now we have some work to do.

The gas line sticking out of the cabinets is preventing us from pushing the range back into place.


The outlet up above the cabinets needs to be sealed over or moved. There's a box behind the range that we can return to it's formal state as an outlet. Once that's taken care of, we need to install the range vent hood.



Above the sink we have an electrical quandary. We removed the previous fixture that had a built in switch and bought a new one to replace it that does not have said switch (unaware of the problem at the time of purchase).



As for the sink itself, the drain and garbage disposal need to be installed.

Our dishwasher needs to be installed (so that I can transfer the pile of dirty glasses in our utility sink to it and therefore avoid doing dishes).



And then, yes yes yes, we'll have a fully functional kitchen! Beyond function, we need a backsplash of some sort to add some color, a window frame above the kitchen, the transition piece installed, and the base molding affixed to the breakfast bar thingy.

It's All Here!

Our cabinets arrived today.



It gets even better.

Before Anita, the kitchen lady, had left, the furniture arrived!

Moving on Up!

We now have tile and doors, which means all of the biggies that Chris and I had to do are pretty much done. Our kitchen should be installed this week, if everything goes according to plan--just in time for our weekend guests, in town for Paul and Laurel's wedding. We still have some minor things to do such as molding, quarter-round, small paint jobs, etc., but the end is in sight!

Between projects,





we went outside to take a break. While looking around at the back garden to determine what shrubs needed trimming (out of desparation we hired a gardener to do a one time mow and trim because we don't have any garden tools yet, including a mower), we noticed that our shrubs were the victims of a hostile takeover. We began our counter-attack...









and succeeded.

Tile

This past weekend, Chris and I spent most of our time working on the tile in the kitchen and sunroom with the help of Robert and Thomas. I am sooo glad we decided to get the help of some seasoned professionals, because laying tile really is a very difficult job--especially travertine. Chris and I did the grout though :)

Mudding at Midnight

Yep, this is our life for the time being. We work all day then slave all night. I'm lucky to get out and go to capoeira every once in a while. As it turns out, our wall in the kitchen where the sink goes had to be redrywalled. Originally it was done so that it stuck out about an inch because of some ancient fat pipes that stick out there, but Anita-the-kitchen-lady said that just wouldn't do. Here's Chris preping for drywall take 2:



Here is some video footage of our midnight-mudding-capades:





On another note, the rest of our house is really coming along. Aside from mounting the TV on the wall and creating some hanging fabric art to cover it when not in use, the guest room is pretty much complete. On the other hand, the living room is still missing some major furniture pieces, you know, like a couch. So, Chris and I improvised and pulled the mattress out of the guest room to watch a movie the other night.



I feel like that couple in the movies...

Living Here

So, all of our stuff is here at the house. We are living in our construction zone.
Here's Chris working on a makeshift desk in the sunroom:

Laika decided that the safest place in the house was under Chris.

If it's not one thing, it's another

Oh man. Our new fridge doesn't fit, despite the fact that the guy swore that it was a counter-depth fridge. It looks like we can exchange it though. Phew!