Thursday 9 July 2009

Out with the Old....

.... and In with the New!

At last, an update on my kitchen renovations. I know the blogger world has been waiting for this news with bated breath. The decision to tear the kitchen apart was made back at the start of the year and it's finally happening. You can see the original kitchen here and here. Yukky, eh? 1969 Special.

YoungerSon's FIL Daddy Dave is doing the work for me, and he's fantastic! He came to the house armed with paper and pencil and tape measure, and lots of great kitchen ideas. Next thing I know he's ordered new cabinets and then I was off to the cabinet maker's to approve the design and choose a stain colour.

BTW, Martin the cabinet maker is a dead ringer for Kramer in Seinfeld! I couldn't stop staring at his hair.



The next stop is to choose cabinet handles... so many to choose from! If I only had the choice between 4 or 5 designs it would be so much easier! This is only one of the designs that I'm considering.

And then it was off to the granite showroom to choose a slab of granite for the counter top. I chose Tan Brown... it's got shades of black and gingery browns and a few sparkly bits, but no pic yet, wait till it's installed.

Daddy Dave and his buddy arrived last week hauling his huge work trailer, and within an hour or so the old cabinets, sink, plumbing and draft hood were in a pile on the driveway and the stove and dishwasher were out on the street for big garbage pickup.

The fridge is still in use but will be replaced. Meanwhile it sits in the middle of the room in everyone's way.

Installation of the new cabinets got started the same day. The cabinet doors were delivered all wrapped in plastic and are sitting in my dining room, along with most of the contents of my kitchen. I'm surviving with the aid of an electric kettle, microwave, toaster oven and BBQ, and washing dishes in the sink in the basement. Thank goodness it's summertime.

Dave made a template for the granite counter top and it's currently being cut to size. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and knocking on wood that it'll fit! You can only cut those things once.


And of course, I've had a lot of help from a certain 16 month old, who has been taking great delight in sitting inside the cupboard where the sink will eventually be going. I had to tape up the drain pipe, I was worried about what he was going to poke down there.

Currently, there's a big hole being knocked in the kitchen wall to accommodate a larger vent for the new wall mounted microwave/ draft hood.... but that's a story for another day.

19 comments:

  1. New car, new kitchen. Good to see you doing your bit for the economy.

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  2. Terrific news for the kitchen. It sounds like you have a dynamo working for you. There is nothing like a new kitchen even with all the inconveniences. I remember when we redid ours so we could sell the house. Nothing like the fridge in the livingroom and dishes being washed in the bathtub. You just keep telling yourself that this too shall pass.
    The location of the rock formations is Mono Lake, California and the formations are called Tufas. I did a post on them for ABC Wednesday letter T. You can read all about it by checking my archives. It would be 6 weeks ago.

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  3. my goodness! great time of year to have your kitchen out of commission, too. you can cook outside on the grill! can't wait to see the finished product cuz the parts are so impressive....

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  4. Isn't remodeling fun? Especially the kitchen. So long as you keep your eye on the end result!

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  5. The last picture reminds of the phrase, Cupboard Love, but in a different sense. Am I being cryptic, or do you know this phrase as I suspect?

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  6. I would love to get my kitchen remodel, but..that's another story..

    My children used to play in the cupboard too...So cute!

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  7. Yikes! I'm considering some serious renovations here this year. Those pics may have cured me. That's a heck of a lot of work!

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  8. WOW! BIG BIG Job! Years and years ago, I lived through my mother renovating her Kitchen, which went on for many many months....Walls came our, etc....Even new Windows were put in...
    Yours seems to be going very smoothly and fast, too! I know you can't wait.
    It is interesting to me that Granite is now what counter tops are---EVERYWHERE! Can't wait to see that, too! Very Very Exciting.
    Your dear Grandson is like a Bright Light! So adorable....!

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  9. Kitchen's are a lot of work. We've put ours off in our old house removations. Looks like yours is making good progress!

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  10. Oooh, I'm considering rennovating my kitchen too!

    And a great post about the wasp, below!

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  11. I look forward to seeing the kitchen when everything's in place especially the granite counter top. In the meantime, good luck!

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  12. We just went through a kitchen renovatio last November. Your pictures look very similar to mine! Now that it's done I absolutely LOVE it!!Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  13. Looks like you'll have a great kitchen before too long. Frank's so negative. ;)

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  14. It's exciting to see the progress. The Craver household must make do for now with duct tape and WD-40. ;-)

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  15. Sounds wonderful. Only in my dreams will this happen to my kitchen. LOL So I'll just have to enjoy yours. ;-)

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  16. wow...I have always wanted to do something like this but am afraid I can't stand the inconvenience of it all....looks like it will be beautiful!

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  17. i was wondering how the kitchen remodel was coming along!! I'm so excited for you!

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  18. That Callum is just adorable!! And oh yes, the kitchen is looking great! :) You'll feel like a new woman by the time it's all done.

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  19. Looking forward to photos of the new kitchen.

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All comments welcome.... unless your name is Anonymous..