Wednesday, April 21, 2010

A Working Kitchen !!

The view this morning.  J. struggles with plumbing, a task which he dislikes.  He had to work with some of the existing water lines and drain which is always harder. I spent much of my day cleaning up behind him.
A long afternoon saw the sink and range installed, the upper cabinets in place.  It is all very fiddly work.
The fabricators sent the wrong countertop--not the color/pattern which I ordered.  I was disappointed and for a bit we contemplated reordering.  This would mean a wait of anything from 2-6 weeks with the kitchen torn apart.
We sighed and decided to get on with it. The renovating phase of moving in is not fun and doesn't need to be prolonged.
We have new light fixtures to install and will eventually replace the floor covering. There are simple white ceramic door and drawer pulls to be screwed in place.
For now, I am delighted with the transformation.
This is the smallest kitchen I've had in many years and the challenge was to work within the existing configuration. I chose to have a large pots and pans cupboard to the right of the sink instead of a dishwasher.
I'm missing some of the cunning features I've had in larger kitchens, but the corner units are very clever things with pull out and fold out cubbies.
Note the shiny metal switch plates--more reflective surfaces in a space that tends to be a bit dark.
The first meals were cooked today on the new range. I"m considering how to make best use of the space and anticipate many hours of unpacking and sorting before I feel settled.
The glass doored cabinet is for my collection of teapots---handy to the gleaming red kettle which my son chose for me.
The wood is a lovely satiny maple.  The high wall cabinets really do fit over the fridge--the angle of the photo makes them look off-centered.  But the angle of the photos was critical.  You don't need to see the other side of the room nor yet the dining area.  Both are a welter of tools, boxes of canned and dry goods, displaced oddments.
Tomorrow we are giving ourselves a day out.
We will be meeting our neice and her husband in Padukay, KY to tour the old historic district.  We ladies will go to the quilt museum; the men can tag along or find their own amusement.

7 comments:

  1. Oh, I like it a lot! I love the color of the cabinets and the countertop as well and the white ceramic knobs will be lovely. When we lived in Kentucky for 7 years, we restored a 60 year old large cape cod house. Very tedious and messy and "fiddly" for sure! But so worth it in the end. Hang in there, get some rest and enjoy your day out tomorrow.

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  2. Looks great. The wood is nice and light if the area is a bit dark. Looks like a huge amount of work in a shirt space of time. My kitchen took a professional 4 days to install - and what a mess - so it's no surprise you need a day off.

    Enjoy yourselves......

    regards....Al.

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  3. beautiful! our workstops are very similar. I do like your wee window shutters.

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  4. I love your kitchen ...the white hadles will work so well ... Shame about the work surface pattern and colour ....but if one hadn't known ???? ... it seems to work well none the less.

    My kitchen ...desperate for a make over but sadly no cash .... is smaller than your actual cabinet area, I think ... and has no added dinning area ... funny as its the biggest kitchen I've ever had lol ...they say all things are bigger in the US.lol

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  5. Oh that's lovely. Nice and light. I am determined to have a lightt airy kitchen when we move - this one is v. gloomy and made worse by a black flagstone floor!

    You are getting there and it is going to be lovely when it's all done.

    Glad that you have not just one but TWO clematis btw.

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  6. Been catching up on you woman, it looks like you and J have it all under control! I like it all! How are you liking Kentucky? I used to go to Hopkinsville quite often when I lived in Tennessee. Have a great weekend and you guys don't overdo it! :)

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  7. My goodness! You do get things done quickly. I love your satiny maple and as for the wrong counter-tops, I do believe companies send you the wrong thing hoping you will make do rather than go somewhere else that has what you want.

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