Week 13 Update

Weeks 10-12 were pretty calm. For obvious reasons, we didn't do a whole lot on the kitchen. But last week my dad came to visit and Thursday my brother Ben (otherwise knows as The Beav) finished up his first semester at A&M and flew in too. Being the wonderful hostess and daughter/sister that I am, I put them to work.

Craig had already put together the cabinets in the basement so when my dad came, we started bringing 'em up and installing them. It wasn't too hard and the motivation was high since every cabinet made a big visual difference in how "kitchen-y" it looked.  Here we are working on the first cabinets.

I've never installed cabinets before but I think Ikea installation is a little more diy friendly that others. The top cabinets fit onto metal rails you secure and level beforehand. This makes it feasible for two people to do the install although it was really nice having my dad around as a third set of hands (and ones with more upper body strength than mine) There were a few moments when we had to consult the ikeafans forum but overall, I'm pleased with both the quality and the user-friendliness of working with ikea cabinets. It also helped when I reminded myself that Home Depot charges $75 per cabinet just for installation so when it took at hour or two to get a cabinet in place, it was worth the effort. 

We mostly worked in the evenings after Lucy went to bed, but during the days, she tried to help out as best she could. 

Of course, we had a few little glitches to deal with on the way and I think we took a trip to Home Depot or our local hardware store at least once a day but we have all but three cabinets installed now. The three that remain are the one to the left of the stove and the two island cabinets. We are waiting for those until after the electrical work is done to make it easy on the electricians as they work behind the stove.

Craig also worked on getting the range hood installed. This took some ingenuity because our vent hood was being installed over the glass blocks. You are technically supposed to attach the hood to horizontal supports that you install between the studs and behind the drywall. We weren't going to do that, so my dad came up with a solution that involved drywall anchors along with some metal strips that allowed us to make use of the upper window framing as a means of support. It took three pairs of hands to get it installed, and as of this writing, 24 hours later, it has yet to fall down.

Here is what it is looking like these days.

We are taking off this next week for holiday festivities but the electritian comes on the 28th after which we can finish up those last few cabinets and bring in the countertop guys for templating. The end is in sight!