Sunday, January 29, 2012

Premature Celebration . . .

I suppose it was inevitable that I would peak too early. Yes, in the week since I last posted, we are in almost the same exact place. That is to say, the kitchen is essentially done. Which is nothing like being actually done. It's a little like a Disney facade. It looks perfect, but if you get close you see all the things that aren't quite right: The spacing between doors, the scratches that need touching up, the other oh so minor things like the gas not being connected to the stove and the water not running to the fridge. But the silver lining is that I am not paying for it until my ever-growing punch list is complete, so it's to their advantage to finish already! Still, it is fair to say that the big stuff is done (well, the stove and water line are big, I know). We are doing the backsplash this week. My goal was end of January so we have 48 hours. I was so anxious over it we actually lined all the shelves today, even though I can't put anything away. But we are ready! In the meantime, these pictures certainly do suffice:

The long view:



The view into the island area:



The hidden pantry (which was a stroke of genius on my part, if I do say so myself):


The main pantry (and notice the camouflaged pole!):


The very, very, very important wine bar:


Looking over the bar:
 

Another view over the bar: 


Another view of the beautiful range:


Looking into the island/pantry:


OK, that's a lot of pictures, I know. Next post will include the backsplash and hopefully the wine bar fully stocked. And me with a glass.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Speed kills . . .

What else can explain the fact that the last few weeks, the pace has slowed to the speed of dark. Of course, it's no one's fault. It's not the appliance people's. It's not the contractor. It's not the granite. Nope, it's just what happens (Sarcasm meter high). I do realize that some things are inevitable, but some of the delays have simply been do to disorganization, mis-management of time and resources and, in my estimation, laziness. There have been many days when I considered just throwing in the towel, but of course that's irrational. Not even my daily drooling on and over my appliances could cheer me up. In fact, they were mocking me, sitting there with that come-hither look but remaining unplugged and useless.

Finally, after literally weeks of delays I was scheduled for a granite template, to be followed a week later by the install. (Due to the fact that we were so late, the granite people finally took us off the schedule. By the time we were ready they were booked solid. Sigh.)

Template was fine. The install was another matter. Based on the discussion I had with the installer, he seemed not to like the template person very much. And by that I mean I think he hated him. He continually second-guessed what we were doing and complained the entire time about the tight fit of the oven. And I'm not even sure why we had the template person here since the installer didn't actually do the fine cutting until he got her, which meant, yup, another later of dust.  He freaked out about the oven and having to move it (and I discovered later had taken the door off the hinges. Lucky for him we were able to fix it). I was quite literally panicked that he was going to leave the job or worse, do a bad job. To make matters worse, I was trapped in my house all 7 hours they were here; someone had to be here and besides, their truck and equipment were all set up in my driveway. The sound and smell of cutting and polishing the granite was getting on my very last nerve. I resolved not to sneak a peek until they were done as I knew it would freak me out.

Then lo and behold, they were finished. And as cranky as he was, it came out great. Perfect in fact:



It may be hard to see, but it's called Cashmere White and it's incredible; grey/white with flecks of the dark brown and glints of silver. I would take a close-up but now the counters are covered with tarp as the workers are here to HOPEFULLY finish the rest. This is the part that's like a death by a thousand cuts. But we are on the home stretch.

Monday, January 9, 2012

The object of my desires . . .

I really love stainless steel. I mean appliances. I mean kitchen appliances. After long lust, er, last, my appliances arrived. It took three separate deliveries, a return and reorder of a microwave, but these gleaming beauties are finally here. Here's the glorious KitchenAid refrigerator.


The KitchenAid range is a work of art - it's a double oven without taking up wall space! I love it so much I can't bear to take the protective coating off it.



So I'm done, right? Ha ha ha ha ha. So funny. We still have a cabinet to replace, a door to replace and the granite hasn't even been templated yet. And then there's the "little" things that I just know will take forever - hardware, adjusting drawers, caulk. Arg. But at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I predict the end of January. In the meantime, I will sit in my kitchen and pet my appliances. The kitchen ones, of course.