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Kitchen Remodel Completion... Or is it?

We have had a pretty eventful week or I would've posted these pictures on Tuesday.  Last Monday the quartz countertops and undermount sink were installed. On Tuesday morning the new faucet and drain was installed.  

A new wall organizer that we added to the kitchen.  We are waiting for a "pin board" to arrive that will hang between these two boxes (they will be pushed further to the left and the right)

So, while our initial project is complete.  We just ordered one more floor to ceiling cabinet to go on the other side of the sliding glass door.  That should arrive in a week or so.

We are definitely pleased with the outcome of the cabinets and countertops!

 

Kitchen Remodel Day 9 - Monday, May 2

The countertops have been measured and should be installed in two weeks.  The temporary sink works and so does the new dishwasher.  I hope to soon have our microwave mounted.  We are now in the process of figuring out what we will put where in our cabinets.  Plus, we have some other small touchup work to do with paint.  

I will update the blog once we have new countertops.

Kitchen Remodel Day 8 - Sunday, May 1

There are no pictures in the post because there is nothing new to see in our kitchen.  That doesn't mean that nothing has been done today.  With the help of Jed, the water is ready to for hookup to the sink and dishwasher.  The dishwasher is completely installed and ready to run as soon as the sink drain is completed.  A temporary sink is in place but I need to buy a few parts to make connections to the drain and water line (Home Depot was closed as soon as I found out I needed parts).  The microwave is also nearly in place.

So, to summarize the microwave is almost installed, the dishwasher is almost installed and the temporary sink is almost installed.

Kitchen Remodel Day 7 - Saturday, April 30

For the most part the cabinets are completely installed.  There is a side piece that needs to be reordered and some quarter round that will be placed after that is in place.  Now we wait for the countertops.  We are very pleased with the finished product of these cabinets look like.  Tomorrow, if time permits I will reinstall the microwave, install the new dishwasher and put other things back in their place.

Here are pictures at the end of Day 7:

 

We really like the crown molding at the top.

Kitchen Remodel Day 6 - Friday, April 29

Due to a Dodgeball event with Crave last night I was unable to provide a Kitchen remodel post last night.  Pictured below is where things are are at so far.  As you can see, the installation is not yet complete.  There are a number of things that still need to be done with just the cabinet install and we are optimistic that it will be completed by the end of the day (I know I said that yesterday).  We are fine with the delay as we want it to be done correctly before we want it done quickly.

Here are pictures at the end of Friday, April 29:

Kitchen Remodel Day 5 - Thursday, April 28

Today the process of installing the cabinets began.  There were a few minor hangups with the way things lined up but it appears that we have come up with solutions to each of these issues.  We are really pleased with Steve, the installer.  He is excellent at what he is doing, meticulous and goes above and beyond what's expected.  He anticipates that he will be done with his part of the process after a long day tomorrow.  We had excellent weather this afternoon so as a family we ate some Papa Johns on the front step of our home.

Here are pictures at the end of the day:

Kitchen Remodel Day 4 - Wednesday, April 27

I can't take any credit for today's work.  This morning Ryan and Karis screwed in a few pieces of plywood.  This evening after the kids were in bed, my wife painted in areas that we knew would be exposed after the new cabinets are installed (while I was at the Church).  It is a wonderful feeling to know that we are ready for the installers to come tomorrow morning.

 

Kitchen Remodel Day 3 - Tuesday, April 26

The progress from today is hardly noticeable from the pictures.  The footprint of the old cabinets has been raised a 3/4 of an inch to match the rest of the flooring.  Speaking of flooring, we had a whole box left from when we originally installed the hardwood floors so we took advantage of the missing base cabinets to reinstall some boards that had a wide space between them.  Again we had great help from some neighbors.  One neighbor let me borrow his pnuematic stapler (where was he 2 years ago when we had to rent that?!) and another neighbor let us use their oven to cook part of our dinner.

Here are the pictures at the end of today:

 

 

 

Kitchen Remodel - Day 2 Monday, April 25

Today, far more was accomplished than I had planned.  I had lots of help to get to this point.  Our friend, Jed, came over and capped the water to our sink so that we could disconnect the sink and dishwasher (and so that we could get the base cabinet out).  I also had help from a couple of neighbors to get some pretty large pieces out and into the garage. 

Here is where we are at the end of Day 2:

 
 
 
I am far ahead of schedule and that is really good.  I had planned on only removing the upper cabinets by the end of the day.  I am grateful for all of the help that I had today to get as far as we did.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 1 Sunday, April 24

Greta and I have been working and planning for several months on remodeling our kitchen.  The process started when we discussed our need for a new dishwasher. This conversation evolved into our discussion that we should get new countertops since neither of us cared for them and then it moved to the fact that if we replaced our countertops we would be putting them on cabinets that are not asthetically pleasing or practical.  We talked to several contractors and weighed a number of options before we settled on our current plan.  I'm convinced that one of the biggest things my wife is looking forward to is having a place for the broom.  She is also looking forward to having far more usable space.  I am now in the process of demoing the cabinets since that will save us $1,200 on the install.

The all important "before" pictures:  (notice the cabinets don't go up to the ceiling)

 

 

The progress after Day 1 (Sunday):

 
 

I created a schedule for myself and my wife to try to keep on schedule to demo the cabinets before they are installed on Thursday.  I also had a schedule for my wife to know when she will have a working sink, oven and dishwasher.  So far, I'm on schedule!

It took 26 years but I finally did it!

I finally accomplished something that I began 26 years ago.  I beat the original Super Mario Bros that orignally came out in 1985 on the Nintendo Entertainment System.  When I lived in St. Petersburg, I used to play this game for hours on my neighbors Nintendo.

Three years ago, when my wife and I first got our Wii we purchased the classic game through the Wii Marketplace online store.  When we started playing it, I quickly realized that my wife was far more skilled at the game than I was (which was a blow to my ego).  She in fact showed me what it looked like to complete the game at level 8-4!  I didn't come close to finishing the game.  I gave up hope as I continued to die at the same parts and typically my wife and son would laugh at my ineptness.

This past winter as we were holed up in our house I decided that I was going to save the princess in the year 2011.  So, a few nights a week after I had shared in the duties of tucking my kids in to bed, I would go down and play the game to see how far I could get.  My skills increased and tonight at approximately 8:37 CST the princess was saved!

I can only imagine how proud my parents, Vic and Bonnie are right now.

So glad that this is finally crossed off my list!

 

I can't stop watching this video!

I can't stop watching this video.  I'm so proud of my son!