The Cabinets

In these many boxes that now fill half the garage are our beautiful cherry cabinets. I have spent all morning trying to match up the number of boxes with the order form and cannot do it. Either I have too much or too little. Things like the drawer dividers I know are installed in the cabinet, but other things I think should be there. Like entire cabinets. But of course, on the delivery sheet they are listed one way and on the order form, another. I will just keep my fingers crossed that when they are installed, there is not a gaping hole where one should be.

We sit patiently waiting for the inspector to show - a morning appointment has turned into an afternoon one. In the meantime, our kitchen guys are keeping busy doing other things. Matt left and will return for the inspection - John is here taping a wall and keeping an ear out for the phone. He has a baby on the way that may be on the way a little early. His partner Matt joked that if the baby comes, baba san can fill in finishing the sheet rock, given he did such a good job on the wiring.

Don't know how baba san feels about that...

It Works

After three days of pulling out old wires and putting the new ones in;


It works!!!!

Let's hope the building inspector is as thrilled with the work as we are.

We are Back and It is Gone

Good bye useless stove.

Sayonara ugly linoleum.

Hasta la vista cabinets with the nails dangerously sticking out of the sides.

Good riddance Formica counter made to look like wood.

See ya 80's chandelier.

Since we got back, baba san has been feverishly wiring the outlets, the lighting, the switches and anything else electrical. Ariana, Tess and I have been mostly staying out of his way, except when the sound of "Jennifer..." reaches my ears. Then I enter, hold whatever it is I need to hold, and disappear again as soon as I am released from my "assistant" duties.

Ariana too has joined into the fun, sweeping up the floor - very nicely I might add.

In the meantime, the contents of the yucky cabinets are now scattered in the dining and living room.
My thoughts of organizing everything within easy reach were in the end, just thoughts. While we have found a few things, most of it will stay hidden away until we unpack. We have a supply of plastic plates and cutlery and will most likely patronize our local restaurants for the duration.

3 Reasons Why We Are Redoing Our KItchen

1.
2.
3. Nuff said??

As enthusiastic cooks, we were incredibly frustrated by the poor layout of this kitchen. I have a particular peeve about appliances being right up against a wall and here we have two of them. The fridge hits you in the face when you walk into the kitchen and the stove - well, this is a particular disaster. Not only is it flanking a wall (which I'm sure was a fire hazard even with the metal plate on the side), but the microwave has been mounted too close to the stove top, which makes using the back burners a bit of a danger when you also have things on the front ones.

When one of us is cooking, the other can't be near the sink for fear of getting bumped and possibly injured by a flailing knife or pot of boiling water being moved. With the garbage under the sink, there is no room to quickly throw something out while someone else is cooking or doing the dishes. More than likely, the offending garbage will sit on a counter until the space is free. When the refrigerator door is open, no one can enter.

The cabinets are ridiculously inefficient, with shelves that are not adjustable and no room for anything. We have a big pantry in the kitchen, but with huge shelves, most things get lost and require much searching to find. The layout makes the least use out of the space, which would actually be quite sufficient for a more user friendly one.

We won't even mention the ugliness factor - you see the picture.

So, off we go to visit Nana and when we get back - it will all be gone.

The Prep Work

Packing, packing, packing - where will it end? For the past few days I have been slowing filling box after box with the contents of our kitchen, only to realize I need many more boxes to complete the task. Looking at the open cabinets, it doesn't look like that much, but as the boxes pile up, I realize what seemed like a minor task is turning into something more. Having moved in just about a year ago, there aren't so many "why do I still have this?"s - more like "oh, that's where this is".

Yesterday I took all of Ariana's artwork down - we had put them up all over the walls and the cabinets to hide the hideousness of the kitchen. She got into it and what started in the kitchen crept out into the hall down to the family room. And the living room. Everything from school work to pages ripped out of coloring books to candy wrappers made it up for all to see. The bathroom has a collection of greeting cards going back to her 3rd birthday - a mini trip down memory lane. It will all come down once we paint the downstairs, but for now the creative musings of our daughter are displayed among my mother's realistic oil paintings and the abstract work of Noi Na, the elephant from Thailand.

While we make a short visit to see Nana, the cabinets, some walls, and the mysterious stuff between the walls will be made to disappear. Our appliances will be relocated to the garage, all except the fridge, which will be relocated to the front hall. How convenient - walk in the house - grab a brewsky!! For the duration of the work, we will be trying the restaurants here in town. Even with our old electric stove that took forever to heat and never got quite hot enough, we still preferred to cook at home, so the list of places waiting for us is long. And of course, we will accept any dinner invitations issued - takers anyone??

The Project

When we first looked at our house, it was clear the kitchen was the first thing we had to change. This was back in May. After 9 months of procrastination, we are about to begin. Actually, we have already begun - the cabinets and appliances have been ordered (gulp) the contractor hired (another gulp) the permit applied for (a total bargain compared to the first two). We still need to confirm the plumber, find floor and wall tile and finalize the lighting.

Since several of you want the details, I thought I would use this space to document our progress for the next month or six.

Enjoy!!!