So, I have to tell you that Jeff and I are not the best at working together on projects. I always say that we do not project well. I am a perfectionist, to a fault. Even to the degree of ignorance at times. I admit it, I'm my father's daughter. Jeff, however is the king of efficiency. To a fault. And to the degree of ignorance as well, at times. We have just learned over the years how to avoid explosive outcomes and hire professionals where we can. But, when you're on a budget like we are, we are going to project together and install this kitchen, dang it! I had the most anxiety about this part of the reno. For one, nothing in the house is straight, level or square (you just learn to expect that with old houses). And second, we had no idea what we were doing. Youtube has been a wealth of knowledge thus far, but Youtube can't actually do it for you, unfortunately. It took me months to order the cabinets. I had to measure, remeasure and measure again. I started with a basic U-shape layout early on for the plumbing rough in. I knew I wanted the sink centered under the big window so I had to build around that, which was not easy. When I went to look at cabinets online, availability and price played a huge role. And not all design lines have the same cabinet sizes available so it was like putting a puzzle together in about 3 different styles to see what would fit best at the best price and look the best. I was not kidding about taking months to order these. Do you see how this part of me can be a fault? But also a blessing because Jeff would have ordered the first set of cabinets that he liked and then we would have made 50 trips back to the store, so there's that. We finally settled on a dark gray stock cabinet and decided to install base cabinets only and no uppers. I went with this design for a more open, traditional feel.
Setting the cabinets went waaaaaay faster and smoother than expected for an old house and never having done this before. Next, was what I thought was going to be the hardest part, setting the countertops. I wasn't wrong in my thinking, but it went fairly well considering our skill level and the task at hand. We went with an unfinished butcher block that would require several custom cuts and a glue-up. At one point in the cutting process, I thought that I had made a slight error in either what I ordered, or how we were fitting them together. I thought I was going to stroke out. Once you cut these, there's no going back unless you have an endless supply of money and just want to order more to practice your cutting skills. Thankfully, we were able to make it work with what we had and had already done at that point. Again, ordering these was not easy due to the massive area of counter space and availability of the wood. We had to piece together what was available in a rather large space. We also did our first ever glue-up in a fairly difficult area of the counter, but it turned out perfect. You can see behind the stove where we joined the two pieces. Jeff did an amazing job with all of the cuts and I could not believe that we were still married at this point!
Next was the stain selection and application. I struggled with selecting the finish and drove my whole family nuts. Not one person was in agreement with my choice but I kept going back to it and finally went with my gut. I chose the cherry stain with a poly finish. While I did not want to match the wood of the floors, I did not like the other options when placed next to the cabinets. In the end, there is a lot of wood between the floors and the counters, but a nice rug in the living area will help to break that up.
And last, we added some finishing touches with the completion of the plumbing install, beadboard on the backside of the cabinets, open shelves, cabinet hardware, and a backsplash that is waiting for grout. We made the shelves from leftover pieces of the counter top.
At the end of the day, I am very pleased with how the kitchen turned out and how well we worked together on this. We now have working plumbing and the electric is completed. We are working on painting and several loose ends, but hope to offer this house very soon!
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