Kitchen Update

Might as well start with an update that has nothing to do with the kitchen, as the title states. It is our new - old pocket doors. The house originally sported a set of glass pocket doors separating what was then, an interior bedroom and the dining room. Somewhere down the line, someone decided to take it upon themselves to remove and sheet rock over one of the doors, then added hinges to the other. 

We moved the wall further into the bedroom and combined our living and dining space into one, rather than having the "parlor" at the front and the dining at the rear of the house. And in doing this, we had some fresh new framing in which we created new pocket doors. They aren't quite finished, but it is good to see more sunlight making its way into the bedroom.

And now onto the kitchen update. As my 4th Ikea kitchen build, it seemed to go by much more quickly than the previous three. But perhaps it is simply the knowledge that it is the last big kitchen build. 

It all went fairly well, that is until I attempted to hang the cabinets by my self. I think I was in a low blood sugar fueled delusional haze when I hoisted my first cabinet up 9 feet into the air, rested it on top of the ladder and expected all to go smoothly. 

Needless to say, that cabinet spent the night on top of the ladder. And in the morning, I wrestled up some help from Christopher and together we managed to hang all the uppers. 

I was then able to continue on with the base cabinets while he was in rehearsal that evening. 

I built out the fridge cabinet with some 3/4" plywood I wheeled down the block. We are lucky enough to have a contractor's supply store up the street from us, and I was lucky enough for them to let me use their giant wheelie cart and sail two giant pieces of plywood home. 

When Chris got home he hung the doors while I finished installing the drawers. 

The next project was building the island. 

I attached a platform built with 2x6s to the floor, after many micro adjustments in placement. I added some panels, which will get painted, and built out a dishwasher enclosure. We are almost there. 

My mom was in town this week and we took a tour of various stone yards/fabricators. I've had several (ahem, 5) years to think about counter top material, so I was only moderately immobilized by the fear of making the wrong choice. 

Here's our piece of Danby Mountain White Marble. 

Up next, super ugly bookcase gets a budget (free) makeover.