Cabinets in!

Lots of progress last Thursday (Oct. 2), exactly three months after the kitchen had been demolished. I took the day off from work. People were working here all day long. First the electrician came in to rewire the recessed lights. Next came the cabinet installers. It took the electrician over three hours to do what he had to do (apparently it wasn't easy). (That cost an extra $200.) The cabinet installers were here for around seven hours. Before they left, someone came in to assess the drywall repairs.

The cabinets look fantastic, and the installers did a great job. (As far as I know, so did the electrician.)

The spice rack cabinet was missing an overlay. That's been ordered and will be installed when it gets in.

The recessed lights will be reinstalled after the electrical inspector examines the new wiring. The inspector had said to leave the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling.

To the left of the fridge is the new pull-out pantry, which my new cat, Lucky (seen below), used to sleep on top of when it was standing in its box in the living room.

Early this morning someone came to measure for the quartz counter tops. They should be ready for installation in about two weeks. Yesterday I picked up the new sink at Home Depot (I'd paid for it already) which came with a template. The measuring guy took that with him to use in fabricating the counter tops. He said I'd need to buy two brackets to support the counter that will sit on the half wall. I have plenty of time to get those.

After the installation was done, I moved the card table back into the kitchen since I need some kind of surface there. (Won't it be great to have counters again.)

While I was at work today, the District Services Manager called to ask about the installation. I told him everything looks great and we discussed the next steps.

BEFORE

AFTER

The spice rack cabinet (last one at right) is getting an overlay.

The new cabinets had been sitting for over three months in front of this half wall, which will be topped with a new counter. I was so relieved to get my space back. Lucky was confused, however. He joined the household in mid-July and was accustomed to the cabinets sitting in the living room. He used to play (and sleep) on them. Now he's getting accustomed to the cabinets being in the kitchen. I'm sure he'll love the new counters to race around on.

Since the recessed lights aren't functional now, I rigged up something temporary (top left). I also used an old belt to tie two of the recessed lights together so that I could access the new pantry without damaging it (top right). Once the lights are reinstalled, I'll have full access to the upper cabinets. I'm slowly restocking the cabinets. I'll wait until the counters and sink are in before putting everything back. Meanwhile I can figure out where everything will go, since I have more space to fill than I had before.