"New Exhaust Fan/Hood/Light In Use....."

Homemade bread waiting to go into the oven to bake, next to homemade sloppy joe's that we'd be having for dinner last night.  Delicious......even if I do say so myself.   ;)

"Exhaust Fan/Hood Hung....."

We now have light and ventilation above the stove!  Yea!  Rob and Franklin installed it yesterday and yes, we like it VERY much!

Today, the painting begins.  :)

Cabinet Refacing is complete!"

We are VERY happy with the results of refacing the cabinets.  Tim did a wonderful job!  Unfortunately, we did not have enough handles for all the doors and drawers, but the missing ones are ordered and will be in next week.  Tim drilled all the holes in the doors, so we can install the handles when they come in.

In case you have forgotten what the "old" kitchen looked like (UGH!), here are a few photos...

Quite a change, eh?  I wish I could leave the countertop empty, but that wouldn't be practical.  ;)

The new exhaust fan/hood has to be hung and the room painted, but basically I have my kitchen back.  That is a GREAT feeling!  No more having to walking back and forth from the front room to the kitchen for whatever I need to make a meal.  That is a thing of the past.  ;)

"Getting Closer to Being Finished!"

Tim, the cabinet man, drove up to La Crosse on Tuesday to pick up the new Maple sheeting that he needed for our kitchen cabinets.  He began work here again yesterday.  Even without the drawer fronts on, tools on the counter, and the microwave sitting out of place, it looks AMAZING!

He'll be back this morning to finish, although there was a problem with the lower Lazy Susan door and it has to be re-ordered, so that will be installed later.

"As Far As Tim Can Go......."

Todays post shows how far Tim has come along on refacing the kitchen cabinets, but unfortunately, he can go no further until he gets more of the Maple sheeting used for the larger areas of cabinet sides and backs (remember my earlier mention of some "issues" with the large sheets of Maple?).  He will be driving up to his supplier in La Crosse to get them, then has to do some cutting down to size for our job.  Target day for coming back is next Tuesday morning.

The bright side of this (gotta look for that ya know!) is I will now be able to bring the needed "cooking/washing up" things in from the front room and leave them "in" the kitchen for a few days and not have to run back and forth from kitchen to front room a dozen times in the evening and morning.

This means I won't have to cook in the bathroom again.  LOL  I thought it would be nice not to have a "fast meal" for a change and turned to my slow cooker yesterday for last nights meal.   ;)

Here is where we are with the refacing.......

Tim did re-enforce the back of the peninsula using 2 x 4's and plywood, too.

So, a few more days added to what was supposed to be a 3 or 4 day job.  Patience is a virtue, right?   ;) It will all be worth the wait in the end when the kitchen is finished.

"Refacing Continues....."

I don't have too much to show today.  A few snags are causing a bit of a slow down.  Some of the large sheets of Maple that are used in covering the ends and backs of the cabinets are not lying flat as they should, so Tim has had to call the company he gets them from and "have a chat" about them.  He also had me take a few photos and send them in an email to the guy at the company.

But I do have a few photos to show more of what has been installed.  All the framing around the lower cabinets has been completed.

And most of the undersides of the upper cabinets......

One of the "issues" that Tim is dealing with is the back of the peninsula section that holds the dishwasher, oven, and 2 cabinets.  He wasn't happy with how it "felt" (his word was it seemed too squishy), so he took the old dark panel off and will be adding some extra support to that area.

As you may imagine, cooking our dinner each night has been "interesting".  Thankfully, Tim does move things around at the end of the day that allows me access to the stove/oven and sink, but I have to bring in all of our cooking, eating, and washing up supplies in from the front room.......and then put everything back afterwards.  As exciting as the whole updating process is, I will be very happy to have it all completed so I can be FULLY back into my kitchen.   ;)  

"Cabinet Refacing Begins......"

Tim, "The Cabinet Guy", arrived mid-afternoon yesterday to begin the refacing of our kitchen cabinets.  First, all the old doors and drawer fronts had to be removed.  With the insides of our cabinets exposed, you can instantly understand that things are arranged for function, not beauty......no glass paned doors for us!   ;)

The refacing has begun........

I'm sure tomorrows blog post will show quite a HUGE difference after more Maple is installed.  I can't even express how excited we are with the changes being made.......

"Back to the Kitchen Updating...."

Rob and Franklin were here the end of last week working on the prep to hang the new exhaust fan/hood.

Here is what the area looked like prior to last Thursday.

Not only did they have to cap the soffit end, but they also had to re-configure the ceiling opening, framing it in so that it can support the new fan/hood, then add drywall and begin the mudding process.

Their time was spent in and out of the attic, making adjustments, etc.  I should mention that Rob also contracted to get the electrical work done properly, bringing in Oz, whom Don and I have met previously, so the new hood now has its own circuit breaker.

So....once again the mudding process has begun......."BUT"............the mudding may have to wait for a few days.  :)  Tim, our cabinet guy, delivered the new Maple doors and drawers on Friday, and is scheduled to start refacing the cabinets TODAY!!!!!!   YEA!!!!!!

Here is what they look like........

What a difference, eh?  We are quite anxious to see how much brighter the kitchen will be with the light Maple.  I'll certainly keep you posted.  ;)
 

"Growing Our Own Mushrooms......"

Claire gave me this little "Mushroom Garden" for Christmas. It will grow Oyster Mushrooms and is from a very interesting company called "Back To The Roots".  (http://www.backtotheroots.com)

It actually has 2 sides for growing the little beauties.  Once this side has produced its crop of Oyster Mushrooms, the back side is opened and the same done from there.

So far, no sign of any growth, but I think it is because I have them in the kitchen which has been a bit cooler since the removal of the exhaust fan.  We have plastic covering the hole in the ceiling, but I'm sure it is allowing more heat to escape than what it would with an installed exhaust fan (that will be installed after the refacing of the cabinets).