Wednesday, February 4, 2009

kitchen - part I - ideas and progress


the before
the scary before! these cabinets were either super cheap or super old. the shelving was bare, unfinished plywood.


inside the cabinets
the previous residents tried to hide the plywood by decorating with these lovely gingham ribbons. country kitsch at it's best!


wall removal
the wall between the kitchen and dining room was removed. this photo was taken after the plaster and wire mesh was removed. notice the old 'knob and tube' electrical remnants.


new appliances
the ceiling is reinforced with thick beams and now we have an opening that lets natural light into the kitchen area.



after a lot of dry wall dust, banging, sawing and sanding we are finally at the point where we can install our cabinets.

so far we have:
- new floor tiles
- new low voltage pot lights
- all old cabinets removed
- tile glue removed (you can see some that remains in the last photo)
- skim coated walls where tile glue was
- new appliances delivered (had to take advantage of the sale!)

outstanding:
- priming and painting all walls and ceiling
- installing new cabinets
- hooking up appliances
- buying undermount sink and tap
- ordering countertop

partially because of the contemporary aesthetic and mostly because of the DYI aspect of cost savings we went with ikea's kitchen cabinets. yesterday, andre and i spent 3 hours at ikea: 1 hour waiting for the kitchen specialist to come help us order our cabinets; 1.5 hours ordering all our cabinet parts and another half hour, picking up some of the parts and then paying for our purchase.

while we waited i amused myself by holding an impromptu portrait party. after a while i was able to persuade andre to join in on the fun. as you can see, however, his attempts were half hearted at best.

while waiting at ikea

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