Cabinets

Pendant light in front of the window that looks into our TV room.

Matching one in front of the window over our sink.

Possibly my favorite part of the kitchen. This is the cabinet where my fancy mixer and the coffee pot (French Press) will go. And they will be plugged in AND on a roll out stand. Yes....

Cookbooks were supposed to go over our fridge, but it's not quite tall enough. So some will go there, but not all.

We were given permission to put things into our new cabinets. Yippee!!!

We now have a light in front of our kitchen door on our back porch. Imagine the thrill!

This is what our dining room has looked like since mid June.

And this has been the lovely entryway/living room.

More dining room. Nice, huh?

Every. Where.

This is all that's left to go in. Not too shabby.

We are making progress. Still no sink/countertop. Been put on a two week delay. Excellent...

Down to Bare Bones

SO I thought I'd give you a walk through From where we've been to where we are.
This is how it used to look. I know, it LOOKS cute... That square think only has two baby drawers. It's the space over the stairs leading into the basement. Does that make sense? Apparently, originally, that square thing was part of a butler's pantry and the kitchen was in the next picture down.

You wouldn't have been able to see that window from where I was standing, when the house was built. There was a wall blocking it off. The kitchen would've been along the wall with the sink and the little square area with the hanging light. (Which would have made that light make a lot more sense)

That's Jerry, our amazing contractor. So, they knocked the wall down and added those cabinets, and probably thought that bump out thing was a bargain, considering  how much space they gained.

Doors are off, everything (including the dishwasher that's been broken since we moved in) is still there.

That's an action shot.

And when you peel off the top painted layer of wall paper... there's MORE!

All gone!

And now the side ones are gone, also.

And now the bump out is down to nothing.  By the way, our entire house is made of outer layer of brick, wood and plaster (as shown below) and inner layer of brick or solid plaster.

Steve and I removed the wall paper. Ourselves.

Cabinets coming in.

More cabinets and drawers and pantry type items.

And there you have it. So far, so good. Quicker than I thought. Yeay!

What Happened Next

This is two weeks late. So, remember the kitchen frustration? Electrical and whatnot?

 Well, the next morning I was praying and I was saying lame things like, "LORD, you have told us to ask you to bless us. I am asking that and it just seems like the very opposite of blessing is happening. Please, BLESS us."

 After my morning classes, there was a text from Jerry (Contractor) asking me to call him on my break. After a heavy sigh, I called him.

 Conversation went as follows:
 J: "How much did we estimate the granite?"

Me: (with fear and trembling) "$1,000"

 J: "Great. That's great. I think I've found a solution to your electrical bill problem."

 Of course, this isn't his problem to have to solve. It's our 82 year old house and therefore, what we got ourselves into.

 J: "I got a call from Juan (Tile guy) asking me to help him. This lady whose house he's working on asked him to get rid of a 9 foot Billiard table It's in perfect shape but she doesn't want it in her house anymore. He has no use for it, so he asked me to take it. Well, I don't play billiards and I have no need or use for it. Then, I woke up in the middle of the night with the answer. Josh. (Granite guy) So, I called Josh and asked him if he wanted a 9 foot billiard table. He said, 'Maybe'. So I told him I would trade him the granite slab for the table and he said yes. So, there's $1000 off the budget that you don't have to worry about, so it will just go towards your electrical."

 Me: (dumbfounded) "Jerry, you don't have to do that at all."

 J: "Well, that's what we're doing so that's the answer."

 Then, three days later when I've decided that I think I would prefer a sleek hood vent as opposed to a big microwave over the stove, since we don't use one.

 Me: "Jerry, is it too late to switch out the microwave for a hood vent? I know we've already ordered the cabinets, but we'll just eat that."

 J: "No, that'd be fine."

 (Insert long conversation about size of micro, and options for hood vent whilst at the appliance store including discussions about re-circulating vents etc which Appliance guy couldn't wrap his head around.")

 J: "Well, Builder's Warehouse has some great ones and I have a credit of about $250 there that I've been sitting on for about a year, so you can just apply that to it."

 Me: "Jerry, you're NOT buying our hood vent."

 J: "Seriously, I have NO NEED for anything from that store. I've been sitting on that money for over a year. So, Tuesday after school go look at them and see if they have one you like."

 Tuesday I go and take pictures to show Steve. I get home and Jerry is there and asks about it. I show them the pics and Steve says which one he likes best. Wednesday it's sitting in our living room.... Jerry... Yes, I am humbled and blessed. What kind of contractor DOES that? Oh right, one that the LORD decides to use, and who loves the LORD himself.