Kitchen - Living Room Side
Drawer Microwave in the small L
Kitchen - Outside Wall
Kitchen - Looking from the Dining Room
Beginning the Install
It was raining like crazy outside
Looking Towards the Dining Room
The Stove will be in the Middle on this Wall
Doors Ready to go up
Upper Cabinets
My Cran-Apple Pie (made under direction)
HT - Happy Thanksgiving
Happy
Thanksgiving to all of you!
Today is the
day where we give thanks with family and friends for what we have and we do it
with food, lots of food. So much food in fact that I think in the old days it
would have actually been called a feast. And we stuff ourselves silly. But
there always seems to be room for pie.
In the
spirit of this food, family and friends centric day, I’m going to tell you
about our new kitchen. And here’s my disclaimer, everywhere we I say “we”, I
really mean for the most part “my better half” because this was the hardest job
that I haven’t had to do.
When we were
first going to remodel the other house we started working with a Kitchen &
Bath place in RI who will remain unnamed for reasons to follow. We felt
comfortable at first were getting some good ideas. When we decided to build new,
Meridian (our builder) suggested that we use a designer that they use
frequently. However, we had already put down a $1,000 deposit and didn’t want
to give that up so we stuck with the company we were using. And it wasn’t long
before we were feeling very stuck. Our designer was frequently late for
appointments and even missed them altogether. The few times I went with my
better half it was painfully obvious that no work had been done on the design
since the last appointment. Months were passing. Confusion reigned. The wrong
drawings would be emailed to us and often the designs were not updated with new
requests and ideas. We were getting dangerously behind in our timeline. It was fast
becoming a nightmare.
On a whim,
my now frustrated better half went over and met with Lisa Riley from Riley
Kitchen & Bath in Bristol, RI (www.RileyKitchen.com)to see what she might suggest.
This was the same company that Meridian had recommended when we started
designing the new house. It was such a good experience that a few hours later
after some discussion we decided to walk away from the first company (and our
deposit) and start over. What a difference. Lisa spent the time going over
kitchen ideas with my better half and made design recommendations that we liked
and incorporated into the overall design. She is a true professional with significant
design experience and always made sure that our drawings were always up to date
and reflected what we were looking for. I think the true measure of a company
is when asked if you would use them again. Our answer would be a resounding
yes!
For those
that like the details, the cabinets are Waypoint (www.waypointlivingspaces.com) with the 650F door style in Maple Cream
Glaze (sounds like ice cream doesn’t it?). We’re still undecided about the draw
pulls and knobs. Probably another decision I’ll need to just go “uh huh” to.
Truthfully,
I have had little to do with the kitchen planning. I know my place. The only
thing I asked for was one of those cool drawer microwaves. It's stupidly
expensive but I'm getting it. I've never liked the over the stove microwaves
because of the height and the potential for spilling hot food. My last house
had one installed and I found the built in vent and lighting to be just
passable. I'm not sure that anyone has designed a combination of the two that
works really well. That's why we're going with a separate vent. And a cool
microwave in a drawer.
It’s
fantastic to see drawings turn into reality. The house is up. The walls are up.
The plumbing is installed. The wires are run. The doors are swinging. And our
kitchen is being installed. Things are really moving along rapidly.
But even as
thankful as we are for the work and those that helped get us there, we are also
thankful for our families and the many friends we have made across the years
and even on this blog. Because at the end of the day, they are what life is
really about.
Please remember those in need and less fortunate
than us during these holidays. Because that completes why we are here to begin
with.
Happy
Thanksgiving.
