Kitchen Cabinets

Most of the kitchen cabinets were installed while we were away on vacation. Unfortunately, we had to start using them right away so I didn't get any clean uncluttered pictures. Still, you'll get the idea. Besides, we were pretty anxious to get back to using real plates and cooking in the kitchen.

This is where our sink used to be. We are adding a small prep sink to the right of the counter once the real counter tops are in. (They are on order. Right now there are just plywood temporary ones in place.)

Here is the new wall. We moved our main sink and dishwasher to this side of the kitchen to give us a longer uninterrupted counter top on the other side. The microwave being up high resulted in us buying the step stool so Little One can still use it. The door and that part of the wall will come out when the addition is built.

Our fridge became an issue right as we were starting the renovation. In short, it died. We had it for several years and while for the most part, we liked it, we were planning on making it into a spare one in the utility room once the addition was done anyway. So, we got a new one about two months ago that was quite nice. The freezer is on the bottom and there are French doors for the refrigerator. We had it plugged-in in our living room for about a month while the kitchen floor was torn up.

We had bought it specifically for the new space but once it was in place, it was too big. (Grrrrr) It fit into the hole okay but the way in which the doors were hinged meant that they couldn't open completely because they would hit the cabinets on either side. We'll this caused some concern but it ended up being surprisingly easy to fix. My wife went to the store, told them what happened and they exchanged it for a slightly smaller model with an additional drawer. The actually refunded us the difference as well.

You can see the PEX water supplies that run up to the hot water heater in the attic in the picture above. The tentative plan is for a wine rack to cover that space but seeing as how we might go through a bottle a month... that would be about three years' worth of storage. We'll see.

We have decided to go with a gas stove. Until that is all ready we will keep using the electric one. The hood is on order and it will be properly vented up to the attic and then through the roof (our old one wasn't.) The funny square hole in the wall under the window was from this very powerful exhaust fan that was installed at counter height. It had a neat retro look but we  only used it maybe once or twice in the 12 1/2 years we have lived here. It probably resulted in all sort of lost heat during the winter since it had a wooden door that opened when it was on and wasn't really sealed in anyway. It was saved though and will be re-used in the workshop.

Lighting in the kitchen has also been completely re-done. We still have to install covers and what not.

We are really happy with the cabinets so far. Our contractor worked hard to install them plum and level. The fact that he pointed out where they weren't because of either the wall or how the cabinet was manufactured showed how much he cared. The cabinets are much sturdier than out old cabinets (plywood vs thin MDF shelves) and have a lot of new hardware that prevents doors from slamming and slowly closes drawers (which is a little creepy at first.)  

The pulls still need to be installed and we my reconfigure some of the drawer/shelf combinations but like I said, we are already pretty happy with them. The countertops and floor tiles are on order and will be installed at the same time.

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Our hearing with the Zoning Board is scheduled for this week. Last week we got a letter from the govt agency that oversaw our application process. The letter said that they were recommending to the Board that we be allowed to build our addition based what we submitted. However... they also said that we had to protect the trees on our property during construction that were near the addition.

Really? Seriously? You are telling us that now when we have already contracted with a tree service to cut down the tree on the afternoon of our hearing?

Here are the three short reasons why this is a problem:

1) The tree in question is a mature maple tree that I constantly worry about falling into our house. It is too close now. If we left it in place, IT WILL BE LESS THAN TWO FEET FROM THE WALL OF THE ADDITION!
2) In order to dig the footings for the foundation; about half of the roots from that tree will have to be severed. So... that should all but guarantee that the tree will fall over into my house in the near future.
3) Excuse me... but who are you to tell me what trees I need to have on MY property? Enough. We followed the rules and jumped through the hoops. We don't have to give up our rights to private property because someone feels they love trees more than we do.

The tree is coming down. Not only because it has to but because I want it to. Seriously - The Founding Fathers would kick our asses for how much we allow silliness like this to take place.