Kitchen Remodel : Week 2, 3 and Probably 4

Progress is forward.  

Steady.  

But slow.

Behind the scenes, things are moving.

However, that does not always show visually.

My floors are still covered in cardboard.

The cabinets are now all firmly in place.

Design has been finalized on my custom piece and the new shelving.

The counter top people have received my quartz and mapped out my kitchen.

The next step is to cut the quartz.

Until the machine broke and pushed everything out another week.

Expect the bumps.

Expect the bumps.

(This is mantra)

Expect the bumps.

I remind myself of this as I'm washing dishes in the bathtub.  Again.

Our contractor is amazing which has been a huge blessing through this process.

While I wish there was much more to report, there just isn't. 

So lets just take a few minutes and drool over the picture of my new counter tops shall we?

 

 

Be still my heart.

 

Toast & Heat Marks

The kitchen remodel has made our dining room table Grand Central.

We do everything here.

Prepping, cleaning, storing and cooking.

It's just part of the process.
Even if it is a little maddening at times.

The remodel has made us masters at creative dinners that produce very little dirty dishes.

Paper plates are my best friends!

Not really, but it sure is nice not having to wash plates.

One clever night, I made breakfast for dinner.

We love breakfast for dinner.

I took out the tabletop skillet, plugged it in to the wall and created magnificent french toast.

Soon a mile-high stack was on a paper plate on my dining room table.

Everyone had their fill.

It was amazing!

It was great!

It was easy!

Then I moved the paper plate that held the uneaten pieces of french toast.

I gasped and felt sick to my stomach.

There it was.

The biggest, uggliest heat stain.

In the shape of french toast.

Heart stopping isn't it?

After searching online for some hints, with shaking hands I tried the following.
AND IT WORKED.

Ready for this easy, peasy 3-step process?

1.  I took a white towel from my bathroom and laid it over the spot on the table.

 Maybe any color works, I don't know.

I just knew white wouldn't bleed through when I did step 3.

2.  I placed my clothes iron on the hottest steam setting it had.

3.  With the iron hovering closely over (not on) the towel, I hit the "burst" function on my iron.

I did this a couple times.

IT WAS GONE.

It doesn't make any sense does it?

Here is a picture of the exact same spot.

Hopefully you will never leave hot french toast on a paper plate on your dining room table.

Yet, if you do this trick will help erase the evidence and make it a distant memory.

 

Kitchen Remodel : Week 1

We're a week in to the kitchen remodel.  

The vision in my head is slowly transferring into reality.
And it's exciting!

After a very brutally cold winter, we packed up the family and headed to Palm Springs for a week of sunshine and pool time.  A week away went too fast.  Pulling into the drive, we could see pieces of our kitchen neatly tucked into a space in the driveway.  

The remodel had begun just as promised!

I immediately went into the house and the kitchen we had known was completely gone.  

In it's place we found boxes of cabinets.  

And water.  Lots of water.

Within 5.7 nano seconds our contractor was in our house fixing the problem.  

As I knew he would.  

Why?  I had done my homework. 

(Please read about this crucial step here.)

He took care of us and the problem was solved.

Expect the bumps.

 

Know what else you can expect? 
DUST.

Lord have mercy.  There is dust.

We have dark wood floors throughout most of our home.
There ain't no hiding that dust.

 

Many times I remind myself it's temporary.

Again and again and again.

I've also had to get use to things not being where they normally belong.

Doesn't everyone have an armoire in front of their slider door?

And this, my friends, is Grand Central.

My dining room table is everything but a dining room table.

It's our prep space,

cupboard space,

counter space.

Even as I type, I've secured a tiny little spot of the table while staring at the pancake syrup.

Despite the chaos of not having a kitchen, we are loving the transformation.

Next week, the countertop process begins!