Ninety Percent

The kitchen is ninety percent finished! That’s a great number in a kitchen remodel when it includes running water! More about the remodel later in the post. But come to think of it, 90% a good number for our post-Covid recovery as well. We finally tested as negative a couple days ago, after two weeks of yuck. Bruce still has a lingering cough and I have a bit of congestion, and we are both working to build back our general stamina. But it’s good to feel good again!

Since I completed all my orange scrappy blocks for August in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I focused on sewing up some 16-patch blocks for the It’s a Jungle Out There quilt. But when I say “focused”, it was a pitiful showing, because it seems the universe conspired to keep me out of the sewing room for all but one afternoon this week. I was either still feeling yucky, or had an HOA budget meeting to attend (by phone as I was still contagious at that point), or the contractors were noisily doing their respective things. 

Anyway, here is the mess of blocks, pinned up on the design board. 

Rather than explain the layout I’m doing, I’ll show you a quick sketch of my plan. The panel with sashing and 48 blocks will make a quilt that’s approximately 60x76”, a good size for a lap quilt to be gifted.

Last week I had 20 blocks remaining to sew. This week I matched up fabrics and strip cut all the remaining pieces for those blocks. That took more time than the sewing!

But I did get four more blocks sewn and have four more in various stages. One good afternoon should see these finished! 

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This week was the Big Week that really saw the kitchen come together. So on Monday morning, the cabinet guys were back to attach the final upper cabinets on top of the quartz countertop for the appliance station. 

In the afternoon on Monday, the tile guys came and set the tile for the backsplash. Then on Tuesday, they grouted and cleaned them and installed the window ledge. Note that there is uninterrupted tile; no outlets. I’ll explain that momentarily.

On Wednesday, the electricians were here all day to install the light switches, install the under-the-cabinet LED light strips and plug-ins, and hang the pendant lights. The electrical plug-in strips are mounted behind the lights under the cabinets. In the area around the sink and stove, there are actually nine outlets that you can’t see! When they were done, this is what it looked like.

Please excuse all the cleaning supplies and other junk in these pictures. Cleaning things during a remodel is a constant process. 

We also ordered three flush-mount lights in this same style as the pendants to use in the entryway and down our L-shaped hall. That was a last-minute addition, but we’re considering them an additional project, not part of the kitchen/dining remodel.  They’ll take a week or two to get here.

There are also three electrical outlets on the island; one on each side closer to the working end of the island, and one at the other (seating) end of the island to plug in vacuums and the like.

Thursday was a three-ring circus. The window coverings company came by at 9:30 to give us a bid for the plantation shutters for the three big dining area windows, and a shade for the smaller window over the kitchen sink. The electrician also arrived to install one LED light that he’d broken the day before. Then the plumber arrived and the window people left. So, the electrician and the plumber worked side by side. The electrician finished up and left. The plumber installed the dishwasher, the garbage disposal, and the faucet. But the faucet wouldn’t stop leaking, so we opted for a new one. So the plumber went to the plumbing supply place to get a faucet. He texted me three pix and I picked the one I liked, and he headed back. Meanwhile, Lowe’s came by with the new refrigerator and stove and hauled out the old ones. 

The appliance guys installed the refrigerator to the plumber’s awaiting lines. But they couldn’t install the stove because the 220v plug wasn’t finished. So…. The electrician had to come back (Friday morning) to do that. 

So here’s what it looked like at that point. 

Running water! That’s what I’ve missed most in the kitchen during this remodel. The fan and vent hood still needs to be attached. That and the painting and window coverings are the ten percent we’re waiting on. The painting and hood will happen next week. 

On Friday, the six dining chairs and the coffee table were delivered, and we ate dinner in the new kitchen for the first time. 

The refrigerator sticks out too fat in my opinion, but I guess we’ll have to live with that. I had no idea what a behemoth it was! They had to take the doors off to get it in the house. There is still ample room, though, to walk by.

So, that was my week. When the remodel is totally complete after the shutter installation, I’ll do a separate post with before-and-after photos of the kitchen and dining/family room area. 

Have a great week!