First glimpse of the kitchen

Are you ready for a ton of pictures of a tiny kitchen?

Brian had a fun experience installing the IKEA kitchen.  It only took 3 trips (so far) to IKEA to get it done.  He worked on the kitchen by himself and found it completely do-able to hang the cabinets solo.  It's coming together!  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

messy workspace, first few upper cabinets mounted

first few upper cabinets mounted

upper cabinets are in with doors

you get a before, during, and after all at once with these pictures!

clean up and add lights - looking good!

blur your eyes so you see a stainless micro and smooth top range

just wait, the base is even better

ah, the working conditions

 

step back and admire

the ugly base is gone!

and the pretty base is going in...

progress

range makes a great tool shelf

umm hmm, starting to be a pretty kitchen

look, we have an island too

ready to tackle the dishwasher?

 

whoo hoo! the integrated dishwasher was such a good choice

looking good!

It's coming together nicely!  I'm looking forward to the new appliances, mostly because those are coming next.  The dishwasher took quite a few hours to get mounted and set into place, that was not fast.  The rest of the kitchen went together reasonably quickly and without frustration.  Those IKEA people really know how to set you up for success in your assembly.  We're down to the level of cleaning up details in here - installing shelves, a few trim pieces, and soft close hardware.  Then it's just a waiting game until the counter guys can get there...

Laundry helper

Maybe I don't want to get new laundry machines just yet.  Here's my helper saying, "I'll do it all by myself".

He hangs himself half into the washer to get the clothes out.

Then swings them into the dryer best he can. When the washer is empty, he hops down to clear off the  dryer door and close her up. 

Now, I just need to teach him how to sort, how to add soap, and when to set each cycle. Oh yeah, and all the folding and putting away!

I found this in draft mode, thinking it was published back in March... Oops!

It's the little things

Remember this hard working corner in my kitchen? Probably not, so let me introduce you.

You see that funny tube on the counter? It was mounted up under the cabinet, but it was missing something... We couldn't figure out how to turn the darn thing on. Turns out, there was a little spot on the end where a plug might have supposed to have been. Anyway, I'm getting off track.  While we were buying under cabinet lighting for the condo, I petitioned for one for the dark corner in our kitchen.

Tada!

My, now glowing, bread board and bananas make me smile!  

It's still ugly paint color and gross handles and knobs. I want to lighten the cabinets and get a pretty counter and backsplash and appliances, but those are ideas for later. Right now, I have a fairly cheap and inconspicuous solution to "the dark corner". And, it makes me smile.

I might need to get another for the other side of the kitchen, you know, so it doesn't feel left out... In the dark!

What's making you smile this week?