The other appliances

So close to having our kitchen back again!

The appliances are here!

The appliances are here. Alas, two of them were scratched on the way in. Hopefully Sears will make it right.

Yes, our fridge sticks out from the cabinets. We just couldn't stomach the idea of paying 25% more to get 20% less usable space just for the look. The wife wants ample storage space. :-)

Home stretch!

Yes, we're pleased the remodeling is almost done. Though it will be mildly disappointing to not say "hi" to the workers every 30 seconds. And play with their stuff. And run around with electrical outlets and such.

Another shot with the countertops

Another perspective. We're happy with the way things are turning out. Excuse the cardboard boxes covering up the sink. Should be abel to post a new picture today or tomorrow after they get a little farther. Today: flooring; tomorrow: appliances. Boy, will we be glad to have our sink back!

The kitchen sink

Here's our kitchen sink and the five cutouts that needed to go with it fit the faucet, the hot/cold water dispenser, the air gap (we didn't even know what an air gap was until this remodel), the soap dispenser, and (whew!) air switch which turns the garbage disposal on and off. Just another of the 5 of 10,000 decisions you need to make when you redo your kitchen. :-)

We ended up getting most of our kitchen fixtures over eBay which turned out to be between 20 and 50% cheaper than our local brick and mortal stores. The sink is a Chinese special from an e-tailer who markets on eBay, sells via Yahoo, and ships from Chicago. You gotta love the Web. Who says you can't get everything -- including the kitchen sink -- online?

A special shout out and thank you goes to John and Amy, who kindly donated an extra air switch they had from their remodel. Thanks, guys!

Home stretch...

We're headed into the home stretch of our remodel. The kitchen countertops finally arrived two weeks after they came to make what they called "templates" -- basically cardboard cutouts of where the fabricators would have to cut the stone. We decided on CaesarStone for our countertops. It's an engineered material made mostly of quartz. It's roughly the same price as granite but needs less care (e.g., no sealing), which appealed to our lazy homeowner selves. And I liked the color choices better. Our is called Lagos Blue for reasons we don't understand.

Before...

Alas, we had to replace our French doors. We quite liked their look but the wood had warped enough that it was letting in quite a bit of air from the outside. So after a fairly lengthy investigation, we finally had them replaced by Brothers Home Improvement. It's funny: I saw their storefront nearly every time I came home up 101 (they're off of Industrial right before Harbor Blvd), but we didn't talk to them until the very end. Anyway, farewall French doors and hello to...

...and After

...to our new sliding door. It has slightly thicker "rails" (the white vinyl part) that give it a French door-like look. Or at least that's what the brochures said. But since it's made out of vinyl, it won't warp or fade or crack or chip like the painted wood door we had. Hurrah: no more towels jammed in front of the crack during the winter (to keep the cold air out).

We decided on the sliding door because it was a little more space efficient (the previous doors opened in) and kid-friendly (no risk of them throwing the door open and banging it) and cost effective. As is typical, our remodel is costing more than expected because of unanticipated fixes the contractors are having to do...