Kitchen remodel, Part I

We are in the midst of remodeling!!!

Day 1

We started on Friday night - at 4 pm Alberto started by pulling out our nasty old oven and breaking the tile backsplash that we have.

I helped! This is the only thing I could help with, unless you count making a decision on how the lighting is going in (and then changing my mind twice, which Alberto said was definitely *not* helpful).







The old cabinets came out next, and we found a beautiful shade of dark brown behind them.

Then we realized that it's what we've been looking at all along.

These cabinets, which are original to the house, had no backs. The walls were spray painted a dark brown to match the color of the cabinets.


Oh, the early eighties.....



It was difficult to take out the sink, so Alberto just took a little axe to it and split the wood enough to pull it down and out!




We also found that the cabinets were *beneath* the tile that had been laid at some point. So, we had to tear up part of the tile floor earlier than anticipated just to be able to get the cabinetry out.

By the end of Friday night, we had ripped out the bottom cabinets and pulled out the oven, vent hood and dishwasher, but the top cabinets were still left to be pulled.

Jose was coming at 7 am the next morning to get started, so Alberto decided he'd pull out the top cabinets while Jose was installing the bottom ones.

Day 2

And that's exactly what we did!

The next morning, Jose was here at 7 am on the dot, and they went to town.

This guy is definitely experienced with all of this work, he had the cabinets out of their boxes and in position before I even made it down the stairs to brew some coffee.
And so it went, ripping out top cabinets, installing bottom cabinets, and then getting started on the top cabinetry about halfway through the day.

Of course, Dudley had to be where the action was, and decided to supervise from the cozy little spot that he found in between the new cabinets, where the new oven will eventually go -

By the end of the day, we had all the cabinets hung except for the microwave insert and the wine buffet, and we also had to put all the trim and moulding around the tops and bottoms.

Day 3

We started again at 7 am Sunday morning (today), and wasted no time.

Today, all the trim and moulding has been placed, the glass inserts and cabinet shelves have been installed, and the arch valance has been installed above the sink.

Also, the wine buffet is up and it's looking great!

They also installed the new stainless steel sink and in the plywood. We will have someone out this week to template for the granite countertop and hopefully have that in soon after.

Here's Jose, the guy who's working with us. He is very friendly, very professional, and a very fast worker! If you are in the SoCal area and needs your cabinets put up, this is your man.

We just finished our day.

We have everything done except the oven and dishwasher installation, placing the refrigerator in its new 'housing', and the plumbing for the sink. We also need to put all the handles on the doors. Once the granite counter is in place, Alberto will make the custom backsplash he is planning for me.


After that we'll paint a couple of walls, hang a couple of nice lights, and we'll have a brand new kitchen!

While all this has been going on, I have kept myself very busy by addressing a variety of mini projects that needed to be done-

*hanging pictures
*touching up paint everywhere
*pruning the peach tree
*prepping the spa for Stephanie's arrival (in 3 days!)
*getting all my flower beds back in shape
*pulling weeds out of the grass and
*reorganizing the master bathroom.



Alberto is exhausted.
I am too, but I don't think it's the same kind of exhausted. :P


I'll post another blog when it's all done so you can see the finished product!