My Bloomington Kitchen Remodel...page 10

Back from New York and it's early morning on day 15. The week that I was gone saw the hanging of the cabinets and some drywall and paint work.

The counter tops were supposed to be in by now, but they were back ordered. The new installation date for counter tops is this Friday.

The cabinets look good. Since I never saw a sample of the cabinetry, or drawings of what they would be, I have a few things that need to be changed. The detail on some of the larger drawers is missing. They are currently plain fronted and will need to be changed out to match the style of the cabinets. I also have issues with the range hood. The detail on the hood is very narrow trim and that will need to be redone to match the cabinets as well. The cabinets are to be Shaker style and that look should have been used throughout.

I know it seems odd that I was never shown plans for the kitchen. This is my fourth total kitchen remodel in the past eight years, and I am used to seeing at least a foot print of the cabinets. But having your contractor also be your next door neighbor can add a twist to the situation. I am not only trying to have the best kitchen possible, I also need to have a good relationship with my next door neighbor. So sometimes I don't question things when I should.

An interesting fact is that when you install additional lighting, especially under cabinet lighting, every flaw in the drywall under the lights is fully exposed! I had hoped to have all drywall work completed before installing the cabinets to keep dust at bay. But now we are going to have to do a good bit of rework of the 40+ year old drywall. So that will happen over the next couple of days.

All in all, being out of town last week didn't affect the kitchen remodel. In fact, it was a great week to be gone as not too much happened...and that would have made me a bit anxious.

As a final note, I decided that I can't live on Pizza X and going out to dinner, so I have set up a make shift kitchen in the basement laundry room. Last night I grilled tuna steaks on the outdoor grill and had a fabulous salad with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. I can't say how good it was to eat my own food again, even if it was prepared in the laundry room.