Today was one of the most hectic and stressful days I’ve had in a long time, and it was mainly due to the fact that I started a new clinic rotation that’s a lot more time consuming. I left at 8:30 this morning and didn’t get home until 7 tonight, but I did manage to snap a few photos before I left this morning (while there was some natural light in the kitchen) of the progress that we made in the kitchen this weekend.
We really thought that we would be able to wake up early on Saturday and get a long list of things done, but things never turn out the way you think and in our case everything seemed to be more complicated than we thought. To make a long story short, I thought that hooking up of the sink/garbage disposal/dishwasher would take 1 to 2 hrs, but I was wrong (in a big way) and it ended up taking more in the range of 8 hrs. There were several problems that needed to be fixed along the way, not to mention many trips to Lowes. Even though we weren’t able to get the backsplash done like we had planned, we DO have running water!!! And that means that we DON’T have to wash dishes in the bath tub anymore. :)
This was in the morning when we were really optimistic…. see the boxes of tile and the grout adhesive on the floor?
While we were hard at work in the kitchen, Striper (our cat) made himself comfortable on the couch.
Jimmee went to Lowes to buy the garbage disposal and to get the things we would need to connect the faucet while I tried to move all the dishes, pots, food, etc into the kitchen cabinets in anticipation of the running water.
It’s not as organized as I’d like it to be, but we’re going to be switching things around when we install the open shelving later so I didn’t worry too much about it. It’s just really nice to finally be able to find things.
After arranging the cabinets, I went in to check on a couple of things on the internet and here is what I found. Our cat takes his relaxation very seriously.
I tried to nudge him over, but he still only opened one eye and then continued to sleep.
Jimmee came home from the store and installed the plumbing over a number of hours and with a number of frustrating moments, but we we managed to get it all worked out (except one minor detail which I’ll mention in a moment).
Here is the running water!!
And the plumbing work that made it possible.
All I’m going to say about this is that the online video we watched made it look like the whole ordeal would take a total of 25 seconds. The man in the video even had me thinking I could handle the “p trap” or maybe even the “s trap” all by myself, and only after watching Jimmee did I realize that he skipped the first 70 steps and just showed us the two little pipes clicking together at the very end. very deceiving if you ask me.
Back to the minor detail that I mentioned earlier… Everything in the kitchen was a success, but when we went to turn on the dishwasher we realized that there was no way to turn it on. We bought the kind that has the buttons on the top of the door–they’re hidden from sight when the dishwasher is closed– which seemed great. The problem is that we installed the dishwasher really close to the countertop and you can ONLY push start when the dishwasher is closed. We thought that there would be some kind of delayed start where it would sense when it closes — Basically we can’t get our fingers into the space to start the dishwasher so we’re currently using a flat head screwdriver to get it going. It’s a minor detail, but we don’t really want to unscrew and uninstall the whole thing at the moment just so we can lower the legs and reach the start button with our fingers. We’ll just keep that screwdriver handy.
We love our functional but not so finished kitchen—
I’ve got a few more things to show you guys from this weekend, like the new light in the dining room and the table for the breakfast nook, but I’ll save it for later this week.
A Date with Design 
Love it
It is great to here that all those design issues extend to America and to a new generation.
I always say estimate a reasonable amount of time for a project time then multiply it by two and that will get you about half way through the whole project.
Be Blessed
Jim
Exciting! I feel your frustration, haha! I don’t know how many videos we’ve watched online where it looked super-easy and quick, and then it will take us hours to do. But hey – you have running water now! Yay!
As for the dishwasher thing – we ran into the same exact problem when we installed our countertops – or even worse. After we installed our new tile countertops, we realized that the overhanging edge tiles hung down far enough to prevent our dishwasher from opening at all – we had accidentally tiled it shut! We freaked out for awhile before we remembered (from installing it) that there was a way to raise/lower the feet fairly easily with a few tools. Half an hour later and it was all good. :) Maybe there’s a way you guys can lower the feet on the bottom of it without too much trouble/disconnecting it? Just a thought.
Your kitchen looks amazing!
~Chelsea
Thanks Chelsea!! I’ll definitely take a closer look at the legs and see if there’s a way to lower them without unscrewing the whole thing. I’m glad we’re not the only ones.
At least you had Striper to look at when you got stressed-out.
I went back and looked at the pics of the bare studs walls, and it made the kitchen as it is now look even that much more amazing. Each thing you guys are doing makes such a difference and it’s looking so good. Know that you have to be so happy when you walk in there!
xo Mom
WOW! I totally would’ve done the same thing. You know, if it’s any consolation, I remember looking at a new track home in Cali as a kid and my mom was opening drawers, taking a look at the kitchen… and this house wasn’t a cheap one– very nice and newly built and modeled, and then we came to one drawer by the oven and it only opened about halfway before it hit the oven handle. Whoop! Even designers make mistakes. :) At least the feet lowering should make the fix a bit easier. At least you have a temporary fix with the screwdriver. Oh Anne, you crack me up. I can just see all the girls in the kitchen laughing till we were crying, laughing at the silliness of it all. Well keep up the great work, and the make-do-idness of situations, and keep us all in the loop. Love me some of your blog!!!
Hugs, and kuddos to Striper– that’s how you renovate a house lol
xoxo Savannah