While I continue to get settled and repatriate and just sort myself out, I thought maybe you'd enjoy some photos of my newly installed kitchen. If this setup doesn't convince a gal to get cooking, I don't know what will! This photo is from when they had incorrectly installed cream subway tiles. I like white.
During this phase, I learned that no good contractor is without his power drill. The power drill does everything. (I might even have a few shots BEFORE this, when there was practically nothing in place.)
Look…the dishwasher is in. It's a Bosch dishwasher. It's very quiet, which is nice. The tiles are still cream here. But they've installed the light above the sink. None of the cabinets have handles though.
And look…the microwave and oven and refrigerator are all in. (With the exception of the oven drawer.) The oven and stovetop (not four but FIVE burners)are by Wolf. I believe the microwave is also by Wolf. The refridgerator is GE and the tradesmen swear that it weighs 4000 pounds, although I'm not so sure. They definitely were not happy about carrying the fridge up a few flights of stairs though.
The tiles are still cream in this picture, but the next day, they tore them out–grout and all–and installed the white that I had originally ordered. Of course, that's the day the movers arrived too so things got a bit chaotic. I will try to post a photo of the finished, final and pristine kitchen soon.
Things I've learned:
- Even when you think your tile choice is abundantly clear, it's not. Make sure it's clearer-than-clear.
- Make sure your cabinets are deep enough to fit your dinner plates. Mine aren't! When I mentioned this, my general contractor told me simply, "You've got big plates."
- Think carefully about hardware. I wanted a different sort of handle (a long line), but didn't think it through properly and it would have had all sorts of height issues. So instead, I went with something very basic and easy, but I wish I had kept looking for something that I liked more.
- Make sure nothing smells like gas BEFORE you move in. I had a couple of issues–fixed now, but alarming just the same.
- Make sure all the appliances work…in English…before you move in. I had a few days of a Spanish speaking oven. Good for the vocab, but I spent a lot of time with Google Translate.
All in all though, I am very happy with how things turned out. Now I just need to get cooking…
