Kitchen Unwrapped

Kitchen - Living Room Side

Drawer Microwave in the small L

Kitchen - Outside Wall

Kitchen - Looking from the Dining Room

Beginning the Install

It was raining like crazy outside

Looking Towards the Dining Room

The Stove will be in the Middle on this Wall

Doors Ready to go up

Upper Cabinets

My Cran-Apple Pie (made under direction)

HT - Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Today is the day where we give thanks with family and friends for what we have and we do it with food, lots of food. So much food in fact that I think in the old days it would have actually been called a feast. And we stuff ourselves silly. But there always seems to be room for pie.

In the spirit of this food, family and friends centric day, I’m going to tell you about our new kitchen. And here’s my disclaimer, everywhere we I say “we”, I really mean for the most part “my better half” because this was the hardest job that I haven’t had to do.

When we were first going to remodel the other house we started working with a Kitchen & Bath place in RI who will remain unnamed for reasons to follow. We felt comfortable at first were getting some good ideas. When we decided to build new, Meridian (our builder) suggested that we use a designer that they use frequently. However, we had already put down a $1,000 deposit and didn’t want to give that up so we stuck with the company we were using. And it wasn’t long before we were feeling very stuck. Our designer was frequently late for appointments and even missed them altogether. The few times I went with my better half it was painfully obvious that no work had been done on the design since the last appointment. Months were passing. Confusion reigned. The wrong drawings would be emailed to us and often the designs were not updated with new requests and ideas. We were getting dangerously behind in our timeline. It was fast becoming a nightmare.

On a whim, my now frustrated better half went over and met with Lisa Riley from Riley Kitchen & Bath in Bristol, RI (www.RileyKitchen.com)to see what she might suggest. This was the same company that Meridian had recommended when we started designing the new house. It was such a good experience that a few hours later after some discussion we decided to walk away from the first company (and our deposit) and start over. What a difference. Lisa spent the time going over kitchen ideas with my better half and made design recommendations that we liked and incorporated into the overall design. She is a true professional with significant design experience and always made sure that our drawings were always up to date and reflected what we were looking for. I think the true measure of a company is when asked if you would use them again. Our answer would be a resounding yes!

For those that like the details, the cabinets are Waypoint (www.waypointlivingspaces.com) with the 650F door style in Maple Cream Glaze (sounds like ice cream doesn’t it?). We’re still undecided about the draw pulls and knobs. Probably another decision I’ll need to just go “uh huh” to.

Truthfully, I have had little to do with the kitchen planning. I know my place. The only thing I asked for was one of those cool drawer microwaves. It's stupidly expensive but I'm getting it. I've never liked the over the stove microwaves because of the height and the potential for spilling hot food. My last house had one installed and I found the built in vent and lighting to be just passable. I'm not sure that anyone has designed a combination of the two that works really well. That's why we're going with a separate vent. And a cool microwave in a drawer. 

It’s fantastic to see drawings turn into reality. The house is up. The walls are up. The plumbing is installed. The wires are run. The doors are swinging. And our kitchen is being installed. Things are really moving along rapidly.

But even as thankful as we are for the work and those that helped get us there, we are also thankful for our families and the many friends we have made across the years and even on this blog. Because at the end of the day, they are what life is really about. 

Please remember those in need and less fortunate than us during these holidays. Because that completes why we are here to begin with.

Happy Thanksgiving.