THE CAVENDER DIARY

The kitchen cabinets are hung. (and it only took 4 freaking trips to IKEA.)

We agreed early on in this process that we would keep all the lover cabinets. As far as we can tell, they were installed pretty recently, and truth be told……there’s really nothing wrong with them. Neither of us is a thousand-aire, or even a hundred-aire, so every cost-saving bit will help.

We didn’t know how easily they would come down, hopefully intact because we have plans to use them in the garage. Jamie started by removing the inside shelves and the doors.

Of course, they were slightly attached to the wall with a few little dry wall screws…some of which were actually in studs. I’m amazed that they hadn’t collapsed in a heap from the weight of all the Fiesta dishes.

I have wanted to do this somewhere in the house since we moved in. We finally got the chance to write a good will message for the future. I’m pretty sure that when someone finally does bulldoze this place…no one will ever see it. But it seemed like such a great thing to do. Before we installed the first cabinets, we wrote on the wall in sharpie….

“Jamie & James

Remodeled this kitchen

exactly 2 years after buying her.

We love this house

2-26-2012

James & Jamie & Harley”

I’m so glad that we remembered to do this.

Now for the story off the Ikea cabinets. They are a very simple install, they hang on a bar, so all you need is a level and a basic knowledge of where the studs are. Here’s a hint….(whispers) “all the outlets are attached to studs.” I recommend Ikea cabinets if you are on a budget, which we are, but NOT if you have specific kitchen idea in mind.

Our lower cabinets are some unknown maker…and according to Home Depot, impossible to identify. We assumed that if we picked a similar wood tone for the uppers, that no one would even notice. Ikea base cabinets come in TWO, that’s right TWO, colors. White and Birch Effect. Doesn’t “Birch Effect sound promising? We thought so too. This Ikea “Birch” it is just a fraction lighter than our “Birch” lower cabinets. In fact, it shows much more in photos….we hardly even notice in person. Now for the funny thing about Ikea cabinets………the doors and trim come in COMPLETELY different colors. Let me say it again…….the doors and trim come in COMPLETELY different colors. (Insert huge exhale here ) What the Heck? OOOH, let me correct that. They offer WHITE base cabinets, doors, and trim…..BUT BIRCH EFFECT? Not on your life. Only base cabinets. We just had to find some other solution for trim to hide the seems at the wall and the light pucks under the cabinets. Jamie had a brilliant idea, but more on that later. We figured that the stainless doors with frosted glass panels would be fine, they actually look a little “science lab” to me …which is waaaayyy groovy. I’ve always wanted glass-front doors….and I like the way that just a little Fiesta color shows through.

So, Done Deal…except for some trim that we have planned…..

The other side was a little trickier to configure. We had planned to work the microwave somewhere over here, but the Ikea microwave cabinet doesn’t have matching stainless/glass doors. After about 10 different configurations, and one very “over us” Ikea sales woman, we finally agreed to just do standard cabinets to mirror the other side and just open shelves over the refrigerator.

Here’s where Ikea didn’t make glass front doors in this size. We opted to just leave it doorless and open. Doesn’t bother me one bit…….. Except that we need to buy a few more cookbooks.

The microwave will have to go somewhere else…..I think I have an idea where. Stay tuned for that.

OOOHHH, Tile is coming up as well….should be joyous