Kitchen Reno Update - Week Eleven (Almost There!)

It has been a transformational two weeks, since I last posted about the reno. In that time, we have gained a functioning kitchen. It's so amazing!

On March 9th, our Hanstone quartz countertops were installed. The colour is a grey-green called "Juniper Green" (and incidentally, that shade is being discontinued - apparently I got one of only three slabs of the stuff remaining in Canada!). Once the counters were in, everything else fell into place very quickly. The following day, I got home to find that the plumbers had hooked up the sink and dishwasher, and installed the taps. The electricians had also done their thing, wiring in the dishwasher and cooktop, and installing the undercabinet lighting and all the dimmers and switches.

Later that week, the cabinetmakers returned to do some adjustments and attend to a few small details. From that point, I was free to start filling up my new cupboards. I spent a day cleaning them out, then unpacked all my dishes, cookware and food - bringing the essentials up from my 'camp kitchen' in the basement, and getting everything else out of storage. So I've mostly spent the last week trying to get things in that area organised. I've been cooking in the kitchen for about a week now, too - and it's fantastic. Yesterday, for instance, I made a pie - and compared with my old kitchen, the experience was like night and day. Great to have so much space to spread out, and not have to deal with a horrible tile countertop (with bits of food getting stuck in the grout - yecchh).

This past Friday, the flooring guys came back to give the floors in the kitchen and hallway a final buff and polish - they look beautiful. And now, I would say we are about 85% finished. The only jobs remaining for which we need to bring in professionals will be the installation of heating, and the tile backsplash. The tiling will probably not happen for another month or two, but the delay is my fault since last month I changed my mind about what kind of tile I wanted. Still, the lack of a backsplash isn't preventing me from using the kitchen now, so I can live with a short delay.

There's all kinds of cosmetic work remaining to be done, of course. We're still waiting for some of our cabinet hardware to be delivered from Toronto. And we have to sand, refinish and install door and window frames, put up a new dining room light fixture, and repaint both the kitchen and dining rooms in one colour (the pale green I initially chose for the kitchen is just not working, I've decided). But those are jobs we can do ourselves, in our own time.

So since I now have a working kitchen, this will be my last regular Reno Diary post. I'll do ad hoc updates from now on, as and when we finish other bits of work. But in the meantime, I've posted new pics taken today to the photo diary. It's been an interesting couple of months, but I'd say things have gone quite well, all things considered. The results so far are a vast improvement, and well worth all the effort!