State of the Kitchen Now

As of now, we have most of the cabinets up. We had a granite measuring deadline of yesterday and thankfully we made it! We only got about 3 1/2 hours of sleep, but by golly we made it! For the granite guys to come measure, we only needed to have all the base cabinets installed, so some of the uppers and the pantry cabinets are not up yet.

Cabinet instillation is not easy. Things we have learned through the process:

• All walls and ceilings are not straight- when you install cabinets you want them all to be level and straight. Since the wall isn't straight you have to shim the cabinets in places to make them all line up. Also, your floor will never be completely level so you have to shim the cabinets at the base as well.  

• Do not try to install cabinets without a laser level! I guess this could be done without one, but I sure as heck don't want to try it! The laser level was a life saver because we could set up the level line and tap in the shims to that laser line. AMAZING! It will set you back about $100 but it is definitely worth the investment. 

• Before installing the cabinets, take off all the doors. This will make them lighter and you also won't scratch them in the process. When putting up the upper cabinets, make sure to install a ledger board (that you have already made sure was level) so you can rest your cabinets on it while screwing them in.

• It will take time and at least 2 people!

When the granite guy came to measure he said the cabinets looked amazing! Especially for doing them ourselves and since this was our first time. That works for me!

Oh! I forgot to touch on drywall. So, drywall is difficult. Not so much to hang it, but to tape and mud it.  I taped and mudded this wall here and at least I didn't I have the pressure of it looking THAT great since our cabinets will be covering this wall. I would say the most important thing I learned is that the drywall installed needs to be level with each other because when you go to tape and mud it, it will be way more difficult. Also, the first coat of mud is difficult, but with each additional coat it gets better.

 

 

 

 Here is a picture of the ledger board and you can see the red laser line on the left wall.

Ta Da! Here are the cabinets so far. We still have a long way to go, but it's looking good. We have to put the crown molding on the upper cabinets, so they will look like they go all the way to the ceiling and we dont have the uppers installed on the far wall yet (where the microwave and the refrigerator goes)

The cabinets are two different colors: the perimeter cabs are a cream white and the island is a java color. Love! Can't wait to upload the pics after the granite and marble goes in!