WOOTS! New Kitchen is Fab!

The kitchen makeover is done!

We have had approximately 5 weeks of dust and upheaval, but the kitchen makeover is done and we are VERY happy with it.  Thank you to Lisa (kitchen planner), Scott, Mike and Barry (construction crew).

Let me warn you, a kitchen makeover is not for the faint of heart.  Be prepared to:

• Have dust on every little bit of space in your entire house, even with the doors closed.
• Wash your dishes in a bathroom sink or tub when your sink goes away.
• Get inventive with your cooking skills...owning a gas grill with a side burner made us feel very, very smart.  
• Budget some take out meals.
• Stock up on lots of paper products...and...plasticware...AND.. be sure you THROW the plasticware away because that is the POINT of plasticware.  (Insert eyeroll here.)
• Roll out of bed EARLY to let the contractors in and be awake enough to know that they indeed are your contractors.  You all know I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON.  This however, was good training to try to make me one.   I'm not there yet...be patient.  My vampire-like lifestyle has been with me a long time.  "I love the nightlife" is still my fav disco era song.
• Hold your breath and count to 10 when something is accidentally damaged or broken, as there are always casualties when undergoing construction. I learned this about 4 construction jobs ago.  I am able to let it go...now.....after some therapy.
• Designate some kind of old plastic container as your "catch all" for "do-dads" and give it to your contractor to use to avoid curtain rod pieces, nails and picture hooks and other do-dads that will be around on counters, stands, windowsills, etc.  I realized this from other construction jobs in the past so this worked really well for us.  When McStevie went to put the kitchen curtain back up he found all the curtain do-dads in said container....but one.  Lucky for him  me, he has a do-dad drawer at his workbench in the garage and lo and behold he found an exact copy of the missing do-dad.  I dunno, but he may have his baby teeth tucked away out there.  :)
• Keep your sense of humor.  Some things can be very funny.  Scott and Mike (contractors) are much younger than me and are very attached to their radio station and tunes when they work.  I got a kick out of the times I heard them singing to the old Rolling Stones tunes that I grew up with....getting the words right was optional...LOL.

It is all worth it in the end, don't you agree?  (click on the pics to enlarge and to see the detail in the new kitchen....the new backsplash has some lovely glass tile accents)

BEFORE

AFTER 
(LUV LUV LUV the new island space)

Oh, and we received a surprise thank you gift box in the mail from the Cambria (quartz) countertop people; a cheese cutting board in our countertop pattern.   Really unexpected because when the contractors came with our countertops they left us an oval cutting board in a different material as a gift.  How awesome!!