Our kitchen is getting so close to being done.
So. Close. I. Can. Taste. It.
But I realized that I sort of left you hanging a few months ago – in April, I professed my undying love for our cabinets. And then I just never mentioned the kitchen again.
And we are living in our house and using the kitchen, but our kitchen isn’t particularly “done.” There are cabinets but no doors. And until last weekend, there were no shelves. (This was before I shoved all our stuff inside these pretty cabinets.)
But that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any progress.
Since April:
- I’ve painted all the cabinets (a coat of primer and three thin coats of paint).
- Ryan and our friend Dave installed all the drawers and shelves.
- Ryan’s dad poly-ed all the shelves and drawers.
- Dave built all the cabinet and drawer fronts.
- Ryan painted them with the sprayer.
- Ryan and my dad installed the countertops.
This whole kitchen has been a process – nothing was fast or simple. This isn’t going to the kitchen store and having everything delivered 6 weeks later. There are so many steps to get it right when doing it like this. But in the end, I know the kitchen will be perfect for our home. With thousands of hours of blood, sweat and tears.
Our friend Dave has been working hard (after his day job) to build these cabinets. And he’s a perfectionist, so we are so grateful for his time and expertise. They are truly designed for our home.
And beyond his time, the work needed is staggering. Every single surface – there is paint and primer and poly and sanding. I never truly considered the amount of work that goes into a job like this.
And before the fronts and doors go in, I thought I’d share some details about the drawers and shelves. Because they are pretty and perfect and so practical.
And once they are covered up with the pretty fronts, they’ll be ignored forever.
It’s really quite sad.
Dave built all the drawers in his garage to fit perfectly. They will be inset (meaning the cabinet doors and drawers will sit inside instead of in front of the slots) so they sit a bit back in the cabinetry.
The drawers themselves are things of beauty. Dove-tail joints and made from quality solid maple. The poly really brought out the beauty of the wood.
We have 20 drawers (I think?), so this was a process. (Like everything else.)
Dave recommended soft-glide drawer slides and they seemed to install very easily to the bottom of each drawer – these are the ones we used. We had soft-glide drawers in our last house, and these are even “gentler.”
The drawer glides hold up to 100 pounds, so they even work for the giant drawers in the island.
I grabbed a few snapshots of the shelves and drawers yesterday – it gives you an idea of the amount of space we have inside the cabinets for all the stuff. Our microwave and small appliances all have a home! (And that will all tuck behind cabinet doors soon.)
The birch shelves were installed using these metal brackets, which look clean but also have the flexibility of being moved if we need to. But before installing, Ryan poly-ed them and added a strip of veneer to the front of each one.
The center of this wall is a bit of a “display” area. There will be shelves behind doors below, but the uppers will remain open.
It’s pretty incredible to see it all come together.
Next up – installing cabinet doors and drawer fronts, touching up paint, and installing hardware.
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Gretchen@BoxyColonial says
ooh, I love all the drawers! We have one stack of 4 drawers in our kitchen, and it’s made me realize you can never have too many!
daisy says
Swooning over those dove-tailed joints! Just gorgeous!
Sara says
I want to pledge my undying love for your cabinets, too! They look amazing.
Courtney @ Foxwood Forest says
You are getting *so close* to having a completed kitchen! It’s looking great so far!!
Shannon LaPay says
The cabinets are seriously a work of art. I love the layout of them all. Nice work.