It Is Finished, Looking Forward to Mopping the Floor !

Whose Kitchen ...

....... Is This Anyway?

     After just a bit more than a month, the work is done and we're both very excited and pleased.  It has been a total transformation and like Diane says, it's almost as if we've moved into a new house!  It's not as if there was really something "wrong" with the way the kitchen was before but now it's much brighter and a pleasure to work in.  The stovetop is phenomenal, don't know if it's the influence of the Food Channel but with this stovetop and it's Power Burners, things heat up fast but yet, you can also achieve an actual simmer.  I've always kind of enjoyed cooking although not on a full time basis, and this elevates that part of my creativeness.  In any case though, I really am looking forward to the final kitchen chapter, mopping the floor, and then getting back to the shop.  I have a carving project, a gilding project, and a small telephone table in the design stages.
     A valuable thing I learned from this project is how to tape off an area with what's referred to as painters plastic to not only protect the surroundings but also to contain messes.  The first time this was needed was when I had to enlarge the opening for the stovetop in the granite -- whew, what a mess!  No pictures of that but the cabinet for the double ovens needed this as well.  Ever make a tent when you were a kid out of chairs and blankets?  Well, in keeping with Toy's R Us theme, I too don't want to grow up!  Here's my grown up tent:

     By putting the ladder on the island, clamping some boards from the top of the cabinet to it, and then sheathing it in the painters plastic I created my own little tent.  It was taped down to the floor to contain the sawdust after I enclosed myself in the whole thing.



















         After the dust settled, here's the end result of this process.  By using a plunge router with a 1/4" up spiral bit it was possible to trim the width to the required size.  The top then needed to be cut to size as well, almost an inch and a half off of it.  That's the piece I removed (white color) from the top of the face frame to accommodate the ovens.  This meant that the doors above it also needed to be raised by the same amount.  Screw holes were drilled out and what I would call a "hole saver" dowel was glued in.  Little bit of sanding and repaint and it's better than new.

     Look at that mess on the floor, sure am glad it was contained by the plastic tent.  Sure didn't want to vacuum and dust the entire kitchen.


     An interesting side note on this whole process is that m nephew Thomas, is also in the middle of re-modeling his kitchen.  He's been following these posts and has added the LED lights and recessed lights to his project as well.  Been fun doing them together via the  Internet!