Kitchen Progress. It's On.

Like Donkey Kong.  (you knew that was coming)

Fewer pictures today.  More work being done.

But before we jumped in, my mom and I finessed our game plan.  See, she's only here until Wednesday morning.  So that means I can work until Tuesday end of day.  After that, I'm solo.  And that's a cramp in my kitchen style.

So here are the goals, in order of completion:

1.  Finish the lower cabinets, both sides ("right" and "left"), including sanding, priming, painting and hinges.  The doors MUST go back on for George.  It's a free for all for him in there right now and that ain't good.

2.  Sand all the doors, upper and lower, left and right.  The sanding is not my favorite (more on that below).  And the doors must be done outside.  Not George-friendly for naptimes or even restocking cheerios while in his highchair.  I'm lucky with the weather, so I'm gunning for it.

3.  Sand the upper right "skeleton" (that's my word for it) or frame above the sink area.  High traffic area being above the sink, so if I'm solo, clean up will be time-consuming.

4.  Something tells me I won't get to number 4.  But if I do, I'll tell you what it is.

So....after figuring out all that, I started off the morning with priming the lower right skeleton or otherwise known as the sink area.  Well, mom did it.

Brighter

Whiter

Ignore the messy countertops

Yes, childcare and manual labor.  This woman does it all.

Oh and no, not painting the inside yet.  Not on the top 3 goals.  

But here's a before and after I randomly managed to get.

Before

After

After seeing the primer go on, I kinda liked the white look.  So I jokingly asked Steve if we should just do a white kitchen.  He looked at me crazy and said, "ahh, no."  I guess he's right.  Three little kids?  Bad plywood?  Grey it will be.  And I think he's onto something...more in a minute.

Anyway, so with the lower right doors and skeleton on the go, I was feeling good.  Until I realized there's another bank of cabinets to go.  Yup, movin' to the left.

Ready for sanding

Yes, those are George's cheerios.  And yes, that's a 4L box of wine.  

Which brings me to why I need that box.  My frenemy.

Not my BFF anymore

Sanding is not my favorite.  Not when each door takes between 20-30 minutes and I have 23 doors to sand.  That's about 12 hours.  And as of this evening, I'm only halfway done.  Uh.

It's not you, sander.  It's me.  Really.  I couldn't do it without you.  But I just hate doing it.

So after sanding those 4 lower doors plus 3 more above the sink, I called it a day with my frenemy.  And moved on to my other interest, roller.

He's in the red tray

You can see I dipped into the box.  It was after 5:00.

I primed the lower skeleton including both outer sides, even where it meets the fridge.  If I'm sanding doors for 12 hours, I can't not prime next to the fridge.

Plus, after painting the first coat of color onto the doors and drawer fronts, I realized I can't go half-a&# on anything.  

Yes.

It's so hard to photograph.  The color doesn't show well on any picture I take.  This one is the best.  It's called "Grimmy's Grey" from ICI paint.  It's gorgeous.  A deep, rich grey that feels warm.  Yes, it's dark.  We've committed.

So to tally what's been done to date:
- primed lower left skeleton, ready for 1st color coat
- primed lower right skeleton except hinge holes (need to sand them)
- 1st coat of color on lower left doors & drawer fronts
- primer on back of lower right doors

There's lots of painting and sanding in my future tomorrow.  I'm happy it will be +4C and no rain or snow.  For me and my frenemy.

P.S.  yes, there are only 3 drawer fronts on the floor there.  #4 is in poor shape.

More surgery

He's the one that was in two pieces.  I glued him at the seam (and at the split edge that was almost sheared off).  The putty is curing and I hope to gently sand him tomorrow so he looks as smooth as his friends.  I have high hopes, as I have no clue how to make a new door front if this one fails.

EEK!

More to come soon...