I Love Me An Ikea Kitchen

I've been trying to blog, but this renovation keeps getting in the way.  That's sarcasm, dad.

Too much has happened to sum up in one post, so I'm dividing by room.  Or type.  Or floor. 

Ok, let's just forget the intro this time and get to the meat.  Which is exactly what we'll be cooking in this kitchen very soon.

Here's where we were in one day.

Step One

And then it continued into the dining room.

Step Two

We had a little hiccup with the island.  A couple of weeks ago, IKEA had a country-wide shortage of material including the 3' x 8' cover panel.  As I write this post, they still do!  Who knew a carpenter's strike could have such an effect. 

Of course, as the kitchen was being built, I was told we were short one panel.  Enter a very smart carpenter who knows IKEA. 

Detail

That is the back of the island, where the marble counter will overhang.  Those are IKEA toekicks.  Brilliant.

Turn around to the pantry.  Here's where we were before.  

Hi George

And now.

Shelves

I will be living in that pantry.  No joke.  Just get the sink and countertop in place and I'm set.  You'll notice the base cabinetry changed.  The original piece was built shallower than the design, so the sink wouldn't fit.  Kudos to a contractor who notices, fixes and installs before the client can say a word.

Turn to the left, here's the shelving towers.  

Groovy Baseboards

Both bottoms of the towers are cold air returns.  So the baseboards are grooved for airflow.  When they are painted out white, they should be unnoticeable. 

Now turn around.  Here's the fridge area.

Custom & IKEA

The vertical cabinetry to the left of the fridge is custom.  The fridge area and above is IKEA.  Instead of trying to match perfectly, we're going with walnut doors on the custom cabinets.  Same as the shelves in the tower pictures above.

Appliance!

Did you see that coming?  I did.  It was on my calendar.  And I am in love. 

It is huge.  And it will feed 3 growing boys. 

This showed up, too.

What Am I?

And now it's here.

Follow That Red Line

Double Fist Pump

In love.  Serious love.  Love for life. 
Cause we're never buying new appliances again.

Steve's Love

It's not installed, but it's in the house.  And Steve has a major crush. 

Is it weird to love a kitchen this much!?!?

In the meantime, here's what the rest of the house looks like.

Dust Writing

Layers and layers and layers. 

Every time I'm at the house, I have to fight the urge to clean everything everywhere.