The Kitchen - Trying to Stay Positive

It has officially been 30 days since we started our kitchen tear-out. That means 30 days without a kitchen sink or dishwasher. It was about 15 days without any appliances or running water in the kitchen. And it's been 31 days without a kitchen table, or any furniture for that matter, in the dining room, living room, and hallway area.
It's getting a little old, I must say. We got running water back in the kitchen around day 16 in the form of hooking the refrigerator water line back up - so we've had ice and drinking water since then. Having the refrigerator back to keep things cold again, and not frozen, was a huge improvement. And even having the stove and oven to use, even minimally, has been very nice. Even with those big improvements, though, this weekend has been hard to keep positive and remember that the end is in sight.
As you know from the previous post, our upper cupboard doors were not ready when they installed the cabinets. We didn't bother putting anything in the cupboards at that point since they still had to come back and finish. The cupboard doors, with glass inserts, were finished installing a little over a week ago. They look very, very nice and I am further convinced that it was the right choice to get the glass insert.

I think that if the upper cupboard doors were

solid black wood, they would be too over-bearing and "shrink" the kitchen. The refrigerator is still a giant monster that is too big, in my opinion.

I started putting some stuff back into the cupboards last week, and it's been slow going. I think that is where I'm getting discouraged.

I am absolutely enjoying the extra space each of the upper cupboards has, though, even if I'm only in the middle of unpacking things.

While I am getting things out of tubs, I'm finding that everything is basically dirty. Dirty from drywall dust, or wood flooring dust, or from things getting jostled around and containers bumping open and spilling throughout the tub.

I question whether it's even worth it to put stuff in the cupboards, because I just want to wash it all first. And even though I was planning to wash things in the bathtub during this time - yeah, that hasn't happened and I really have no desire to start.

So for now, the really dirty things are staying in a tub. I'm dusting the rest off as best I can, and placing things in the cupboards in a somewhat organized fashion.

I've emptied 4 or 5 tubs, I think, which is making a dent in Little Jo's room (formerly known as the guest room), but there's still about 4 and 1/2 tubs to go. Putting stuff into the bottom cupboards and drawers is also hard, because they still have to install the countertop and sink. And the flooring people still have to come back one last time. I have been assured, however, that there will be very minimal dust made with both the countertop and finishing of the floor. I'm just not completely convinced, and really hope that I don't end up with both the inside and outside of the cupboards coated in dust after this week.

The countertop and sink are to be installed tomorrow morning. We will still have to do all of the hookups for the water, drain, dishwasher, and such ourselves after that. And I'm guessing that we won't be able to actually use it until everything has set for 24 hours. Another area of discouragement is that we have a very minor leak where the refrigerator line hooks up under the sink. It is so minor that the towel that has been sitting there for about 2 weeks keeps things dry. In talking to Jason, neither one of us is quite sure how to fix the leak, and neither one of us really wants to mess with it for fear of making the situation worse. But it still needs fixed permanently, or else we'll be living with a towel under the sink forever.

The flooring people are supposed to come at the end of the week to put a final coat on the entire floor. After they finish that, we can't walk on it, nor be in the house for a minimum of 10 hours. Since they don't know yet if they are coming in the morning or afternoon, that should tell you a little about how we'll be spending the end of the week. It is kind of inconvenient that there is no way to get around the wood floor in our house and access the rest of the place. A recent discovery that was not a happy one, is that something on our microwave severely burned a spot on our hardwood floor.

For about a week after they installed the cupboards, we moved the over-the-stove microwave into the house and just set it on the living room floor. We used it very minimally, as in less than once a day, during that time. I've been trying to sell it, as Jason really wants to get a stainless steel microwave so that all of the appliances match. When I moved it this weekend to try and sell at a yardsale, we discovered this burnt spot. The microwave vents out the top, so we aren't sure what is on the bottom to burn that perfect circle on the back left corner. Jason was pretty upset about it and kept asking if I could get the flooring people to fix it.

So today, I started hand-sanding the spot, hoping that it only discolored the finish and not the wood itself. It was burnt down into the wood, but I think with a little bit more sanding, it will look okay, and hopefully not be noticeable at all after the flooring people put the on final finishing coat. Let that be a lesson to everyone, however, to not set over-the-stove microwaves on a solid surface!!!

The rest of my discouraging week is basically just wishing people would buy my stuff. I've tried selling some items we don't need, use, or want online, and this weekend at a garage sale. Apparently no one wants my stuff. I don't think I'm selling junk (okay, a few things may be useless, trinkety things - but those little 25 cent trinkets are what sold!!!), and I think it's all stuff some people would need, like the microwave. But, so far no one wants to buy my stuff. In light of that, I'm not sure if Jason's going to get his stainless steel microwave to match the rest of the kitchen.

I will try to stop focusing on the negative now, and continue looking at the positive. The kitchen and floor is almost done. Then I can start to wipe down all the walls, finish painting, and begin focusing on getting things ready, organized, and collected for Little Jo. I think that is part of why this week has been so discouraging - I realized that it's less than 13 weeks to go, if all goes well and she can stay inside that long, and pretty much nothing is ready. If she arrives and things aren't ready, we will certainly adapt and no one will suffer greatly, I'm sure. But just thinking about it is a bit overwhelming. If anyone wants to come help wash walls and paint, feel free!