It's a kitchen....almost!

It's starting to feel like a kitchen now! I think I'm finally in the home stretch. My goal the past week or so has been to get the cabinets and countertop installed so we can have the sink and cooktop hooked-up and have a functional kitchen again. I've forgotten what it is like to have a normal kitchen. Pat has been able to do amazing things with just a microwave and a rice cooker, but she is ready to have a kitchen again.

The past week or so I have gotten the cabinets, appliances and butcher block countertop installed. Finished the under-cabinet lighting and connected the circuit for the floor warming system. It was a relief when it worked.... Oh, and the sink and the faucet were delivered.

We have been trying to finalize our decision for the countertop: granite or concrete. We like the creativity concrete provides, but the time involved to make it will mean at least another 3-4 weeks without a kitchen. So we are also considering going with granite, but it's a bit out of our budget and the low-cost pre-fabbed slabs have their own issues as well. So in the meantime, I made temporary countertops from MDF to use until we make our final decision.

Before the final coat of polyurethane.

So now this is where things stand today. Hopefully I can get the plumber here next week to finalize the plumbing and hook up the gas to the cooktop. I bought a piece of stainless steel to use as the backsplash behind the cooktop. I'll start fabricating it this weekend. Then I'll be working on small details and will turn my attention to finishing the penninsula. Almost there!