February 7 Update

Yesterday, Saturday, was a big day. The counter tops arrived and our odd looking room has finally begun to look like a kitchen. The delays have been unbelievable so the fact that it's finally beginning to shape up has us really excited and we're daring to hope that this might all be over soon. Here are some pictures to explain the latest developments.

Here's a view of the kitchen with the counters in place. No cupboards yet in this picture.

The island without cupboards or drawers or butcher block but, again, starting to look like a kitchen finally.

The custom made butcher block. Some things are worth the wait. Not all. But some.

The marble back splash in place. This isn't grouted yet. It looks very different now with the grout in place. The hole in the center is where the pot-filler fixture will go.

Showing some of the great detail of the counters and the farm house sink sitting in place (no plumbed in yet).

The cupboards are in place. They protrude out beyond the dining room door and make it inset which is really neat look.

With so much attention on the kitchen we forget about the other parts of the house. Here is where the 100 year old radiator finally gave out. I had to refinish the floor where the old rad had been and tried to match the finish as closely as possible. Hopefully it will not be too noticeable once the new radiator is in place. We removed it and our heating guy found one to replace it. We had it painted to match the trim and he'll hopefully get around to installing it soon. It's February and we miss that part of the house being heated.

The new counter tops arrived.

Andrew and Gordon - our counter top guys - skillfully put them in place and start cementing things together.

Meanwhile in the laundry room - it was a big day for counter tops in the laundry room too on Saturday. Mike DeLuca came over to be on hand in case the stone counter top guys needed some direction. They were pretty good on their own so Mike went to work putting the counter tops on the laundry room counter and island.

The second counter top goes into place.

The counter tops on the island and counter in the laundry room. The rooms are actually beginning to look like what they are supposed to look like finally. Still lots of clutter that will eventually find it's way to the empty cupboards and drawers. Mike and Rio are heading into the kitchen to check things out there.

The island counter top finally installed. They're made of a quartz composite - 97% stone aggregate and 3% resin. They won't stain and never need to be sealed or treated. Maintenance free. The hole in the center is where an electrical outlet will go. It's a little pop-up box that sits flush until you need it. Then you just give it a push and the receptacle pops up. Very cool.

The other counter top. We put the faucets in for effect but they're not hooked up yet. Someone asked Mike if the cupboard door on the right was going to hit the counter when it was opened. All the cupboard doors only open to about 90 degrees. It was the same in the old kitchen. I'm assuming that's the same with all hidden hinges. You can also see that the solid walnut floating shelves have been installed. They'll be the home to some cookbooks (the ones that don't fit on the main cookbook shelf) and some nice pottery and other objets d'art.