Today’s post is actually a report on what is actually “old news” around here – by a few weeks at least.  I find that by the time I take care of my sweet little grandson all day every day, blog posts are to be squeezed in around all the fun and games.  He began crawling a couple of days ago on the very day he turned eight months old, so now I am really having to be on my toes around here.

Smuffy continues to plug away at the new kitchen in his off hours and those seem to be few.  It’s been amazing how long it takes to make something that looks so simple to those who have walked into the store and walked back out with the item or who have told their contractor to “make it happen” and had it appear magically in their house.  But, when every single piece of the puzzle has to be custom designed by the designer (me) and then created to fit perfectly by the master carpenter (Smuffy), it does drag on and on.

I’m tickled pink with this great storage cabinet he’s completed for above my wall oven.

I’m a tall cook, so I have no problem reaching up there for cookie sheets, cooling racks and oversized pans.  I added the bottom row of small holes for rolling pins, pastry mat, tall bottles, drying mats and anything else that needs stashing there. 

We had originally planned on walnut countertops made from a tree that Smuffy cut up and hauled home from the forest.  Due to a concatenation of circumstances, we opted to abandon this plan along with the bowed front antique buffet we’d bought for a sink base.  I shed a tear or two over that before sitting down to design my own furniture style sink base and then go shopping for the right countertops to go with it.  We’ll still use Smuffy’s walnut for our open shelving areas and some ideas I have for other rooms.

Granite soon rose to the top as the best choice for us and we ended up choosing one called “Giallo Fiorito”.  With my creamy cabinets, I didn’t really want any granite with white in it and I did want one with the same tones that my walnut would have had. 

I don’t know if you recall that in my last kitchen update, I was a tad nervous about the installation of my long-awaited countertops and expressed my desire to escort the installers personally to my door lest they go to the wrong house.  Well, you can call that woman’s intuition if you like, but that’s exactly what happened.  They were just a bit late and then, wouldn’t you know, they called me and told me that they were knocking on my door and no one was answering.  After some discussion during which we arranged all the digits of my house number in proper order, they continued on their way.

I remained a bit tense.  I knew I would be until that breakable hunk of rock was safely installed.  I followed the man who seemed to be in charge of the crew of four into my kitchen.  Having a rear view, I saw his shoulders sag as he let out a heavy sigh and breathed the words, “This is going to be difficult.”

Those four guys got their morning’s exercise!  When it was all said and done, we had no breakage, beautiful countertops and a sink that beat my “farmhouse” one all to heck!

Phoebe June had to wait for the guys to leave before she could belly up to the lunch counter.

The next day, Smuffy got busy and installed my new gas cooktop, Delta faucet with soap dispenser, reverse osmosis faucet, reverse osmosis water filtration system and garbage disposal.  I hardly knew how to act!

You’re supposed to ignore the towel rack applied with floral duct tape and the hideous window that has since been ripped out. Only the storm windows have been temporarily re-installed while we await the arrival of our new windows.

A cabinet above the refrigerator is finished and ready for installation and then we are on to upper cabinets, open shelving, more pull-outs and doors.  Somewhere in there, I’ve got to remove old wallpaper, paint the walls and shop for backsplash.  I am not following the crowd on subway tile here, so I’d appreciate all your comments and ideas on backsplash.

In the midst of all this, Smuffy has undertaken a couple of other things that took up his time and slowed things down.  He doesn’t seem to know how to do that without bringing sudden bursts of excitement into my day and giving me something else to write about so I’ll share that with you soon – now that calmness has returned to the household. 

I know you’re bored these days with so many activities cancelled.  What better time to catch up on my Life With Smuffy?  He has his own page here on the blog for good reason, so why not start at the beginning?  He’s full of surprises!

The kitchen makeover chronicles include my embarrassing “before” photos in “Death of a Kitchen”.  After that, you can catch up with “A Glimmer of Hope and Stainless Steel”, “Birth Pains of a Kitchen”, “My Not-A-Kitchen Kitchen” and “A Trim Healthy Pantry and Some Plywood”. 

I truly value any tips you can leave me in the comments concerning features you like/don’t like in your kitchen.  Or, have you seen something online or in someone else’s kitchen that you’d like to have if you could remodel your kitchen?  Do you have any great storage ideas?