So shall we just get on with it then?
The biggest thing on our plate right now has been the kitchen renovation. We took out a load-bearing wall in our kitchen and that opened up the space a LOT. It was necessary to open up the room enough to add an island, which was a huge priority of mine. I remembered all of those late nights over Christmas vacation that I spent making cookies on my mom's island. It truly became the center of our home, and an island was something I had my heart set on.
After we took out the wall, our room looked something like this:
Basically a big empty room. You can see our old small island in the middle of the room.
Next came the big decisions with cabinets. David and I looked at Lowe's and Home Depot. Lowe's offered a fairly good customer service experience but their final quote came in just shy of $11,000. This quote didn't include any fancy cabinets (like glass doors) and all the cabinets were just a standard 36" height. Home Depot informed us they were phasing out their custom cabinets and wouldn't even build us a quote so... yeah. We didn't pursue a kitchen with them either.
Then came Ikea-- who I had suspected would be the winner all along. The cabinets have fabulous reviews, come with a 25 year warranty, and are infinitely customizable. They offered glass doors and 39" upper cabinets with in-cabinet lighting, and we could build in pretty much any option we wanted. The best part? We purchased during a 20% off sale, and our total came in right about $6500. The bad news? We had to assemble them.... ourselves.
That is 109 boxes of Ikea cabinets.
The pros: they were extremely easy to assemble. Truly. Once you've assembled one of them, you can do the rest without needing instructions. The hardware is high-quality and you don't need any hand-man skills to put them together.
We went with the 39" Lidingo cabinets, and I picked a mix of glass doors and solid doors. I chose all drawers for my lower cabinets, including my island. These features (glass fronts, taller cabs, and drawers) were the most expensive options Ikea offered so our total was higher than yours might be if you went with a more standard cabinet.
The cons: our order was missing several pieces, and the nearest Ikea is in Round Rock (almost 3 hours away). Each missing piece necessitates a harrowing trip up IH 35 and many rounds of battle with a kitchen associate after waiting in line for 2 hours to talk to them. Arguing about missing 4 Harlstaag hinges when you have spent close to $7K on cabinets really leaves a bad taste in your mouth. "Order them online!" you are probably thinking. "It will save time!" you are insisting.
This is where I tell you that 2 weeks after we ordered our kitchen, Ikea discontinued their current line of cabinets, meaning all hardware and pieces suddenly became SUPER in-demand. Nothing is available online anymore, meaning you must drive yourself and your grumpy husband up to Round Rock EVERY time you realize you need one more little thing.
After many nights spent in the Ikea cabinet factory, David and I are currently sitting here with our project:
Upper cabs are just sitting right now until we get countertops installed. You can see the glass front cabs on the right, those will have lighting added also.
Another view that shows the lanterns over the island.
Here is my GORGEOUS slab of soapstone for the island. I cannot WAIT until this gets put in!!!!!! I decided on a pencil edge to minimize chips.
The perimeter countertops will be in honed carrara marble. Similar to this (not our slab).
Its been a ton of work, but we are nearing the finish line! Next time I will talk about details like where we got the lighting, cabinet hardware, and choosing marble countertops (when everyone tells you not to!)
