Cabinets

We have a cabinet factory store 30 minutes from us, and we almost bought a set of returned cabinets back in March for $1500 (!), but it had a couple of very funky things (like a corner sink base), so we decided against it at the last minute.

Both Costco and Home Depot offer built-to-order cabinets from a company called AllWood Cabinets. I had learned a lot from the factory store guys and felt fairly confident that I could figure out what to order to make a good U-layout (our kitchen is small and not very complicated) (I should mention that I still spent hours and hours stressing over all of the details and decision). It's by far our biggest single expense, but I'm really glad we didn't A) try to keep our original cabinets, and B) didn't do those weird ones.  

The UPS Freight guy dropped of the cabinets in our driveway and stood around while Kahlin and Jonathan madly tried to check for shipping damage.

Unfortunately, UPS had bashed in the back of our three-drawer base cabinet, which sent me into hysterics because the counter-top measuring guys were due on Wednesday, and all of the cabinets were supposed to be installed by then…and a replacement cabinet wouldn't be available for three weeks (and we are supposed to move in in less than three weeks). AHHH!

In any case, we went ahead with the installation. Because we have no idea what we are doing in a general sense, I texted our faithful realtor to ask her if she and her husband usually get professionals to install cabinets in their flip houses or whether they do them personally. She texted back and said, "Kirk says it's super easy! He can be there Monday." So Kirk showed up, and in Jonathan & Kahlin's words, had installed the first cabinet before they turned around. We love this guy.

When he saw the drawer base he said, "Well, you could get a replacement, but this damage will not affect this base in any way, and the back of it is going to be covered." Then he threw in three screws, which somehow made it look perfectly fine, and installed it. Woohoo!

Ta-da! There is so much left to be done, and it sort of drives me crazy that we won't be replacing the stove for a few more months, but I'm really pleased by the layout and we are making progress!! The above-fridge cabinet was also damaged, and they are sending a replacement for it.