We're back! It doesn't feel like it's been two months since the last post. Time just flies by when you're busy! Since the last post we have now completed our home assessment with CAS and we are now on the "approved and waiting" adoption list. The phone could ring at any moment with news of a match for us. In fact, every time it does ring I'm convinced that it's them calling (but it's usually one of our mom's calling, which is just as nice!).
Things in the kitchen are progressing really nicely. Before going back to work in January we were able to get the subfloor installed, the priming and painting done and all of the cabinets in place.
Jeremy's parents came down for a weekend and were such a big help with that part! While I was making trips to and from Ikea to order and exchange missing parts, they were busy putting the cabinets together and hanging them. We love our Ikea kitchen cabinets, and if we ever remodel another kitchen, we would definitely use them again.
The Ikea cabinets work on a rail system that you secure to the wall first. For most homes, hanging the rail would be a simple step. In our 130 year old home, it was quite the challenge finding studs through the many layers of plaster and drywall. Thankfully, Jeremy's dad is a very patient man and an excellent problem solver! It only took two days to have the rails secured and the cabinets in place.
By that point we were tired of microwave dinners and ordering pizza so we started moving things back into the kitchen and using it again. Our electricians returned to finalize the outlets for the appliances and our under cabinet lighting. We purchased our new appliances and were really excited to get them in and start cooking again!
Once all of the cabinets were up, we went to a granite yard just outside of Peterborough to look for our countertops. This place was amazing! Most of their slabs and remnants were outside and we were able to just walk around and pick which ones we liked. Although I really wanted quartz, we ended up choosing a granite remnant that they had called "Kasimir White" which is from a quarry in India. Because it was a remnant, the price couldn't be beat! They came to measure within a few days and installed the counters a week later.
We also ordered our flooring at this point, which took many weeks to arrive. While we were waiting for the flooring to come in, we took a break from everything. We had been working for quite a few weeks and a break was definitely needed.
Last week our flooring finally arrived! We went with a new product called luxury vinyl tile. It's completely water resistant, almost indestructible and it clicks together like laminate flooring. We installed it ourselves over the course of two days.
We still have a lot of finishing touches left to do - filler, trim and end pieces on the cabinets, kickplates, baseboards and door casings, and the backsplash. I'm hoping it will all be done by March Break, or Easter weekend at the latest. It will be so great to finally say that our kitchen is done!
