After much delay and anticipation, and a little bit of controversy, the new window is now in place, thanks to our handyman/friend Shawn! He was here Tuesday afternoon and yesterday from 9 until 7 to take out three windows and put in the one new double. It is MUCH smaller than I had hoped (we lose the light equivalent of one window), but it was as big as we could make it without going custom size and still be able to fit enough cabinets in there. I do have to admit I am a little disappointed. I was hoping I’d be able to see more of the backyard and that it would bring in more light in than it does (but it will lighten up once we have white cabinets in). Anyway, I am so glad to be done with the old windows. And it does look perfect from the outside. So, I know it’s a good size. The room just looks so big and empty without any cabinets!

We did end up placing it dead center. The cabinet people we’ve been working with at TCN called the day before and asked us to hold off on installing it so that we could maybe move it this way or that a few inches to accommodate a layout they were working on. But, we met with them and we were able to come up with a layout we all were happy with, where we could keep it dead center. It meant moving the fridge, which esthetically is a better choice. It might be slightly less ideal functionally, but it also gives us more flexibility with the size and type of fridge (and we can actually keep our old one for a while instead of having to buy a new one right away so we can defray that cost for now).

In other news, my house is a MESS. I stopped even trying to keep up with it this week … and I kinda regret it. Now there is dirt tracked everywhere. It’s raining today so if I thought it was muddy in here yesterday after I mopped (not that you’d know it this morning!), just wait until we get through today!

My husband was playing with the kids, taking turns rolling on the floor into a blanket. He called me into the room while Charlie was all wrapped up, and I was … taken aback by the sweet memory of my little baby swaddled in a receiving blanket. Yes, I cried. Can you really blame me? He just turned two on Sunday. But he’ll always be my baby!

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

While the kids and I were visiting my parents and my sister in Minnesota this week through Saturday, Matt took down the plaster ceiling. It was a DIRTY job. Too bad Mike Rowe wasn’t there to help him. He was completely covered in black when we got home. Unfortunately, so was everything else in the kitchen and it was tracked into the other rooms. I’m not cleaning too much though because more work will be done this week before I have to clean for Charlie’s birthday party on Saturday (yeah, crazy, I know). We are also still investigating what level of repair we need to do on the damaged boards underneath and behind where the old sink was. We are hearing both sides: support and hide it and don’t worry or jack up the house and do it right. Obviously, the latter would be much more expensive. Sigh.

I also found more cabinet options I am looking into. There are several links to Amish country, which might mean a higher quality product with a less expensive price tag, so I am told. However, this is compared to higher end cabinets so it is likely still out of our price range, but I thought it would be worth a look.

Burress Furniture, 847-697-9790
Crosscut Cabinetry, 815-444-8959
Amish Cabinet Company, 847-844-7991
Amish Custom Kitchens
Authentic Amish in Arthur IL

We received a maddening letter in the mail from Harris Bank, which continues to humor us with its stupidity. It starts off:

Related posts:
But, wait, there’s more!
We were rejected
Official unofficial start date

A lot of work for … 5 pea pods, but we were very excited to get something from the garden this year!

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Our plumber/handyman, a friend of a friend named Shawn, came about 9:45am and finished just shy of 5pm today. He took out the old plumbing from the previous sink location and put all new plumbing in the new location with, of course, the proper venting through the roof which we were previously missing. This would have taken us days, including a lot of head scratching, so I am thankful it is over and done (sans the dishwasher but we need to pinpoint the precise location and he claims that will idiotproof).

Being fed up with Menards and Home Depot, their poorly made cabinets and their awful customer service, I finally started researching local cabinet makers and kitchen design centers with higher-quality, all-wood cabinetry. It’s worth a shot, though I fear I will fall in love with cabinets I can’t afford. TCN Cabinets visited the house today and has an “economical” line of inset cabinets that is exactly what I want. They are beautiful. There’s even a kitchen they did recently that has a very similar layout:

I am also looking forward to receiving an estimate from Amish Cabinets, which are hand made locally in a shop of about 15. That’s a step up from mass-produced, machine-assembled “furniture-grade” particleboard. But do we need to win the lottery to afford it? We’ll soon find out.

I was inspired by a friend who stopped by yesterday and saw the complete “nakedness” of our kitchen, to address how we can survive without a fully functioning kitchen.

1. Get invited to your friends’ houses for dinner. My personal favorite!
2. Eat out. Fun, but expensive, so we use this sparingly.
3. Make meals ahead. I need to do this more often, even when our kitchen is in full use. It was great to be able to pop the lasagna I pre-made in the oven, and voila, a home-cooked, “real” meal!
4. Grill out. It’s still beautiful weather so we can do a lot of dishes on the grill.
5. Electric skillet. We got one of these for our wedding, and I used it a lot for Hamburger Helper back before I knew how to cook and when I was still working. I haven’t used in a while, but it’ll come in handy when my range is disconnected.
6. Electric griddle. I love my griddle! I can make pancakes and grilled sandwiches, etc., in a snap.
7. Crockpot. It’s not quite the right season for a lot of my favorite one-pot dishes, but it will give us more variety when we tire of the other options (and fall is quickly approaching!).
8. Sandwiches. We can get creative with specialty breads, meats, cheeses and lettuce, for a more interesting cold dinner.
9. Microwave. Not my favorite option, but there are frozen meals and “fast” foods like hot dogs that can be made in the microwave in a pinch.
10. Paper plates and plastic bins! The hardest part is not having a sink. Despite the use of paper plates, though, there’s still a lot of dirty dishes. I bought a couple big tubs with the intention of using them to wash. But, for now, I’ve been using them to transport the dirty dishes to friends’ homes with working kitchen sinks!
11. Diaper boxes. I used diaper boxes to empty my kitchen drawers and stacked them in the office so I can still somewhat easily access everything.
12. Picnic snack. Make a meal of popcorn or crackers and cheese, carrot sticks and fruit. Camp out on the living room floor while watching the Olympics!
13. Get lots of sleep so you aren’t crabby when you can’t find what you are looking for and have to go in and out of the kitchen, through the plastic-covered doorway, five times in a row!

I couldn’t help but think, as we ripped up and tore off all the junk from the walls and floor of our kitchen, that we were trashing what was once someone else’s treasure. One day, quite a long time ago I might add, it was somebody’s newly renovated pride and joy. It’s a good reminder not to put to much value in the things of this earth. It doesn’t take away my excitement though in having something fresh and new. It’s going to be wonderful for us to enjoy!

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” Matthew 6:18-20

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com or 5 Minutes for Mom.

Today we, and by that I mean my husband, finished removing the sink from the kitchen (no sink, yikes!) so that our plumber could come in tomorrow. We ran into a couple snafus in the process. We realized our request, and therefore the estimate, didn’t include proper venting required by the city. We’re remaining positive that he’ll be able to move forward and still finish before the weekend. But we also discovered some 2×4s from behind the sink and some of the floor boards that are water damaged. Most of it shouldn’t be too difficult to take care of but … we’ll have to wait and see. We know these kinds of things are inevitable when you start tearing down walls so we aren’t rattled. Yet.

[Edited 8/15 to add: He's coming today! We approved the plumber's revised estimate last night and, thankfully, it wasn't much more. Also, we have a friend from church, a building contractor, coming by today or tomorrow to look at our framing dilemma.]

We were eating breakfast this morning and Charlie choked a little on his Cheerios. He kept coughing and finally Avery said, “Dude. What is wrong with you, dude?” For some reason it cracked me up.

We made a lot of progress on what was essentially Day 2 in the kitchen. We had help from two generous and handy friends today–thanks Nick and Jason!–and it was good because we ran into our first building code dilemma. Taking out the wall that lines the basement stairs, where the bulk of cabinets and counter space originally were, we found the 2×4s to be turned sideways (to save space) so they had to rebuild that. My favorite moment was when Nick and I were taking down the wall while Matt and Jason were at Menards and suddenly everything shifted. Oops! That’s not good. In the end, we think it was just the electrical box situated right there that shifted but it sure gave us a scare. Thankfully, Nick was there to think quick on his feet to makeshift a temporary support. The new wall will take the load for now anyway.

In addition, there was a lot of math and logic trying to fudge a 29″ door into a 32″ space that also required 4″ of framing and doorjamb. We decided to trim the door.

We also took out most of the lathe and plaster surrounding the basement stairs. It was in sad shape so it will be nice to have it new. In doing that, we realized we can make use of the space below the stairs (on the back wall) to the second story to create a storage area as you go down the basement stairs.

Before:

While the guys are working hard:

After many hours of researching just the right window, I finally placed an order for a twin double hung American Craftsman window at Home Depot today. I hate to special order things, it makes me very nervous. But, I am excited for it to come in and be installed. That will certainly be a major change in the kitchen!

There was a bit of a mix-up because I had already selected in-stock windows. I was going to purchase this week two separate double-hung windows to hang side by side. I only found out on Wednesday that what we needed was this Twin type window, which I didn’t even know existed (even for all my research online). Because it is a special order, the big box stores don’t have it on their web sites (does this even make sense?). So, we have to delay the installation, obviously. But we hope the person we had scheduled to install will be able to work on plumbing for us next week instead.

The good news is that I just HAPPENED to notice as I walked in to the Home Depot a sign listing specials. “10% off Windows Am Crafts” caught my eye! So, I mentioned it, and while it was a mistake (leftovers from a previous sale), they honored the price for me. So, total for a special order American Craftman 3002 series Twin Equal Double Hung in the standard size 51.5″ w x 40 3/4″ h with clear view Lo-e glass single strength, no tint and no grille: $347.02. Installation will be about twice that, but I am just glad we are not the ones cutting a huge hole in the wall!

Since we missed the sale on the Schrock line of cabinets that I had selected at Menards, I have been starting from scratch researching cabinet lines. I spent quite a bit of time online last night, and now I am more confused than ever! I am spinning in a sea of plywood versus particle board versus MDF versus veneers versus “furniture grade.” Cost versus quality. How do I find a balance? What I have figured out so far:

We’re aiming for an upgraded version of the semi-custom lines from one of the box stores. There’s also a local granite counter supplier that carries Armstrong cabinets. It’s not that close so it will be tricky getting there but I think it might be worth it. They have a special through the end of this month if you buy both counters and cabinets, and the granite seems reasonably priced. We’ll see!

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.