And so it begins

My poor, neglected kitchen.  When we finished the wood floors and rearranged closet space, the pantry door never had it's handle re-installed and the whole wall has been in primer for the last two years.  When we took out cabinets to make our bookcases and replaced them with shelving, they only ever got primer too.  There are swaths of all sorts of paint colors, many of which i discounted some time ago, all over the walls.  The counters don't match.  The shims under the ceiling fan are visible.  The walls are in need of some serious sanding.  I could really use a new oven.  The dishwasher doesn't coordinate.  The island stools are so bulky they have to be rearranged to fully open the door.  The screen door blocks half of the natural light potential in the room.



Are you feeling sorry for it yet?  Well, giving my poor, beat-up kitchen the much needed face-lift is gonna take some time for sure, but this weekend, I made a step in the right direction: I ordered the countertops (or, at least... most of them).

What we need to get the kitchen new counters:  a 5x3 ft, 9 ft, 4 ft, and 18in pieces of butcher block, our countertop of choice.

What I wanted to order: 2 8ft pieces of Ikea's Lagan countertop (in Beech) and a 4x6 piece of Numerar, also in Beech.

What I actually ordered: 2 8 ft pieces of lagan in Beech.  The island piece will have to wait until it's in stock.  The good news is it's really only the outer "L" that absolutely needed done immediately.

The difference between Lagan and Numerar countertops is thickness and price, but we felt that the lagan counters were plenty sturdy still.  Unfortunately, the wider island piece is only available in the Numerar, so it'll be a bit of a splurge... when it's finally in stock.

The girl at Ikea (who happens to belong to the church I grew up in) kept trying to sell us on the Oak, as opposed to Beech or birch (which we never really considered).  I will agree with her that the oak probably has a bit more character than the beech, but the wood didn't match with the color I chose as well, if you ask me.  So beech it was.

Delivery estimate on our new counters is Dec. 7.  I'm not sure if we'll actually work on them until after Christmas though.

Beech counters, white cabinets and a paint chip representative of (but not identical to) our kitchen color of choice.  

Remember this bad boy?  Not too much has changed, either.