Okay, I’m wrapping it up this time! Ready to show you the anxiously-awaited “AFTER” photos! (See Coronavirus Kitchen Chronicles I and II for the “before” and “during” shots and the whole story of how Joy Elben Design transformed my house from afar. Remote design is a thing, friends!)
The story wouldn’t be complete, though, without the slight breakdown I had on St. Patrick’s Day morning. 🍀
Our appointment for the countertops to be installed wasn’t until the next week, but Granite & Marble Concepts had expedited the process because of what we were beginning to see as the “writing on the wall.” The day before, they called me and gave me the good news that our countertops and fireplace surround were ready to be delivered and installed, and they would be here the next morning. That was about an hour before the shut-down was announced by the governor.
I woke up the next morning without a confirmation from them (the office manager was sick), so I had no idea if the countertops would be delivered, after all. And, further complicating matters, I still had missing appliances, a half-painted kitchen with no cabinet doors, and a sink that had no faucet. Add two kids to homeschool and two tanking, tourism-related businesses, and there may or may not have been tears.
You can imagine my great relief and delight when the workmen pulled up with the countertops and surround! I was sooo happy!!
Bringing-it-in timelapse:
The original tile had to be removed in order for the surround to go in. Granite and Marble Concepts did an amazing job! I love how the fireplace surround matches the countertops now!
Once the counters were in, David with Kingdom Painting arrived and reinstalled the cabinet doors and drawers. He took great care to make sure everything was nice and tight and straight — better than before.
The cabinet hardware went on. My superhero dad had drilled the holes (painstakingly, with much measurement and math involved) before David painted the drawers and doors, so that was a relatively easy job.
We were almost finished, but I had procrastinated on ordering tile, so it took another week or two before Jose Romero and his brother Esteban came to install the backsplash. I stuck some contact paper up to cover up the demoed wall. 😂
The backsplash was worth the wait! I loved it! Of course, I took a timelapse of the tile going in:
In another twist, it turned out that I hadn’t ordered enough tile, so the job was on hold again for a week while we waited for the tile to come in. I washy-taped a paper plate over the vent. #keepingitclassy
In the meantime, the appliances were delivered. Finally, the tile came and so did Jose and Esteban. The grout made a huge difference, and I just loved the result!
So here are the grand finale kitchen photos! First, a shot from 9 years ago when we bought the house, before the first paint job. This is the ultimate “Before” photo.
AND now! 🥁 Yay!! The official “After” pictures.
Check out all those Zoom meetings…
Heirloom dishtowel embroidered by my great-grandmother, Mema George.
Support These Small Businesses:
Joy Elben Design (design genius)
Kingdom Painting (cabinet painting specialist)
Granite & Marble Concepts (countertops)
The Rock Prefab Granite Outlet (backsplash)
Appliance Alley
Antonio Romero Flooring – 619-726-4852
Jose Romero Tile, Drywall Repair, etc – 619-666-0215
And a big shout-out to my multi-talented Dad who installed the lighting and the window and cabinet moldings, created a new shelf for the extra space left by turning our double-oven into an oven/microwave combo, installed the faucet, rewired things at the spur of the moment so that the vent hood could be installed, and did a bunch of other things I can’t even remember to keep this project moving along. And then, to top it off, he did this to finish up the office decor. #scary
And to my wonderful mom, who fed us every night for two weeks while we were kitchenless or kitchen-compromised. We even slept at their house a few days when the paint was fresh. It was good times in quarantine! ❤️
The end!