The Cabinet Boxes Are In!

I’m here in the kitchen, writing and watching our meat ducks in the front yard. They’re creatures of hilarity and personality! Right now they’re gobbling down feed, waddling over to their water for a drink, then waddling back to gulp down more food, back and forth, until their little crops are full!

My computer rests on top of our cabinet boxes while I stand and type.

Yes, I said cabinet boxes! They’re in. Really! Truly! Finally in! Sometime I just sit and stare at them because I just can’t believe we’re at this point in the journey.

 

Designing Our Kitchen Cabinets

Together, my man and I came up with our kitchen cabinet design. I wanted drawers in particular locations, tall cupboards in others and shelves set at such-and-such a height. After hashing through all the details, my man began making our plans a reality. He worked evenings and weekends, cutting birch plywood to the appropriate shapes, lengths and heights.

Can you tell what these cut-outs were used for?

Cabinet making is slow and tedious, not the ideal job for a man who is trying to hold down a normal job while building a house and a farm from the ground up! 

Excited as I was to see things come together, I felt bad for my man in this time. If only I could do something to help!

 

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

He worked slowly but steadily and in a month’s time, every piece had been carefully measured, cut and labeled. Finally the day arrived when he could assemble each and every box! That was exciting!

One weekend, he informed me it was time to install his handiwork in the kitchen and fasten it to the whitewashed wood paneling. Armed with wedges, his levels and a laser level, screws, his drill and goodness knows what else, he wrestled with and began installing cabinet boxes.

I was there, asking questions, holding and lifting, trying to be helpful and not being very! I’d never seen someone install custom cabinets before, and I didn’t want to miss a thing. Besides, it was our kitchen, the very kitchen we’d drawn up almost three years ago, finally becoming a tangible reality before our eyes.

Who wouldn’t be excited?!

That weekend, he installed 17+ feet of custom-made counter boxes in our little cottage kitchen.

Someone pinch me!

I still can’t believe it’s for real!

You know, I thought the kitchen might feel too small when the cabinets went in? Totally not the case! I’m delighted with how everything has turned out.

We aren’t using the cabinets just yet. First, we need to seal up the raw, wooden shelves with two thick coats of Varathane. We’ve decided to wait until winter (when work is slow for my man) before we add doors and drawers to the cabinet boxes.

Pardon the mess in my photo. I live in this space!

He’s working on the counter tops now, my man is. There’s a bit more work to do on the backsplash and then? We’re ready to seal it up and install in the white kitchen sink I ordered from Home Depot.

It’s not quite farmhouse style, this sink. But I think I’ve found the next best thing (at lower price!). With this particular design, I’m hoping water won’t pool up on the counter behind it. 

But I’d better stop, or I’ll end up telling you everything. Next Friday, I’ll tell you all about the countertop. It’s just beautiful!

For now, I’m here to tell you the cabinets are installed. Not finished, mind you. But the boxes are in, and I’m loving it!