When all was said and done, around 9:30 my fil told me what parts we needed to pick up from The Depot, and that he'd be back on Saturday to finish the install. It was Thursday evening. I almost died.
Now, let me be clear. I know that people go several weeks without a functioning kitchen while undergoing renovations. I also know that there are like 100,000,000 people in third world countries who don't even have a kitchen, let alone a kitchen sink (or faucet). So, walking the extra 15 steps to the pedestal sink in the half bath wasn't really going to kill me. However, it kinda was. I'm not going to sugar coat this, I don't really like being displaced, especially in our own home. Its like a mean/bad/horrible joke. Add to that the cutest little person ever-in-the-world who wants a clean sippy cup (I know, right...the nerve of that little kid!) So yes, the idea of waiting another 36 hours (I might have counted) until I got a functioning sink wasn't going to do.
So you know what I did? I did it myself. (You'd think I'd have a picture to post here, except I didn't take a picture of under the sink before I put all the "stuff" back...and now its all kinda blocked.)
No lie. I looked at all this stuff, the strainer basket, the garbage disposal...the plumbing and after picking up the pieces my fil told me we needed (and another trip to The Depot) I was anxious to put Lil' Man down for a nap so mama could play! And play I did. I borrowed my neighbors pipe cutter saw/thingy and hacked away until I made all the lil' tubes fit! I have never been so excited to turn on a faucet in my life! (Oh, I should also give props to the guy on You Tube whose video about installing the basket assembly I watched...) Anyway, after the excitement wore off of the plumbing NOT leaking, it was time to CLEAN!! I scrubbed the floors (having the granite guys come in and out and then having the backsplash installers in and out made it so dusty and took away from the new kitchen smell...) and then Lil' Man woke up...but I didn't really care, because when he was done with his milk, know what I got to do?
I got to wash it. In the sink. With my new faucet. With my newly installed plumbing lines.
Check out my sexy new faw-cet! Isn't she a beaut?? (Notice the door on the counter behind the faucet?)
Alright, so I install the faucet, hook it up and then guess what? I still have six more cabinet doors to finish painting. Why? Here's my reasoning. Before all the work was done (granite install and the backsplash) I decided to paint all the upper cabinets, but wait on the base cabinets. I figured the paint on the base cabinets wouldn't have enough time to cure (dry) before they were getting a beating. And, I also know that while those gentlemen are super careful, they wouldn't be AS careful in the newly painted kitchen as I would be. So, I waited.
And, while I waited The Hubs thought I was loco. Bananas. Gone Mad. Why? Because we have a toddler running around the house and "how are you going to keep him out of the cabinets when they don't have any doors on them, Erin?" and I was all, "I don't know...but I'll figure it out!" And I figured it out. Remember how I told you that I had to empty all the base cabinets out so they could remove the old counter (and install the new one?) Right, well this chicky didn't FILL the cabinets once the new counters were on. Thus eliminating the need to get "fussy" while having a toddler roam the kitchen because the cabinets were, oh you guessed it, empty. Ha :P
So once we had a functioning faucet (ahhhh, I didn't realize how much I use my kitchen sink!) I put the drop cloth on the counters (because all the stuff from the cabinets was now living on our kitchen table) and painted 'til my arm felt numb. Well, actually I painted until I ran out of room. I only had enough counter space for four doors, but I had six...so I had to wait an extra 24 hours before finishing all the doors, then they had to dry and yaddy yaddy...so FINALLY on Monday morning, around 9am, I was able to install the very last of our door hardware and WAHZAM, hang the last door.
This also meant that I got to clean the kitchen. Again. WOOT! I filled my bucket (from my faucet!) got out the mop, grabbed those awesome yellow gloves and a sponge and got to work. When I was finished I had the joy and satisfaction of knowing that a week and a half ago our kitchen looked like "eh- its clean, but nothing to write home about" to "holy CRAP, that's MY kitchen!"
We tiled the side of the tall pantry because the previous counters ran a side splash on it, and we didn't know if once it was removed we would have damage, so we just tiled the whole thing)
One of my favorite parts of our kitchen is that we DON'T have stainless steel appliances. Why? Because EVERY-one has 'em...and this is a great way to show people that you can use "plain white" appliances in your kitchen and make 'em look awesome!
Our new fancy pants under mount sink (and when they installed the granite, they added supports for the counter to the right of the sink and left of the dishwasher, remember in that photo how there wasn't any supports?
The finished product.
Ahhhhhhhh
The one and only thing I had left to do (besides keep it clean) was to seal the grout on the backsplash. We had to wait 48 hours for the grout to dry 100% but I picked up sealer from The Depot and sprayed it on, wiped it off, and pushed all my appliances back into place. Done!
***A few things I didn't know until doing this makeover:
- How much I rely on our family for help. The Hubs' grandpa came over and removed the old laminate counters for us the night before we were to have the granite installed so that we didn't have to go too long without counters (little did I know it was going to be the sink that would cause me the most heartache!) And then having my fil install the faucet, and help me with the parts I'd need for the plumbing lines
- How un-flexible I am. Which is why, during this project of constantly being hunched over, using only my right arm (because I'm right handed) I was at my chiropractor three times during this process.
- How much I didn't like our old kitchen. Damn. You know how people say things like, "I really didn't think it was that bad..." well, I didn't realize it was that bad until I saw how awesome it became.
