Ever since we painted the cabinets and made the kitchen a bit fresher, I've thought that butcher block would probably be the best option for new countertops. Reasons: cost (cheapest non-builder grade material that's available), look (farmhouse is all the rage, right?), and safety (bacteria doesn't grow in wood, glasses are less likely to break if they fall out of cabinets). But New Daddy wasn't convinced... until a month ago. And then he walked into the kitchen and started tearing things apart, just like that!
Side note: We always have our eye out for cheap-ish houses on land, because it would probably be a better situation for us than a subdivision. But it has to below a certain amount, because we're not too keen on debt just so we can have a few acres. So we were looking at this place not far from here, and we realized that if we were going to sell our current house, it would sell a lot better without the 20-year, chipped-above-the-dishwasher-from-the-old-flooring-being-too-high, stained, raised from water damage, etc... countertops! But New Daddy texted me after he looked at the house, "This place is a dump." Hahahaha. No house-buying for now.
Meanwhile, we ordered the countertops from Lowe's (only slightly pricier than Ikea, which was out of stock until mid-November) and picked them up at the local store. New Daddy ripped out the plastic-and-particleboard countertops, and they went out with last week's trash. Then, everything was on pause when New Daddy realized that he couldn't make a cut straight enough with some clamps, a level, and his circular saw. Enter the Accu-Cut tool yesterday... and he was cutting again last night. Yay! Editing this post to add pics of the cuts he made the following Thursday night- yay!
It took New Daddy a whole evening to cut out the template for the sink... and all Saturday to cut the sink opening... he thinks and plans before he cuts anything. So they're good cuts, but progress is slow. Now he's planning how to piece the longest strip together, which is why he needed the Accu-Cut. What I had thought would be a few days will probably turn into about a month. We're at a week, now. I much prefer it to be done correctly than quickly!
How we're getting food while the stove is in the middle of the kitchen, the drawers are stacked in the dining room, and the dining room table is stacked with kitchen miscellany: I decided to buy soups that I could reheat in the Instant Pot... and we got tired of soup. We started eating fast food... and we got tired of that (gross and $$). SO... I pulled up my camp stove from the garage (still there from a tropical storm power outage in September... I didn't blog about that? I guess the power was out...). It's sitting out on the deck, and we're getting hot meals between the toaster oven, Instant Pot, waffle iron, and the camp stove. I'm enjoying the adventure of cooking outside for now, and it is nice to have home-cooked meals again.
The waffle iron, water boiler, Instant Pot, and toaster oven
As another side note: The dishwasher is unconnected to the sink plumbing and still works. My sanity is saved.
So... kitchen is still torn apart... that's one adventure for now.
Also, I repainted the kids' bedrooms during fall break... need to post about that, too.
Side note: We always have our eye out for cheap-ish houses on land, because it would probably be a better situation for us than a subdivision. But it has to below a certain amount, because we're not too keen on debt just so we can have a few acres. So we were looking at this place not far from here, and we realized that if we were going to sell our current house, it would sell a lot better without the 20-year, chipped-above-the-dishwasher-from-the-old-flooring-being-too-high, stained, raised from water damage, etc... countertops! But New Daddy texted me after he looked at the house, "This place is a dump." Hahahaha. No house-buying for now.
Meanwhile, we ordered the countertops from Lowe's (only slightly pricier than Ikea, which was out of stock until mid-November) and picked them up at the local store. New Daddy ripped out the plastic-and-particleboard countertops, and they went out with last week's trash. Then, everything was on pause when New Daddy realized that he couldn't make a cut straight enough with some clamps, a level, and his circular saw. Enter the Accu-Cut tool yesterday... and he was cutting again last night. Yay! Editing this post to add pics of the cuts he made the following Thursday night- yay!
It took New Daddy a whole evening to cut out the template for the sink... and all Saturday to cut the sink opening... he thinks and plans before he cuts anything. So they're good cuts, but progress is slow. Now he's planning how to piece the longest strip together, which is why he needed the Accu-Cut. What I had thought would be a few days will probably turn into about a month. We're at a week, now. I much prefer it to be done correctly than quickly!
How we're getting food while the stove is in the middle of the kitchen, the drawers are stacked in the dining room, and the dining room table is stacked with kitchen miscellany: I decided to buy soups that I could reheat in the Instant Pot... and we got tired of soup. We started eating fast food... and we got tired of that (gross and $$). SO... I pulled up my camp stove from the garage (still there from a tropical storm power outage in September... I didn't blog about that? I guess the power was out...). It's sitting out on the deck, and we're getting hot meals between the toaster oven, Instant Pot, waffle iron, and the camp stove. I'm enjoying the adventure of cooking outside for now, and it is nice to have home-cooked meals again.
The waffle iron, water boiler, Instant Pot, and toaster oven
My outdoor cookstove greets the day
So... kitchen is still torn apart... that's one adventure for now.
Also, I repainted the kids' bedrooms during fall break... need to post about that, too.
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