Week 3 of the Kitchen Refresh was when we first saw the most dramatic changes and could envision what the finished kitchen was going to look like. Monday the Alpha Stone team came in and spent the better part of the day, routing the perimeter of the cabinets so the new quartz counter top overhang would nest properly. After 6+ hours of edge work they installed the sink and started to place the new countertop. After an hour or so of hit and miss they were not pleased with the sink opening so back to Alpha Stone it had to go.
They did their magic and on Tuesday afternoon came and completed the installation of the new countertop. After our 4 years of the brown tile counter top, the new quartz top is amazing.
On Wednesday, Robert and his assistant, Darko, came in and cut and set the tiles around the window and under the cabinets. Robert has done all of the tile and flooring work for the powder room, laundry room and kitchen/dining room floor. His level of craftsmanship is amazing.
The rest of the tile was set on Thursday and on Friday the finish electrical and plumbing work was completed. We now had a sink in the kitchen! With the new LED under-cabinet lighting, the white backsplash and white speckled quartz countertop, the kitchen was almost blindingly white - not unlike the explosion of the death star!
Faithful readers know we have standardized on the original Sierra ribbed ivory switch plate covers throughout the house. Beth has tracked them down on EBay and I have had covers machined to fit outlet shapes that didn’t exist in the early 60s. (Check out this cool hack here.) Unfortunately ivory switch plates on our new, white back splash just looked wrong. Beth has tracked down some of a similar vintage style in white plates. The search is on for the rest of what we need. Stay tuned.
So, we were able to enjoy the half completed kitchen for a few days – sort of. As this is the Retro Ranch, nothing is ever as easy as we would hope, so before the next installment and the kitchen is sheeted in plastic for two weeks of cabinet refinishing, there will be a brief blog about the revenge of the sewer pipes and the flooded laundry room. But at least we are not showering on the patio and The St. Louis Blues are still the reigning Stanley Cup Champions!
