OK, here’s the latest progress on the great kitchen rehab project.  Fernando already these pix of the completed tile floor on Facebook:

The wandering washing machine has been moved back to its alcove home.  But you can see the floor.

We’ve chosen 18” x 6” tiles, and had them laid out with random overlap (instead of on halves or thirds), with the long dimension aligned with the long dimension of the room.  That makes the room look a bit larger, in both directions.

Here you can see the texture and color – it’s tile, but with a slate-like look.

Since a nice, clear room, with clean walls and a finished floor should not remain uncluttered for long, we move on:

Protective cover now down over the new tile for the duration of construction and our cabinets have been delivered!  The whole kitchen is pretty much crammed full of boxes of wood boxes.  And as you can see, they’re beginning to be installed. 

We’ve opted for plain shaker/mission style quarter-sawn oak in a light finish.  Much brighter than the dark cherry stain that was there (before pix provided for comparison).  I didn’t want painted white cabinets – the other option.  I much prefer the look of finished wood.

The layout is changing, too.  Where the useless pantry was before, will now be a microwave and wall oven (the large opening straight ahead).  On the right, where the upper cabinet notch is, will be the sink.  That used to be on the other side of the room, under the window.  I’ll miss looking out the window as I wash up, but moving the sink gives us a much more efficient countertop space allocation.  We’ll have a large prep area next to the stove. 

In the new layout photo above, there’s another cabinet next to the corner unit – then the sink, and a dishwasher ON THE RIGHT – no more twisty-turn to load the thing, and then the fridge.  And what you don’t see is that there is a second course of small cabinets going on top of these, bringing storage right up to the ceiling.  Those will have frosted glass fronts instead of the wood center panels, to make their facade less imposing.  Yes, we will need a stepstool to get into those top cabinets, but they will be a great place to stow stuff we only use once a year. 

Next photo will be more cabinet installs, both above and on the other side of the room.