I decided I will do a kitchen upgrade as the home improvement project of the year. It started in mid May and finally finished today!
No, no. I didn’t do it myself. I hired my friend Doug to do most of the work. I started with purchasing a range, an over-the-range microwave oven, and a fridge. In parallel, I bought the bamboo flooring for Doug to install. He had to cut a new hole on the wall for the ventilation, so he can install the microwave oven. He also repiped a water line to feed it into the fridge for drinking water and ice making. It’s cool! Doug spent a lot of time installing the flooring. It looks very nice and peaceful with the bamboo flooring.
My friend Kevin came over when the range was delivered. He hooked up the gas line to the range. He is a real gas technician so he knows how it works. He was going to do it for free until I realized that it is becoming a bigger project. He had to get a new pipe to connect the gas line to the fridge, and repiped the gas line. I decided to pay him, at least covering the materials. Thanks Kevin!
The countertop people took the template and install a granite countertop with the Black Pearl color and the leather finish. It looks nice and neat, with a new faucet and a two-sink under mount sink. Doug suggested putting on the under-cabinet lighting. So I did more shopping for Doug to install them. Doug then tiled the wall with the combination of glass and stone tiles that I picked. The final thing is installing the light. I picked a moden but simple light. I decided to install it myself as a way to complete the project. I did it!
Although I didn’t do most of the work, I did most of the shopping and decision making. It’s an interesting process. It can be very frustrated to coordinating the timing of everything. I also had to do a lot of research in order to make better decisions. I can’t believe how many decisions I had to make, big or small. I learned a lot from watching Doug and Kevin doing the work. Thanks Doug for taking care of most of the remodeling work! The final result is great. The kitchen looks polish and peaceful. It is not obnoxious or over-the-top. It feels like home!
You are so lucky to call such good team to complete the Dream Work! 5 years ago,we moved home and we also replaced the faucet,two-sink under mount sink(neat and looks nice),and granite countertop then. It
upgraded the kitchen immediately. But I wonder whether your new countertop matches the islandtop or not. Under-cabinet lighting is essential and you really did good job. Someday you may replace the dishwasher to make all the appliances in stainless steel. Have fun with it!
I intentionally don’t want to match the colors of the countertop and the island. I went with a calmer color/pattern for the countertop, so the island pops a little more. It attracts folks gathering around the island. I took a risk but it turns out well. Yeah, the dishwasher was bought previously. That’s why the surface is not matching the rest of the appliances. I decided, since it is white, I am making it as a canvas. I put some magnets that I got from various museums that I visited. It actually adds more colors this way. I like it!