Well, not exactly a story about a stick, but a story-stick. I’d never heard of a story-stick until we were researching all things renovation, building, woodworking. A story-stick saves time and maintains consistency. This is ours.
OK it’s not a stick, but it does tell a story. The story of where the kitchen cupboard handles go. None of this measuring each one individually, oh no, this little bit of plastic from the random spares you get in every IKEA pack tell us exactly where it goes just by putting on the edge of the door. Honestly, it is so much quicker and easier than measuring each one and you know it is correct each time. Brilliant.
We really need things that save time as there is so much to do. In a rash and rather enthusiastic (not the word Ian used!) moment I booked the removal/storage company to return our belongings. Everything we own will return just before Christmas, and I mean just, so we need a functioning home!
It won’t be completely finished, there is no news on when the patio doors will arrive, but somehow we don’t see that dodgy wall any more and the bathroom isn’t being started until the New Year, but the rest needs to be finished….
Ian is working huge long days and I join him after work. The kitchen is now almost done (we are still waiting for a few cupboards and doors).
There is something very special about making a Sunday morning cup of coffee in your own new kitchen, that you built, for the first time! It may be a very wet, windy December day, but I can’t stop smiling.
Taking the kitchen from where you last saw it to functioning was a challenge. I would suggest if you ever install a kitchen, work on strength and grip in advance. I’m talking worktops. The first challenge was picking them up; they are soooooo heavy! Then we had to get them from the bedroom to the living room. This requires a little stroll out the front door turning them round then back in to the hall; don’t damage the wall Ian worked so hard on, on the way in (maybe that one didn’t get as much attention as it should have), through the doorway and onto the boarding we use to cut anything with the track saw. It sounds so simple doesn’t it… only it is slippery, with nothing to grip onto, heavy and we can’t afford to mess it up or chip it…. But we did it, twice.
As well as being heavy, as you will know kitchen worktops are really thick too and even our trusty track saw took a couple of goes to cut right through, but Ian is now a master at accurate cuts and it’s perfect. Smiles all round, as well as relief. Mind you, I wasn’t smiling (and good job I wasn’t) when I was wedged in a cupboard, on my back, holding up the worktop as Ian got the Jigsaw out to cut the holes for the sink and hob. Eyes shut, arms up, hope your assessment of where the saw will cut is correct and brace! It’s not a quick easy cut and by the time we get to the last bit, my arms are killing me and the weight is about the become all mine for this little bit of counter… (yes, he started without me, but I was there soon after this!) Ha little bit, not so little when it has the potential to knock you out. I have never seen so much sawdust on one person; it’s in my undies. Bras are perfect for catching so many things, food is a speciality of mine, but I am now a master of sawdust gathering, and then my hair…. oh my hair. I had just washed it the day before to for our big trip to the bar (still a big thing with no hairdryer and an average 4 hr drying time) and now it seems I have wood dandruff. I am still getting sawdust out of my hair a week later! Installing worktops is interesting. However, it is done and they look fabulous.
Ian has also been busy in our bedroom, as I’ve said before storage space is important, so he got creative again and started building…. I am amazed at what he comes up with and to be honest, how he does it all. Mind you this one was challenging with just 2 of us to install it. Picture the scene. I head into the house after work and there is Ian with the cupboards built, screwed together for rigidity and clean lines. Now all we have to do is lift it up between the end pillars. All we have to do! Ian needs 2 spare hands to screw it together once it’s up and I may have arms full of metal, but they are not strong! Up it goes, not too bad, and then I need to hold it there while Ian lines it up and screw it. We could have done it the other way round, but the chances of it being level and staying up are small, so I hold, Ian screws. Hold… I wedge it on my shoulder (the good one), stretch the other arm out to try and balance it. Ian tries to level it up, tilt it to the right angle, as this is the wall that gave so much grief previously. It is nowhere near a flat, horizontal or vertical wall, and he needs to screw it together so it looks right. It felt like a lifetime, but we did it! A bit more fixing to the wall and it’s up.
Only one more layer to go, but at least this can be supported by something other than me. Now, as Ian built it became clear the original design wouldn’t quite work, so different cupboards are on order to finish it off, but once again, we love it.
The Kitchen has had a few more additions, the plumbing and electrics all connected and we do a big clean up. The house is clean, most of the dust has gone, and we shouldn’t have too much more created now. We no longer have a saw in the living room, and piles of wood, and filler, and screws, tools. and general building supplies in the house. They have been banished to the garage and garden, ready for future projects, or the skip that is on order.
Luckily the bin men were kind and took all our boxes.. we need to plant a whole forest to pay this back.
Next step the loft, to try and sort out the connections for when we get a TV, more carpet to fit and something to give us a bit of privacy as window dressings are a way off yet, and the world isn’t ready for us moving in with no blinds or curtains.
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