Kitchen Renovation: Wednesday through Saturday

Good shot of new upper and lower cabinets 

(giving us much more usable counter space)

Custom desk with cork board

The happy renovator version 2.0

Installed oven and gas cooktop (with drawers back in)

Undermount granite composite sink ($50 on Craig's List) 

complete with faucet and push-button on/off switch

Cooking with gas — awesome

The mosaic tile we picked out at Home Depot today ($10.99 square/foot)

The changes Phil made over the duration of last week — plus what Dan assisted with on Saturday — are a little less noticeable but exciting nonetheless.

Several coats of tung oil and polyurethane have been applied to the counter tops; its color is becoming more and more rich by the day. Several electrical outlets were moved. A cork board is now up behind the custom-built desk. Drawer fronts, cabinet hardware and a modified "arch" above the sink rounded out the cosmetic changes. 

Saturday was especially exciting. Phil arrived around 9:30 and Dan was eager to help. Over the course of the day, they installed the sink's plumbing, garbage disposal (and it's custom on/off button), the $190 Craig's List stove and $140 Craig's List gas cooktop.

A tile subcontractor will be at our house tomorrow to put up our backsplash, which consists of the quarter-inch cement backer board, adhesive multi-colored mosaic tiles and linen-colored grout.

Eventually we'll be sanding and repainting our cabinets an antique white color (and maybe taking the doors off some of them or all of them) and putting up consistent crown molding. We're looking into putting up new light fixtures and having our avocado green Vent-a-Hood repainted white professionally. The custom bookshelf (where the soffit once was) will stay open for now, as an electrician may need to go through the space to update our electrical panel.

We think Phil is our new best friend.