In kind of a holding pattern. Had a real cluster*ck on our tile for the backsplash. Whoever wrote up my order couldn't bother to tell me that a deposit was required. After 3 weeks, I called to inquire on status and the woman on the other end of the phone took rudeness to an entirely new level. Finally told me that the order hadn't been placed because no deposit was put down. We've done business with them before and no deposit was required. More importantly, we were not told a deposit was required. The woman thanked me for my business and told me they would "call when the tile was in" so I was beyond p*ssed, needless to say.
I was going to go without a backsplash but the cabinet place also has access to tile so I've spent a ton of time this week trying to get the tile situation resolved, going through the cabinet place. Thought I had and when my helper quoted me the price yesterday, I almost chocked on my non-false teeth but decided to forge ahead since I don't plan on ever replacing said tile. The gentleman who came and measured for our cabinets saw our tile order and texted me since it wouldn't have been a whole lot more to do what is called a full backsplash in the quartz we used for countertop. I asked him how high the tile was measured for and when he texted back 18" I understood why the invoice was so pricey. We had the standard 6 or 8 inch backsplash in our old kitchen and I assumed (bad on me) that was what we were getting. I went out and measured and we only have 14" between countertop and bottom of window framing so it wouldn't fit anyway. More importantly, I don't want that much tile to begin with. It's about 1/3 of the cost of the full backsplash to back it down to 4" and use the same quartz as the countertop so that is what we are up to. Probably another 2-3 weeks before that will be cut and installed.
Also, the truck with our replacement 2 boxes of flooring was delayed and didn't get here as scheduled so now we are scheduled for contractor to be over on Monday to finish the flooring and trim as well as a few items on our punch list. Hopefully they will finish up on Monday. We'll be able to have the painter come in and do touch up and then it will be done except for the backsplash. Drapery Den is working on our window treatments which should be ready in another 2 weeks tops so we truly are almost finished with the reno. I spent Wed. afternoon, organizing the pantry. Highest shelf for extra paper products (napkins, towels and plates) as well as backups on condiments and such. One shelf just for cereal as I like variety and have 4 flavors and hub has 3 flavors he likes). One shelf for baking, one for pasta, cooking spices and the few canned goods we buy. One shelf for my canned tomatoes and some other odds and ends and the bottom shelf for all my different flours, all-purpose, bread flower, wheat flower, cornmeal, etc). Filled that baby up completely. Each shelf does have room if I need to add anything but it's real easy to find what I need now. I found these little basket things at Ace and. bought 3 of them. One for baking spices, one for cooking spices and one for onions and potatoes as I didn't want to put those veggies on the shelf. Too easy for one to turn bad, which leaves a nice stain on the wood. If that happens, just need to wash the little basket and no permanent stains in my pantry.
For my purposes, the kitchen is fully functional. This is just window dressing stuff that has to be completed. Anyway, the kitchen is so much better than I anticipated. I still can't wrap my head around how much bigger it looks. Part of it is loosing that behemoth of a butcher block. I also think omitting the lazy Susan on both top and bottom cabinets increased our accessible area of the kitchen so that also helped. The rest is pure illusion, thus my painting the walls yellow and opting for white finishes on the cabinets, making it appear much larger than it actually is. I actually enjoy working in there now and I certainly did not before. Even the after meals clean ups aren't anything to be dreaded. I love going in there and getting everything wiped down, stove top cleaned and dishwasher running after our last meal of the day. Haven't enjoyed our kitchen like this since we moved here from Leavenworth, almost 21 years ago, Sheesh have those years flown by.
