Kitchen Completion

It's probably pretty boring to start every new post with "I know I haven't posted in a while ... " I'm sure you can guess at my excuses: Work, plus life with a toddler, plus not much progress on the house to write about.

But it did dawn on me that I never really posted the final pictures of the kitchen, so here they are!

And because I feel this part is important here's a quick snapshot of the costs and resources:

Construction, by Castro Construction: $8,000 (includes tearing out old kitchen, tearing down walls, insulating, drywall/plaster, plumbing for sink, pot filler and gas range, under-cabinet lighting, installing garden window, tile installation, paint, hauling)

Garden window: $1,400 at Lowe's

Cabinetry: $5,000 (yay, Ikea!)

Kitchen layout/design by RF Design: $350 (highly recommended, if you're doing an Ikea kitchen!)

Cabinet installation by Richard Castedon (Ikea's recommended vendor -- they did our whole job in one day): $2,285

Granite Countertops (materials & labor) from Celestine Stone: $3,600 (must add here that I really enjoyed working with Scott Busse of Celestine, a dead-ringer for Puddy from Seinfeld.)

Viking Range and hood, purchased on Craigslist: $5,000

Fridge, purchased on Craigslist but replaced free-of-charge by G.E.: $1,000

SubZero wine refrigerator, Craigslist purchase from a homey in Montebello: $500

Siemens dishwasher, Craigslist purchase from an interior designer in Beverly Hills: $300

Panasonic Microwave from Cosco (Christmas gift from my folks): $129

Danze Parma Single Handle Pre-Rinse Kitchen Faucet, purchased from FaucetDirect.com: $285

Danze Parma Single Handle Wall Mount Pot Filler, purchased from FaucetDirect.com: $223

Danze Parma soap & lotion dispenser, from Faucet Direct: $50

Kitchen Sink, a Kohler aquired on Craigslist: Free!

Tiles, from California Tile Distributors in Burbank: $975

Pot rack, Craigslist: $100 (I was surprised at how expensive these can be)

OK, so looking over these numbers does give me minor heart palpitations. Especially now that we are bumping up against the ceiling of our credit line, it's hard to see those figures in black and white. But I think I'll save my money anxieties for another posting. For now, let's just take a moment to quietly, and a little belatedly, celebrate the completion of the kitchen. All the money and struggles and haggling, and moments of torturous indecision, the dust, the noise, the inconvenience of coming home to find NO SINK -- all of that -- has paid off. We are extremely happy with how this room turned out.

I must also add that we made a little money along the way. We sold the china cabinet for $700 on Craigslist, and we had purchased a whole suite of appliances for $2,000 which we later sold for $2,200. The guy who sold them to us also threw in a kitchen sink and faucet. I sold the faucet on eBay for $175 and the sink turned out to be the only thing we kept. We installed it, and we love it! Anyway, that's a net gain of $1,075 plus a sink.

Next up, one last area to redesign. The back bathroom and laundryroom. Once we get that done, we can move on to the exterior. Money gods willing.