busybee fluffy rambles

First, here is my dining room, looking the cleanest it has been since I first moved in:

They also fixed the sideboard cabinet doors so they’re actually possible to open and close. Neat. However, Oliver didn’t tell me that he needed me to get some quarter-round trim for below the cabinets, and I had almost enough of the white stuff to do those… but that’s not what I wanted there. Another frustrating communication gap ensued. But hopefully I can find more suitable trim at Home Depot this weekend.

The stove peninsula’s under-countertop trim also went in, and it looks pretty great.

The spice cabinet isn’t quite done. Also I can’t say I’m terribly thrilled with the way Oliver decided to trim it (in particular I wish he’d used the thinner/lighter trim that went around the stove peninsula). But at least it actually fits my large restaurant-style spice containers, and has plenty of room inside. Actually it seems like it has more room inside than before, which makes absolutely no sense because the new box is actually smaller than the old one? (He started with the old box and then lined it with countertop stone. And he didn’t mill it down either, it’s still the full thickness.) Maybe it’s just because the lack of doors and center post make it more open and more accessible.

In any case, I feel like this could have been done very differently and I’d be tempted to get it redone at a later time. Probably not worth the effort or expense, though. Maybe I’ll re-trim it, although that’ll also require repainting that wall. I’m not thrilled with the particular shade of white they went with on that wall and I was planning on repainting it eventually anyway, so maybe that’ll be a nice weekend project at a later time. I won’t worry about it too much for now, since it’s Good Enough™.

The cabinet to the right of the window still doesn’t have its door. Oliver says he’ll bring it on Monday. I hope he remembers this time.

The handles are on all of the doors and drawers, except the over-the-fridge cabinet where I think they forgot. I’ll definitely have to point that out on Monday. (I am keeping a list of things to fix/complete.)

Relatedly, the bottom drawer next to the refrigerator wasn’t installed quite correctly, and one of the runners isn’t attached to the bottom. So it doesn’t open or close correctly. Given that I’m going to be keeping heavy pots and pans in there, that’ll definitely have to be fixed.

I’m not a fan of how renovation people seem to just stick random stuff wherever is most convenient. They left a lot of tools and leftover materials in random places. I’ve collected them all into a box. (Also, I’m extremely not a fan of how they don’t lift up my toilet seat and then stand to pee and then don’t clean up after themselves. Eugh.) And of course they made it difficult for me to get access to my living room, as well. Fortunately this stuff is lightweight and I could just move it into a better location.

This isn’t an issue unique to this crew, either; every single renovation I’ve ever had has resulted in this.

Oh, and they still haven’t installed the under-cabinet lights. That’ll supposedly happen on Monday as well.

Finally, proper organization for my tea and coffee.

Oh and the fridge is finally in its right place, in the kitchen (and not in the dining room).

Also while all this was going on I finally got around to mounting the travel guitar and ukulele that I keep in my office. I so love how fast the Bambu Lab X1C prints stuff, and how I don’t have to babysit prints at all. In both cases I just sent the job to the printer from the comfort of my office, then an hour later got a little ding from my phone that told me the print was done, and I’d just go downstairs and fetch it. Nice.

Anyway. Aside from the line-items noted above, the kitchen is basically done, and they’re taking the weekend off. Monday they’ll finish the kitchen items and then start on the laundry room. So this weekend I need to move my stuff back into the kitchen and then pack up the laundry room stuff, then things will be extra-weird for a bit since that’s also the entryway to my bedroom, bathroom, and office. I have no idea where they’re going to put the washer and dryer while the floor is torn up, either… Into the dining room, I guess? I’m sure it’ll all work out, but gosh that’s going to be an annoying few days.

I need to figure out where the litter box will go for the interim, and I also hope that they’ll respect the cats' food area in the dining room; historically they haven’t seemed to understand that cats have needs too.

But anyway! The end is in sight, and the kitchen already feels way more comfortable than it ever has.