Five Days In

I cannot tell you the number of posts I read prior to beginning this project, about how folks painted their kitchen cabinets in a weekend. This can only mean one of two things--they are really, really fast, or, the finished product will not hold up for long. We figure no less than two weeks to complete. Yikes!!

At any rate, we are five days in with a long way to go. One thing that has been weighing on my mind is that silly hair business I reported last week. Several friends were kind enough to suggest that I have my thyroid checked, and I'm doing my best to make that happen, however, I'm having trouble getting in to see a doctor, SO, in the meantime, I'm going to go with something our friend Pam said yesterday afternoon when she stopped in to see our progress. Apparently, her sister, who has a thick head of hair, sheds every September. I like that idea, however, I'm going to go with molting like my cardinal friends!

I'm merely losing some to gain it back, or so I hope!!!

So how did we do yesterday? Very well, thank you for asking. Actually, what day is this? Thursday? Okay, on Tuesday Bruce worked long and hard, ending the day by putting in this cool frame to hold the drawer guides.

As well, he shored up the cabinets using the piece he cut away from between the top cabinets, along with using the pieces he cut out of the cabinets for the windows in the bottom.

I didn't explain that very well, but maybe the picture will. We are BIG fans of recycling around this house, and using parts and pieces to make things stronger is a bonus. Finally we ate dinner around 9!

While he was drilling, and screwing, and what have you, I went out back to do something, finding this beautiful sky after a day of rain.

Before I knew it we were up again, or at least Bruce was, heading to the hardware store just after 6 in the morning. Eventually I got up (7), and while letting Baxie outside, I was treated to a lovely almost full moon. I thought it was kind of fun to take it in the exact same spot!

One thing brightening the kitchen amongst all the construction is a lovely bunch of sunflowers that Kathy brought when she visited.

Not the greatest vase, but it was the most available!

What was next? Sanding the cabinets was Bruce's idea, and when you have a project manager, as I do, you go with their plan. Instead of using the deglosser, which Bruce claimed would not remove the leftover hinge crud, he did this.

Actually, during the sanding, I held the plastic away, and he ended up putting on a respirator, unsure if the finish contained lead. This was a brilliant idea (no surprise there), and when he was done, it looked like this.

Lots of dust, but very manageable. Next up was cleaning, painting the insides, and finally priming the frame. Woo hoo!! Kathy can attest to how grungy the cabinets were inside after pulling up the paper. No longer my friends, no longer.

Outside, our carpenter extraordinaire was making new drawers.

Isn't this exciting stuff? I'm so, so happy! He got them all done, even putting on one of the handles so we could see what they look like. He made the boxes, followed, by the fronts which he shaped with a router.

Getting the drawers to slide perfectly, be level, and all that non fancy stuff they never show in the home improvement television shows, was time consuming indeed. Meanwhile I went to get the door glass, and some polyurethane for the drawers. Bill came by after work to see a project, not his own, and pronounced it wonderful. He said this is no ordinary paint job--this is reconstruction, and indeed it is. You might notice the red dabs on the fronts of the cabinets, and if so, I'll tell you what it is--a glazing putty used for cars, a product I read about on a pro painters site. After 54 years the hinges have left their mark; this product goes on very smoothly, and sands nicely.

I insisted we eat no later than 7:30, to which Bruce agreed, finishing the drawers just in time.

Bruce has to meet someone at 11, at Church Street, whereas at 1, I'm going to meet my art publisher; aside from that, you know where you can find us!