After a year of planning and collecting I finally took the week of Xmas off and started to really tear into it.
There were major setbacks, a foot of snow, electrical decisions, my (well deserved) fear of drywall, a sudden need to re-lay 60 squares of the kitchen floor, another project wherein I drunkenly offered to build a wheelchair ramp for a friend (in the foot of snow), and some appliance mysteries to boot. But the first bank of new cabinets with a cooktop and built in oven are in place.
Soon I will install the face of the cabinets which I have already assembled and then put in cement board on the upper wall for tile. Then on to installing the prep sink and the copper vent hood, the oak butcher block counter and the grand finale, an in-counter grill.
Ill get into the specifics on further steps later, but just a few notes on this section. The oak raised panel cabinets were salvaged from a Seattle home remodel as were the cooktop, the built in oven, the faucet, the garbage disposal unit, and the copper vent hood. The prep sink was bought new to match the large farm sink that will go on the other side of the kitchen. It took 6 months to collect all the parts, and there were several changes to the plan based on availability of better material. The copper vent hood just voted the stainless hood off the island last week. Keeping my plan loose and taking my time to prepare has led me to a remodel at substantially less cost with little impact on the environment.
As for the environmental impact, I try every way possible to mitigate my consumptive nature. While pulling down the lath and plaster I separated the lath so it can be recycled as clean wood. My previous set of cabinets were donated to the salvage store so they can hopefully end up in someones garage or retro kitchen. There are three parts to the logo "Reduce, Re-use, Re-cycle" we've got to remember that re-cycle is the last of them.
