So- Happy first day of December and Happy we’re almost done with the kitchen. All the cabinets are in but not all of them have doors. We have running water and new electrical outlets. The appliances are all in place- and the dishwasher even has dirty dishes in it- ready to be washed.

We are soooooooo close to having a brand new kitchen that I almost want to go out and buy actual food to cook in it. Granted we still have about 5 more weeks of frozen meals to choose from, and I don’t actually know how to use any of the new appliances. They’re very fancy and not at all straightforward like our old oven which pretty much just had On and Off and approximate temperatures. The new ovens are German and they do a lot….

But we have hit a snag, our induction downdraft fancy pants cooktop is missing a part. A part that I called multiple times to check was included, a part that I was told multiple times was included. Guess what? Not included. Has to be ordered. Will *probably* be in stock but can’t be guaranteed. So, can I boil water in my new kitchen? No. Can I make a roast? Yes. Can I sauté vegetables to serve with it? No. Can I make an omelette? No. Can I warm plates in the warming drawer? Yes, yes I can. Can I wash dishes and wash my hands? Yes.

So we’re almost there- but not having a critical piece is extremely frustrating because it means we’re not done. I don’t care about cabinet doors not being on yet or hinges to be installed at a later date. I’d like to make tacos, or pasta, or a steak and I cannot- not yet. And after spending 45 minutes on the phone being passed around from Person to person at Winning Appliances where we bought everything to Neff customer service to Neff warranties to Bosch spare parts, I’m frustrated that still it’s not totally resolved.

But the light is at the end of the tunnel. Friday morning I’m going to try to unpack the last few boxes and put more things away to try to restore some more normalcy to the chaos that the last 35 days have been. If we had stools already, I’d sit at our new breakfast bar and have a coffee while reading the paper…. But we don’t have stools yet either.

But we’re close! Oh so close to being done!

Ok, technically not everywhere, just in the sink. Which after 34 days of not having a kitchen sink is quite exciting and entertaining. We take it for granted, but it is pretty cool to have water again. I don’t really understand how water actually comes into our house and out of the tap. I’m sure at some point Thomas will ask and I’ll make up something about pipes and sewage and reservoirs because I am an adult and I still don’t fully understand how it all works. So I’ll have to Google an answer for him, but for today, I’m just happy that we finally have a working kitchen sink again.

So. I meant to update you all on Saturday afternoon, but I was too busy admiring my new kitchen counters. Yep, we have a place to sit on, lean on and store things on.

It’s really made the kitchen take shape since the sink is now in place, the stove top is in place and it’s starting to look almost finished.

The end is in sight and I’m happy with how it’s all coming together!

30 days since we started this kitchen caper. And it’s not done yet.

Are we cooking this Thanksgiving? No. Am I disappointed? Yes. Did I hope we’d be done by now? Definitely. Are we? Well….no.

We are getting close though. Looking back, the first week was a frenzy, and since then, it’s been….. hurry up and wait. Bursts of activity and then nothing.

But it is coming together. The fridge is no longer in the dining room, one oven is installed. We have food in the pantry and plates in the drawers. Hopefully by the end of the weekend, we will have counters and maybe even a sink. I live in hope.

All in all, I’m pretty thankful. Not only am I thankful to be able to renovate a kitchen but also thankful that progress is being made at all and that we’re not staring into an empty void.

So Happy Thanksgiving if you’re celebrating today. I’m looking forward to the next time I can enjoy cooking for family and friends again.

Well, guess what. It’s finally coming together.

After two marathon days, our kitchen is almost there. And by almost there, I mean I can put cereal in the pantry and food on the shelves. Our dishwasher is in place, and we have inserts in our drawers.

In other words, we’re close, oh so close to having a kitchen again. We’re not there- the stone counter will come next week. The appliances and sink are t connected yet, but I can start to put food on the shelves and start to think about putting things where they belong.

It’s just the good news I need after a not so great day otherwise. My next step is to buy baskets and containers and pretend that I’m one of those super organised super moms on Instagram that have beautifully organised pantry shelves. You know the ones with nothing out of place, just enough for the matching jars to look perfectly filled with dry goods, and where everything has a home. In other words, the total opposite of every kitchen I’ve had before.

Are those shelves I see? And doors?

Progress is happening…. I’m so excited that our kitchen storage is starting to take shape. There is a glimmer of hope that one day, someday we will have a kitchen again.

Better than a cruise on the Titanic but not exactly smooth sailing.

It is a question that I’m getting asked a lot these days for obvious reasons.

People who have renovated before are more than happy to commiserate and share their horror story of the renovation that took 6 months instead of 6 weeks or the time that they had a dodgy {insert name of trade here} and their renovation project went off the rails.

People who haven’t renovated before are genuinely surprised that it’s not done yet. Yes, it takes more than a week to renovate and put things back together.

No matter which side of the fence you’re on, yes, our kitchen renovation is still going on.

We’ve made some progress, had some setbacks and are learning to live in chaos. More work is happening today but a lot is already done. Enjoy this picture of our current kitchen- which to untrained eye hasn’t changed a lot in the past week or so!

You will notice the floors are done, walls are patched and there aren’t any wires hanging from the ceiling…. But we’re not done yet.

Yes, it’s Day 8 but nothing has actually happened in the kitchen since Day 4. The good news is that the appliances, dishwasher and sink have all arrived.

The bad news is there’s a shortage of tradesman at the moment thanks to the lockdown, Covid, and a few other factors so we can’t find anyone to gyprock which is the next stage of the Reno. So, we’re in a bit of a conundrum. Kind of like Cinderella, all dressed up with no where to go- and no progress being made.

The good news is that we may have found a solution a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend who is charging us triple what it should cost has said that he can do it- which will get the project moving again- at a cost.

There is also the issue of the floors. We can’t find anyone to do them, so one of us has decided he will do the floors himself- with the help of a friend because we can’t find a professional to do them. This is not an option I am thrilled about, in fact I have strong feelings about DIY projects. Namely, that they should not be done unless it’s something no one will see. You wouldn’t do your own dental work, or defend yourself in a lawsuit….. but I digress. But, desperate times may call for desperate measures but fingers crossed it doesn’t come to DIY.

So hopefully there will be more progress in days 8-14, we’ve made it through the first week at least- and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Just not sure how long the tunnel is!

They say on your wedding day something will always go wrong and I’m pretty sure the same is true with renovations. I don’t remember anything going wrong on our wedding day and I’m sure in a few years I won’t remember anything going wrong with our reno.

And to be honest, so far nothing has gone wrong. We had a minor crisis with our appliances over the weekend, but we managed to resolve it very quickly- possibly too quickly actually and now we have a new dishwasher arriving tomorrow.

There was a small miscommunication with our appliance supplier and we realized that the dishwasher was on a separate invoice, then we were told it was out of stock, then they offered a similar, older model which I wasn’t happy with because who wants a stinky old model dishwasher? Actually, any dishwasher will do right now since the laundry sink is not ideal. Anyway, long story short- we cancelled the order, found one at Bing Lee and it’s arriving tomorrow. So, the crisis isn’t really a crisis at all but so far everything is going to plan.

Gary’s ordered himself fancy Smart lights and sockets which he’s excited about, we agreed on a stone colour for the counters and were fiscally responsible and chose the less expensive option, so that’s exciting and all the appliances should be here this week. We are progressing well….except the floors but that’s a different story to be solved tomorrow!

So, not to jinx us- but things are going relatively ok with this renovation thing.

We’re exactly three days in- and things are taking shape. Yes, at the moment there is dust everywhere and a pile of dishes to wash in the laundry that I’m still getting my head around how to wash but it’s going ok.

In fact, our new kitchen is starting to rise like a Phoenix out of the dust and ash of our old ones. Ok, maybe that’s a bit dramatic but it is starting to take shape!

Although right now, the big debate is over what colour countertops. We can change our minds up until Monday or Tuesday so of course we are still undecided…. Enjoy this web page visualization of our two options in their model kitchen- the one that we agreed on is out of stock since everyone is renovating at the moment.

Another benefit of renovation? Guilt free Fish and chips by the beach for dinner!