What's for Dinner?
I promise to write a post soon that isn't an update on a construction project. But we are pretty excited about the transformation of our kitchen that just was completed yesterday...
Below is a picture of our kitchen from the marketing website before we bought the place. As you can see there are appliances and granite countertops, all of which is a part of the concrete structure. The concrete part is typical of Mexican kitchen construction, although most Mexican kitchens are probably tiled.
We asked our carpenter to construct cabinets out of cedar and to match the stain to the existing woodwork. We discussed the layout of drawers and cabinets and he told us he'd have them ready in 10 days. Well, three weeks later here they were on day one of the installation:
The installation crew was very talented and one of them, James, is pictured above from the rear. (sorry, James) James has a bit of English and was quite a comic. He is convinced that I am an artist that he saw on television. Anyway, they use many electric tools but the huge curls of wood on the floor are from all the hand planing they did in order to make everything fit just right.
The next three pictures are the cabinets complete, and we have put everything away! What a great feeling! The only remaining thing is to paint the kitchen, replace the fan, and paint the concrete base that still shows under the cabinets. Oh, and install the tile mural above the stove, too.
We think it is so beautiful! And the doors are probably an inch thick! It even smells more Mexican - something about the finish they use, I think.
Sundays are wonderful here because no one is working on the courtyard. It is quiet, we can clean up a bit, play music, and be more relaxed. Now that we have our new cabinets though I will be even more anxious for the courtyard work to be done....because of the amount of dust that it generates. And with the kitchen open to the sala fresca, there's nothing we can do about it.
Below is a picture shot from the kitchen into the sala fresca with the courtyard on the right. So I can predict our kitchen will be all dusty and need cleaning next week and on and on until the courtyard is finished, sometime before Christmas.
10 comments:
It is beautiful!
Oh my! What a difference those cabinets make! They are beautiful.
Finally I have a day to catch up. I loved the picture of your son and wife, how wonderful that they speak spanish. You are right that it is a great blessing to be friends with your children when they are grown. We are both lucky to have kids we like as adults.
You can never post too many construction pics as far as I am concerned. I love watching what you are doing with the house.
What a great kitchen. The cabinets are works of art. Aren't the craftsman amazing? I'm so happy for you.
You guys must be ecstatic! The kitchen looks great. I can already see you in there wiping everything down twice a day. ;) I hope the courtyard is completed soon.
Those cabinets look 100% perfect. We have the same open-concrete shelving in our kitchen, and were wondering if it was possible to just put wooden fronts on everything. Your photos show that not only is it possible, it's pretty darned amazing. I am printing them out to give to our carpenter!
Thanks for the compliments!
We are loving the kitchen and actually made ourselves a (gasp!) home made lunch today! It has been a while!
I am amazed by how quickly our cabinets were made and installed, too...I have a friend in the US who has been waiting on her order for MONTHS!
Good luck, Malcolm & Jillian...we hope your kitchen turns out as well as ours did!
They look fantastic!
Did you buy the stainless appliances in Mazatlan?
I guess the old days of only inferior (sorry) Mexican appliances being available are over?
Lots of appliances are made in Mexico and shipped to the USA. Also the HP computer I have here in Mexico I bought in the USA for less than I can buy the same computer here but it was made in Mexico.
Your Kitchen is huge and beautiful. I am curious why most people don't seem to put upper cabinets as we all do NOB? Seems like such a waste of area.
I'm not sure why, actually. I've never really liked upper cabinets, though.
Maybe one reason though is that most Mexican women are short and they wouldn't be able to reach into the cabinets without a stool.
I'm planning on some stainless steel shelving above (next time I can get them from IKEA) and a kitchen island made by a restaurant supply place - probably 4' square!
So it will be a blend of Mexican and modern!
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