We’re all set. All the wiring is ready. All the plumbing is ready. We’ve got a new floor. We’ve got a new ceiling. The walls have been replastered. Everything has been painted.
It is time.
Time to bring in the cupboards!
If you’ve been reading this blog for a few weeks, you know what follows after the break. Music!
First thing to finish was the electricity in the wall, for the refrigerator, oven and microwave. Installing outlets isn’t that hard, it’s a matter of stripping the wire from its insulation…
… bending them a little as they’re supposed to go (solid wire can be a bit stubborn) …
… screw the outlet onto the wires …
… fix the outlet in place and finish of!
After that came the cupboards. First one …
… then the other.
In goes the oven!
The other side of the room…
An then I probably laid my camera away and forgot to take further pictures… Bummer.
So what exactly did we still do after those two cupboards? First we installed the counter underneath the window, with the sink in it. This meant cutting a hole in the countertop with my jigsaw, to accommodate the sink. Installing that sink really was a pain in the ass though. The one we bought has to be held in place by clamps that you tighten with screws. Unfortunately I didn’t have the space all around for the clamps (due to the construction of the counter top), and those clamps simply aren’t up to the task of clamping down the sink, only to keep it in place. Instead I had to be a little creative: I used a couple of F-clamps and some wooden batten, clamped down the sink and then screwed the clamps into place.
With the sink in place came the time to make it functional. I had to cut a hole for the tap, which I did with a hole drill. It took time and persistence, but I got through eventually, ready to install the tap. To do that, I first connected both supply leads, positioned it in place, and screwed it right there. After that I could hook up the supply and drain, and we have a working sink!
With the sink done we still had to install the island. I first had to clean up the water supply and drain I laid, as they currently don’t have any function (but if we ever want water on the island, we can!). I put a plug in each one, to make sure we stay dry and without smells. After the cupboards comes the countertop, indeed! This one needed a cut-out for the cooktop, and a hole for the popup outlet. Installation was a lot easier than the sink: screw in two brackets, and let the cooktop fall and click in place, and the popup outlet just screws in place. After everything was installed, I could connect them, and presto!
Funny story about the cooktop: what we installed isn’t what we ordered. Chrisje did a lot of research on it, and settled for a Siemens EH975SZ11E. That model was end of life, so we did hesitate if we shouldn’t go for the newer one, EH975SV17E. However, as we found it at pleasant discounts (think 30% or more), we decided to go for the older model. We ordered it online, only to receive a mail after some days that that model was no longer in stock, but instead they already shipped the newer replacement model, at no extra cost!
Somebody clearly loves the cooktop!
Now we could hang up the extractor, and finally we could begin the finishing touches: installing doors and drawers, putting up some sideboards, have the fridge and microwave in place, and finally, fill everything up.
One last fun story, about the kitchen itself this time. By the time we installed it, we had it sitting in our living room for over a year already. It’s not a new kitchen, but it has been refinished with new countertops, and all fronts have received a new laminate layer of sorts. It included the fridge, oven, extractor and a dish washer we never got to work, but it didn’t cost the 10k or more you pay for a new kitchen. If you’re up for a guess, leave a comment below. You can be off by 500€, and the closest one wins an honourable mention in the next post.
Any of you that have installed a kitchen on their own? If so, what are your thoughts?
Update!
Upon request, two pictures of the “completed” kitchen (don’t mind the mess):
I still have to finish the wall with the windows, but for that the window guy has to return first…
All in all we’ve lived without proper kitchen for a little over a year. I originally planned for it to be done in 6 months, but things got in the way: roof guy, a play with all of its preparations, a honeymoon… I guesstimate it should have taken us 7 or 8 months instead. As the kitchen wasn’t new and we already had it from around the time we started breaking out the old one, we set it up temporarily in our living room, but with only a microwave, fridge & freezer, and a camping cooktop… It was a year of camping, so we were glad to have the kitchen ready!