A Kitchen Update - We're Getting Closer

If you've been following the kitchen saga, you know we got the walls painted.  WooHoo!  So Friday a week ago, David Fincher from D & M Custom Cabinets (out of Cedartown, GA) came with his crew to do the install.  I have to say up-front that I would totally recommend them to anyone, anywhere. They did AMAZING work (and this from a girl who is terribly biased in favor of her dad).  It was a difficult, tricky install, but David handled it with grace and aplomb and we have a set of stunning cabinets because of his efforts.

Before they came to the house, tho, we got to stop by his shop and take a look at the unfinished work.

Most of y'all know my father was a cabinetmaker before he retired (for the second time).  So we were prepared to be a little just-because-it-wasn't-dad critical, but instead Greg and I were VERY impressed with the shop.... and the build!  The one on the left is what we're calling the hutch - it will be painted, so it's made of poplar.  The rest of them are cherry, and will be stained a warm brown.

So on the 15th the crew showed up, and started the install.

And hit the first problem.  The side wall ceiling dropped an inch from one side to another.  There's a trick cabinetmakers use to hide elevation changes, especially when you have upper cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling like ours.  You make a facing above the top door and attach crown to it, so the crown can "float" up or down depending on the ceiling.  You do it this way because you can't adjust at the bottom.  The base cabinets have to be certain level height, and there is a standard amount between the countertop and uppers, so you have to be able to flex at the top.  After a bit of wiggling and niggling, they got the uppers where they wanted them....

Until...

They started installing the base cabinets.  Here's David explaining to Greg that not only is the ceiling wonky, but we lose TWO FULL INCHES on the window wall. It's 109 inches from floor to ceiling in both corners, so *both* the ceiling and the floor drop down.  This means that over the last 140 years, the southwest corner of the house sank 2 inches. ::dontworryourfoundationissolidnow::  Regardless of how the house is shaped, the tops of the base must be level so the countertops will fit.  Therefore, you have to shim the bases.

And in our case, they had to shim A LOT.

Behold, the great levitating cabinets!!!!

They persisted, though, and got the bases fully installed so the countertops could be measured the next day.  We talked through a bunch of options to hide the "floating furniture feet", and David promised to come back next week and finish all the bits that need to be done. (He needed to run some baseboard and paint another shelf, and it takes a few days to stain and seal unfinished wood, so that was totally cool!)

And here's the kitchen at the end of Install Day One: