Kitchen Update 4

Thank you for the compliments you paid my napkins, and more importantly for your supportive words about my misplaced crafting mojo. It will return, it always does. I am actually feeling quite chipper tonight. I went on a very long and hilly run with my sister this morning and I felt so good about it afterwards, felt a real sense of achievement. It was my first run in about six weeks and I was worried about how my fitness might have suffered, what with all the crap I've been eating lately, but it was good. Hard, but good. I know I will be very sore tomorrow but it felt great to move and stretch my muscles and feel alive. The weather was lovely and the everything so green and pretty. I took this photo when we got to the top of the hill.

I'm also upbeat because tomorrow we break up from school for a week long half term holiday. We have no plans, just a list of house and garden jobs, but John has most of the week off and I'm looking forward to some family time and some lazy mornings.

It's been a few weeks since I showed you any progress in the kitchen but I have been snapping away here and there, recording the developments, and have some here to show you tonight. 

The worktops were fitted. It's really hard to see what they look like in a photo but they are grey quartz and flecked with a lovely sparkle which catches the light.

The cupboards and doors still wear their protective plastic coating and will do until the floor is down and the last of the dusty jobs are over.

The tap was fitted and we now have hot and cold running water, and a plumbed in dishwasher. Amazing! An integrated dishwasher would've looked better but we only bought that one you see above a year ago and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, so it stays.

The cooker is in it's place. I'm really happy about the amount of worktop we have either side, which I hope will make baking and food preparation much easier than before. 

Various panels and covers and whatnot still need to be attached to the front and top of the cooker but we can do that later. The kitchen fitters are coming back tomorrow to connect the electrical supply to the cooker and also to fit the extractor fan that will sit above it. We opted for a "dual fuel" cooker - gas hob and electric oven - and so we still need to arrange for a gas person to come out and connect the hob.

We finished all the painting, including the grey dining room wall and the radiator. (We had radiator paint mixed in the same shade as the wall, Valspar Empirical Grey.) My hope is that, once the furniture and pictures are back in the room, the radiator will kind of disappear.

And then the most exciting thing ever happened - the overhead light was fitted. 

Deliberately positioned low, it will hang over the table and gives off the softest light. No angles. I think it it one of the lovliest things I have ever seen or owned and it makes me smile every time I see it. 

The last job is the flooring, which we hope will be laid next week. Then, I can take off all the plastic layers, clean the room, wipe out the cupboards and drawers and, with the radio on, slowly potter about putting all our things in their new home.