They really do take their time. Installation began yesterday and, unsurprisingly, it didn’t go exactly as planned. Then again, nothing in home improvement ever does.
It felt a bit like waking up on Christmas morning as a child—barely able to sleep the night before, impatiently waiting to tear into presents. John and I stayed up late and rose early, buzzing about the long-anticipated installation. We’ve been without a functioning kitchen for nearly two months—no cabinets, no countertops, no sink—so the idea of finally seeing the cabinets removed from their boxes and placed where they belong had us giddy.
The morning started well, but about an hour into the installation I received some terrible news: one of our two corner base cabinets was built reversed. In short, we were sent two right-hand cabinets instead of a right and a left. KraftMaid has acted quickly to correct the error, but the replacement cabinet won’t arrive for about two weeks. That setback pushes our expected completion past the 19th; realistically, we’re now looking at early January before the kitchen is finished.
And just like that, the Grinch stole our Christmas kitchen.
Despite the missing piece, our installer decided to continue with all the remaining cabinets. Here’s how the kitchen looked on Sunday night:
And this is how it looked on Monday night:
The extra-tall 42-inch upper cabinets provide an astonishing amount of storage. Burger, wearing his Christmas sweater, and I could practically live inside one of them:
Ultimately, the cabinet mix-up is another reminder that home renovations rarely go off without a hitch. Still, once everything is complete it will feel miraculous. Even if our kitchen is a bit fashionably late, we’ll have the rest of our lives to enjoy it.