Ikea Time

The inevitable trip to Ikea took place over the Fourth of July weekend. Ikea kitchen cabinets always seemed to fit our budget considerations and matched our house design - inexpensive and modern.

Before our journey to the local store, I spent one night fighting the kitchen design program to match the plans I had drawn by computer. This turned out to be more frustrating than first imagined since the "kitchen objects" don't necessarily snap into place as suggested by the program's makers. But at least I got all the parts on the page and was able to work up an itemized list and price that is within the budget. Also by using the program, I decided to move the dishwasher location and added in a "lazy susan" base cabinet which Mrs. Juniper suggested. So it wasn't a complete waste of time to learn the program and input all the variables. In any case, we still have to take the layout to the design team at Ikea and have them tweak it with their expertise. That should be interesting...Will they upsell us?

Determining the finish material is over. It looks as if we're going with brown wood veneer cabinets and white laminate countertops. The kitchen island is going to have the same cabinets but with the salvaged bowling alley wood countertop, which needs to be sanded, cut, and customized to fit.

Oh yeah - we also bought a huge kitchen table on sale for $166. It seats 6-10 people...

Next: Bathrooms!