And then right back in - head first!

We went to Sherwin Williams and looked at stain colors. Our cabinet guy uses Sherwin Williams - so that made it easier. We decided to go with Birch wood (although I may see what the cost difference is for Maple). And it'll be stained a medium brown color. Next we went to Lowe's and bought our range and figured out what the dishwasher will need for installation. We upped our budget on the cabinetry so we couldn't get all the appliances at once. So I decided to get the most expensive piece now, and this way I can have the countertops installed as soon as we get back from the cruise. Here is the Frigidaire 30-inch range that we chose - we went ahead and got the convection (now I can REALLY burn dinner) It was only a couple hundred more than the conventional in the same style. We did draw the line at the convection conversion computer that added $500 to the price though! (although reading online, it looks like it has some level of conversion - convection cooks 30% faster, so you have to alter your baking times.... I'm sure it'll really affect the frozen pizzas and brownies!!)

Big E also got the electrical stuff to install in the cabinets - there is a bit of a challege as the electrical comes up through the floor - but I think we have a solution that is both code legal and not too offensive to the eye. :)

Then we went to IKEA to make a decision about the custom door fronts. Turns out she had a list of all the sizes of the doors - we double checked them and they're rounded up an 1/8 of an inch. But, it made us feel more confident about ordering custom doors. We also decided to do the island all in stainless and add MDF end pieces to the tall cabinets on the wall. We will paint these with chalkboard paint - IKEA had new cabinets made from chalkboard material, but they only came in cabinet door sizes. So we'll just go to Home Depot and get 2 pieces cut to size and paint them ourselves. Just that alone will save us $350 on the 2 end pieces. (they're $200 each). We also added a "stainless-look" toe-kick. This is just stainless formica on particle board. We wanted the dark grey, but it was backordered and I didn't want to wait 4-6 weeks to get my damn cabinets (see photo of hole in floor). Here's some photos of the box jungle on it's way to my house. I had to pay $15 extra so they wouldn't deliver the kitchen before the floor was complete (IKEA bastards). So it'll come next Saturday morning, then that afternoon we're due in Huntley for E's Mom's b-day. Hopefully I'll have time to do a quick inventory and then return/exchange any mistakes on our way out there. **sigh** So much work!