Oil

Last night the counters received their first coat of oil and it soaked in pretty well so they got a second coat tonight. Here's a picture of the kitchen before it was buffed off:

And another of the piece over the microwave. It looks a bit richer than when it was just wet with water.

(PS - the blue tape at the wall edge is intended to keep some of the counter clear so the backsplash tile grout/caulk will stick. The other markers identify some nail holes still requiring touch-up.)

Touch Up #2

After a few hours on Friday, the painter came back today to work on cleaning up the areas marked by blue tape. I guess this is the disadvantage of pre-painted cabinets, although much less time and fumes involved than if we had the cabinets painted onsite.

Soapstone

Dry

Wet

Makes a bit of a difference

We Have Lights

And appliances (only microwave drawer is new), and lots of little blue tape markers to show the painter where to touch up. Door moldings are still going in and painting those is our job.

Toe Kicks

It's not that exciting, but the cabinet folks came back and put down some of the floor trims. The sink and the "buffet" piece received extra fancy toe kicks. Things are coming together.

Marmoleum

The marmoleum went in today.

Floor is Prepped and Ready To Go

Marmoleum coming tomorrow.

Hall Closet

Doesn't look like much and not part of the plan for the kitchen project, but after the cracking plaster in the living room, we ended up having to have the hall closet redone and we finally painted it. It's the one place in the house that was never painted by us yet. It will be nice to fill it back up and empty the office.

Counters

Day 58 (since the demo started).

After a little break for fabrication, the soapstone counters arrived today:

After the backsplash goes in, we'll oil them and they will darken a bit. Many people just use mineral oil, but we also picked up this oil/wax combo that we hope will keep them dark longer.

Here's a bit more detail of the piece on top of the microwave.

We Need a Table

Here's a picture of the mostly finished bench area - just waiting for a table.