Today was the day the cabinets arrived. I have been working with David from NY Woodwork, who is my cabinet husband. This is the second project we have worked on together and I know that I will not only get the high minded thinking - like design and the latest tools and gadgets, but I will also get exceptional craftsmanship and somebody who sweats every 1/16" of an inch.

This project had some unique challenges.

I wanted mostly a white kitchen, but I didn't want it painted white - I wanted it stained white, with all the beautiful grain only white oak can give you. It turns out that he had to stain it four times, to get the right color that was not painted looking and not too pink either.
I wanted open shelving, but wasn't sure what I wanted to put behind it
I wanted my island to be the same blue as the living room - but not too glossy
I wanted all my plugs on the far side of the island from where I would be cooking to keep cords out my way
And of course, I wanted to take advantage of the super high ceilings in a narrow `14' wide house, without it feeling like you were walking through a canyon.

David delivered on every item. Today his team got the bases in, we shop for reclaimed wood for the open shelving next week and the doors and panels will come in a couple of weeks. The amazing thing is that the space actually feels bigger with the cabinets in that it did when it was empty.

This morning we were ready for cabinets.

First it was chaos as all the cabinets were piled in.

Then a few started to line up

Then I started to see three streams of cabinets

Starting next to the stairs we have a narrow pantry and space for the fridge and freezer

Moving down to the cooking area, we will have a quilted stainless backspash and quartz counters and sides and a Bertazzoni dual fuel range and oven.

Next we have the towering pantry, which is my tribute to storage.

Then swiveling around you see the working side of the island with cookie sheet storage, trash, microwave, pots and pans, sink and dishwasher.

Looking across you can see my lower cabinets are in. The open shelving will go i above, with three shelves of reclaimed wood going all the way across the wall.