Kitchen day 45: Everything AND the kitchen sink

We weren't expecting kitchen counter tops for at least another week, so it was a very happy surprise when Justin got the call yesterday from our installer saying they'd becoming today!  The installers put all of the finishing touches on the cabinets (like the hardware, building up the peninsula, etc), and put in the counter tops.  This meant that we could spend this evening putting in our dishwasher and the kitchen sink.  This is an exciting development, given that for 45 days, we've been washing dishes in the downstairs bathroom.  To be a little more accurate, for the last 45 days, we've been piling dirty dishes in the downstairs bathroom.  (Hey, Mom, at least I'm honest!)

 I'm proud to announce that the majority of the items pictured above are now in the dishwasher for its inaugural run.  You may remember that we decided to hire the professionals to install the cabinets/counter tops (based on the tax loophole that makes it relatively inexpensive for them to do so), but we still took the do-it-yourself approach to most of the kitchen.  For our first attempt at plumbing, things went well!  (Both the sink and dishwasher are working without leaks, so I'll call that a success!)

We re-installed our old sink, which still looks pretty good, despite living on our patio for the last 45 days (including through a hurricane and many, many inches of rain).  With the new faucet, it practically looks new!  Justin deserves more credit; I was mainly the tool-hander and instruction-reader.  I did initially assume the mechanic position (see above) since the under-sink space is more Emily sized, but the strength required for the task ended up being more Justin sized.

Other developments today include a new over-the-sink light, a partial installation of the microwave range hood (halted because we need a part from a store that was closed when I went looking for it at 6:30), more work on the tile floor, vacuuming of flood waters from the basement, and lots of excitement on my part (for everything except the aforementioned flood waters).  Thankfully, our basement puddles aren't more than a few inches, and thanks to a lesson-learned from our sewage incident, most things are in plastic tubs, or far off the floor.  Justin was able to shop-vac the water al a my sister's spring break trip.

But back to the kitchen.  As if I wasn't already enamored enough, I think it keeps getting more charming by the day.

Not bad, since only 45 days ago it was looking like this:

This weekend, I plan to start moving everything into the cabinets, and cook up a storm.  Oh, and we'll probably rescue the refrigerator from the back porch :)  Stay tuned, I'll share more pictures of the whole room soon!

P.S. I linked to The Shabby Creek Cottage & Happy Hour Projects.