Still working on the cabinets...

The focus is still on the cabinets. During the week, as time permitted, Andy installed the cabinet hardware... 66 handles!!!  Then over the weekend, he added some accent lighting to the sunroom cabinets and trimmed them out by adding panels and trim. 

In the meantime, Monica did what she does best, shopping.  Buying more things to fill up all of these new cabinets.  She bought things like martini glasses, beer glasses, drink glasses, party serving dishes, trash cans and so on.  So on Sunday, she started putting things away into the cabinets now that they have handles.

Unfortunately we don't yet have a date for the granite installation so Andy can't install the backsplash or finish trimming out the kitchen.

However the big news is that the dumpster is gone from the driveway and we can park there again!!  It is nice with the extra width that we added.  No more stepping in mud or on wet grass.  Yay!!  I'm sure the neighbors are happy that we have two less cars parked on the street.

The pantry cabinets around the fridge can now be pulled out and used.  The new trash can is controlled by an IR sensor and will automatically open and close.. gotta love geeky gadgets, even in a trash can!!!

The cooking center had lots of handles to install with all of those drawers.  You can see the Monica has started organizing things with her new canisters.

The long wall o' cabinets extends all the way through to the sunroom.  Lots and lots of handles to install.  You can see the all important margarita machine on the counter just just to the right of the tall cabinet.  The margarita machine and the coffee maker will be relocated to the sunroom once the granite is in.

This is where Andy spent his weekend. 

 The original design was just the coffee counter in the right corner and called for one florescent light fixture.  So there was only the one box for wiring lighting below the wall cabinet on the right.. you can see it is now covered with a white plate. 

Andy purchased some LED light kits from IKEA.  Four strips of white for under the cabinet and four strips for above the cabinet.  Inside each cabinet is a strip of multicolor LED lights that look great with the frosted glass doors. 

Andy needed electricity at the top of the cabinets.  So he had to run Romex from the connection up to the top of the cabinets and added two surface mounted outlet boxes al controlled by one switch.  He then had to mount the LED strips below, in and above the cabinet and run all the connectors through the cabinets.  He pretty much spent all of Saturday doing electrical work and installed the accent lights.

Sunday was spend installing decorative panels on the sides and underneath the cabinets.  And at the top, he installed 2.5" decorative trim to finish framing the cabinets which had the benefit of hiding all of the wiring and controls for the lights and speakers.

The box on top of the cabinets in the middle is a zone of the wireless whole-house audio system made by Sonos with two nice Bose speakers on each end.  Andy had to build platforms to raise the Sonos box and speakers so the wouldn't be partially covered by the trim.

Then Monica populated the base cabinets and the beverage cooler with liquor and wine.  Glasses will go in the cabinets.  Andy may add stemware hangers underneath the cabinets at some future point.

You get the full effect of the accent lighting in this pic.  The LEDs had just turned green and is a nice contrast with the red walls. 

The next step depends on when the granite is installed.  If it happens to get installed before Thanksgiving weekend, then Andy can work on the backspash and cabinet trimming in the kitchen.  Othewise, he may start working on the entry or start on the flooring in the great room.  Tune in next week to see what happens.