Before this outburst of elation, I doubted myself, delegated the task to contractor, then waited and procrastinated. Time went by and I found myself in this new year with a shortened work month and time on my side. I researched and watched some videos. Gained some knowledge and sorted out a few tricky assembly items that I had also pushed aside. And with all my new confidence and determination I attempted these nuances and hip! hip! hurray for me!
Yes, I installed the pull out drawer - I know, a small feat for most, but
The other quandry was the rod and "doohickey" thing. The official name, unlike every other IKEA product name. Doohickey #1 is the bendy metal piece that is covered with a white nylon piece and appears at one end of the gallery rod. Do not confuse this with doohickey #2, the gray plastic piece at the other end. Doohickey #1 piece normally fits into a plastic drawer front for the pull out bin. BUT for the drawer that attaches to the door front, one needs to swap out doohickey #1 for another doohickey, which is supplied, in another packet. Lets call this doohickey #3. (Disclaimer, doohickeys are not officially numbered, that I know of, but for purposes of the piece, I'm numbering them. Disclaimer 2, I read on IKEA fan page that "Doohickey" is the official name. Maybe they were joking?) You can see 4 doohickey #1's (gray and yellowy white piece, some bent) and 2 doohickeys #3 (white piece) above the template in the picture below.
What really helped me and convinced me to give it a try was this youtube video I found. I could not tell from the paper pictorial instructions that I was too remove doohickey (5:50min in video) and replace with another doohickey that would attach to a screw (5:31min). (Good thing I had found that "random" package of doohickeys that had slipped under a drawer over a month ago.) The video also showed me how easy it was to use the template (4:30min) - the part about laying template down and creating little holes. Then remove template and drill into markings.
I was so pleased with myself, yet noone to share that triumph! And the drawer is very sturdy, much more so then I thought it might end up being. Lets admire it one more time!
See that octopus thing in the upper right corner of picture above. Got that at IKEA too. I reuse my plastic bags. Wash them and drape them over my faucet to dry. But they usually get in the way there. When I spotted this Octopus drying rack I instantly knew it was just what I had always needed. It isn't in its permanent spot, hanging off a window crank, but I wanted it in the kitchen. Maybe when I get the shelf up, it will hang off of that. (Another option for plastic bag drying racks is a nice tree branch with lots of little branches. That is what my uncle uses.)
To note: I hail from Canada where our milk comes in bags. 3 one litre bags in a larger bag. My mom always reused the milk bags for sandwich bags. I hated it. They didn't keep the sandwiches fresh enough. And although I have lots of reusable containers these zip lock bags are handy for storing/freezing food but I don't like to toss them after one use (thanks mom, love you). So wash them and hang 'em up to dry using my cool octopus.
While my day job is on hold for the next month, I now have the time needed to mentally prep myself and get some things done. Last week I reluctantly dragged the ladder and paint stuff up stairs. Kicked open the ladder, Half-assedly threw some covers on the sink and counter and started to prime. I took a pain reliever earlier, hoping to ease my shoulder pain and perhaps the pain of painting. Hate painting. I'm lazy(didnt cover all of the counter and got some paint splatters on the soapstone counter; I'm sloppy (was trying to cut around the outlets and both times ran the brush right over them OMG!!!) and shaky. (I should eat first. and maybe not drink 8 cups of coffee).
I swore through the entire ordeal. Splish splosh I hate painting. But wow, first coat/primer is on and wow, I can move on. (we are talking about this one corner wall that the sink resides in. Yep that's it, the big huge drag.) I hated it so much I gave up and didn't cut into the ceiling. HA. Whatever, bring on the White Dove coat of paint, next week perhaps. One week to mentally prep. A few minutes to prepare area, 30 minutes to paint.
That was me this morning, that pink dust pan happy face. Just how I felt. And that is the last of the cardboard boxes, stashed under my bed. Actually a lie, there are two toe kicks and two cover panels stashed under there. I managed to prepare white bean chili for the crock, assemble pullout door front and figure out the doohickeys all in a three hour slot between taking and picking up the dog at the groomers. I love time management. I love productive time at home.
There are a few other details to finish off the kitchen (you can see Before&after here)
** the lighting - got it, just need it installed
** baseboards - got it, just need it installed
** dishwasher - need to order it
** that really screwed up top drawer in the 36" cabinet. I talked with an IKEA kitchen person in hopes of finding a solution, perhaps 1 36" top drawer to use instead of the two drawers & partition, but nope. No such item. Gotta sort that partition problem out with some L brackets. Definitely one for the contractor.
** one other top drawer that requires the removal of the oven. (Did I ever post about my three IKEA assembly problems I ran into???)
** pantry - need to build it
** paint the last wall - primer done!
** toe kick - ordered two more pieces. when it arrives, I'll call the contractor
** upper shelving. (that is why I finally painted. I have a GOAL. The goal is to get some kind of shelving put up above the sink, even if its temporary, so I can move my dishes on to the shelf and move their current storage thing into storage.)
** spice "rack" - install 60" long piece of exotic wood above stove.
** get chimney vent.
And that might be it. Maybe Ill finish it just in time to sell the house (unless my job picks up)
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