Today's the day: Countertop Installation

Well, here we go. We are waiting on the countertop dudes to arrive. Before the chaos ensues, I thought I would memorialize the laminate-that-was:

Ahh.

And here's the view from the other side of the "Cheeseburger Window:"

We got inspired the day the guy came to template the countertop and asked him to measure for the piece in the opening of the Cheeseburger Window, too. I'm excited for that; because it was less than 5 square feet, it didn't affect the cost of the project at all. (!) I've removed the moulding from the sides; the countertop guys will take off the sill-piece that's there, then we'll trim the old moulding and put it back.

So... that's where we are right now. I'll update as I can get more pictures. In the meantime, party in the dining room:

UPDATE:  Sink is out; the Mr. spent awhile on the floor.

In the foreground are tools integral to the job: drill bits, a spray nozzle, and a spoon.
UPDATE: Old counter is out.
UPDATE: OMG, SHINY!  Also, the new sink is HUGE.
UPDATE: Slight hiccup with the faucet-hole placement. Offset sink with bowl on left + faucet with attached lever on right + soap dispenser + sprayer thingie = interesting combination.

FINAL UPDATE: It's dooooone!!! Yaaaay!  We love it. Sorry for the blurry/dark/grainy/cropped pictures, we have a good bit of  'touching up' to do on parts of the cabinets that had been covered by the lip of the old counter and I was trying to find an angle that looked as complete as possible. We're not hooking anything back up tonight.. we figure we should let the silicone cure or whatever.  Also, the fumes are killing our brain cells and we need a beer to celebrate.

The enhanced Cheeseburger Window (it's like a wee breakfast bar!):

The installation guys were great--they did a super job with topsy-turvy cabinets, walls, and cutouts. Can't wait for y'all to see it!

Kitchen Countertop Phototacular

I've been promising this for awhile; here (finally) are some pictures of the kitchen, all put back together. First, a small (sorry) picture of the way it used to be. You can't see much, but the countertops were dark and had a thick shellac on them.

Now, after much sanding (thanks to the Mr. and his dad) and staining (thanks again to the Mr. and his sister):

(Picture 3 is pretty much a wall-o-wedding gifts. Y'all will probably recognize a few things, there. Thanks again, everybody!) We used Cabot Polystain (a water-based stain/sealer combo) in Pecan Satin and so far it's held up really, really well; it's really resistant to spills and made for a really hard surface. I'm not too worried about dinging it. I'm sure it will happen, at some point, but we're having to be much less careful with it than we expected we would.