Listening to two good podcasts but not anything food & exercise related The Dropout - somehow I didn't know anything about Elizabeth Holmes until recently. Fascinating story The Adam Buxton show - I love the it. It's great for walks good host and very interesting guests

And my super duper hob(stove/cooktop in US)! huge relief that the extractor functions so well!

Pantry press -finally finished. first photo is no other light in the house, dark outside. Lights are controlled by motion detector - works great for us as we leave the right side open during the day while we are having coffee I like that it's near sink, I can pull out hte food processor and push it back very easily. Kettle also need to be out when in use and left to cool down before using back and that extra corner space is very useful We still have tradesman most days - 3 days out of 4 working days this week. But I think this is last week for some time

Kind of stuck with supply deliveries recently. It took a month to get 3rd pendant, it will take probably another 2 months to get the 2 stools and another month at lest for double door to dinning room. We can't get the electrician back to finish off the work and I will consider myself lucky if we get the fridge freezers by Christmas I have few fun things coming in the post - teppanyaki plate and grill plate for the hob and the downdraft hob (stove top, or cooker top in US) functions fantastic!

nearly there, good before after from same angle and just the bottom photo to show the pendant. We have it higher in hope to improve the chances to remain clean - further from the hob

Spice drawer looking good!

It's soooo dirty but I can't get myself to clean up just for progress photo, and the fitter will continue work tomorrow. It's great to see it after months of planning. There is probably at least week of work, plus waiting for quartz nest week and after that lights, fridges, double doors but it's starting to look like kitchen

End of week 3 update. I love the tiles, I think they actually look even better in real life Fridge freezer another 6 weeks wait, 16 weeks in total. Happy I have not promised our old fridge, we can keep it in the dinning room and use it in the mean time. Trying not to be disappointed, unfortunately German factories were hit badly by covid and long lockdowns and increased demand means slower deliveries. It's not urgent, we are lucky we have good fridge.

I love to look at dark kitchen cabinets, black even. But the old layout was so dark, the room is north west facing, in the winter it gets dark before 5. I like to be in dark moody room - with glass of hot tea in front of fireplace, on rocking chair - in a hotel for few nights break. I never in my day to day life want to be in dark room, I crave light. I think if I was in Florida with endless sunshine and long days or if I had huge space, with south facing room I would consider it but didn't feel right for our home. I never thought about dark being hard to clean -another benefit! That's one of the good things in not renovating the kitchen before we settle and live here for some time, and working from home during covid - we got to think about what we don't like about the space and what do we want it to feel. We also went with painted kitchen, meaning that we can change the colour if we want! I have been looking at stools last few days and I find that I can find - cheap, or comfortable, or good looking, or in stock, or easy to maintain but not combination of them. I can get cheap and in stock, but won't be comfortable or good looking. I can get good looking and comfortable - but it will be velvet, 16 weeks lead time and expensive. Everything costs more and takes longer since compared to pre covid.

First happy vibes moment since the work started. The tiles are being laid down and I absolutely love them! I am bit ... cautious when I say I love something as obviously we all have different preference but to me they are just perfect. I will post photo later, don't want to make the tilers worry about being photographed and they are still working

I am loving nine perfect strangers, I don't want it to end! I actually really enjoy not knowing where are they going with it, it's part of the appeal. I will start Clickbait in next few weeks

Day 12. Things are moving nicely That big thing in the middle is the vent for the hob, I am happy it will be vented out

Today is the first day I am completely stressed. The windows/patio doors were due in yesterday and didn't turn up. Without them, plastering the small part near the window can't happen.. Without that, tiling can't happen and everything else will be pushed further. People are very busy and being able to align everyone again would have been a challenge! Apart form that I keep hearing people getting errors with windows/doors deliveries. The lead time is 12 weeks, and most people just accept what they get to avoid the wait. They are being fitted right now, hopefully I will be happy in another hour . I am going to try to post photo later today I wake up being happy/eager to see the progress the day brings. We are well over half way, with kitchen being fitted Monday

Day 0, end of day 1 and end of week 1 photo. You can't see how much it is done between day 1 and 5, but thins as moving gas boiler, moving washing machine, electricals, plumbing, work on changing windows - things are moving nicely. 1 out of 3 weeks gone.

I saved all designs we had from different companies & the revisions as I think it could be interesting to go back to them in time https://www.pinterest.ie/homerefurbproject/kitchen-designs/ But in this shade. The island is not that big, I want when you walk in the room to see the garden, and just notice the lights vs having lights that take your attention. And I like that the glass is not clear, you can't fully see the light. Little retro vibe, but the kitchen is so clean cut it will add bit of a character.

https://scontent-dub4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/238732037_10159969229854669_7065136291216226822_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=-zNZaJWon7oAX_uxdg7&_nc_ht=scontent-dub4-1.xx&oh=c7d79c0da7e9f8c03273022b8b8d46c7&oe=6155B36C The doors we choose between kitchen and dinning room. They will open fully to the dinning room, giving open/close layout as we feel like it. I will post few photos this weekend, builders are making great progress!

One of the thing I am most looking forward is having two integrated fridge freezers side by side, with hinges on the doors so they open as American style fridge freezer It's very popular to have full length fridge and full length freezer but I find we always need more fridge space, and we always need to open the fridge for something - even if it's just iced water. I didn't want my produce to be at bottom near the ground either. Current plan is to take 5 weeks for everything, 3 weeks building work, fitting kitchen and after that 10 days wait for the quarts counter top. It's long time!

It's all go last few days The builder found issue that could impact the design timelines and budget Monday The kitchen is already ordered, so I had to see what are options on Tuesday We are due to start work on Monday and finish in two weeks with the only item pending to be the quartz. The kitchen company does not have another fitting day for weeks. So instead of 2 weeks without kitchen we could be without kitchen for 2 months. We plan to live in the house while the work is going. Have family nearby but due to school year, high infection rate and he only has his first vaccination we are better managing without taking their offer to base ourselves there, at least until we see how the first few weeks go and get him the second vaccination Feeding family without having kitchen, while working from home, while work is ongoing will be something!

It's full on right now. Work starting Monday and there seem to be never ending decisions to be made This is my final design and the backsplash will be same as the counters, same as the actual counter (not only the little peace) below. The sockets will be visible, the electrician refuses to put them on the side of the cabinets. I think I am going to go with white, stainless steal are hugely popular but white will blend better I think. I have two more immediate decisions to make and will post visual in few