As I’m writing this, Kerry is telling me, “We are now in our ninth week of this renovation.” I said, “I’m sorry.” She responded, “It’s just like anything crazy. It eventually just becomes normal. But still awful.”

Really our kitchen reno isn’t awful. We’re just waiting on counters at this point but the hardest part is that we are so close to being done, but there is nothing we can do to make it more done. It’s just waiting. And after the work I did this weekend, installing the cabinet hardware, we are really just waiting. I don’t think there is anything left to do at this point (although I’m sure there is). This is going to be a quick update with a few tips on installing cabinet hardware.

First tip: buy IKEA’s template. It was a lifesaver. It’s orange, and you place it on the top of your cabinet, and it has a bunch of holes in it that you just match up with your hardware.

Second tip: I then attached IKEA’s template to a few 2 x 4s that I had cut to the exact width of our drawers. That means that I just had to put the 2 x 4 template I made on top of each drawer, and the holes from IKEA’s template would be in the exact same place ever time.

Third tip: Sleeveless t-shirt.

Fourth tip: I found it easier, and cleaner, to drill the holes while the protective coating (that blue you see in the pictures) was still on. I tried one without it, and the static charge that lingered just attracted all the sawdust. So leaving the cover on was a good idea.

After drilling the holes, then I removed the blue cover, and attached the hardware. Which means, we are one step closer to having a done, beautiful kitchen.

Now it’s just waiting for the counter guys. Hopefully less than two weeks.