Why, yes, a kitchen designer would be delightful

Talk about a stroke of luck. A year or so ago a couple from Atlanta bought the house next to my parents in Lynchburg. Evidently, it is their vacation home. Personally, I would have opted for a cozy bungalow in Maine or a craftsman in Oregon, but different strokes for different folks. Why am I telling you this? It has recently been brought to our attention that their lady neighbor, Lynda, is a kitchen designer from Atlanta! Hello! She offered to go over our kitchen design with us. Never would we have ever spoken with a kitchen designer under any other circumstances but so glad we did. I met Lynda on Friday for the first time. She's so bubbly and has an amazing British accent (although 'British' is not the appropriate term because she's actually from Zambia, Africa). Anyway, we spent an hour and a half together reworking the kitchen and making it more 'chef friendly.' She brought up points that we never considered: put the tall appliances together for more continuous counter space, drawers in a kitchen are much more functional than cabinets (which cause you to have to get down on your hands and knees), keep countertops clear of clutter by concealing small appliances (toaster oven, blender, etc.) in functional cabinets, and keep the trash close to the sink. She is a wealth of kitchen knowledge and is so willing to help us!


On another note, we made an appointment with Pickle in the morning on July 23rd. Noel and I cannot figure out why he was so eager to speak with us early on and now he is coy. Has he decided that he doesn't want to build for us? Who knows. Even though things aren't looking good for him, we are following through a bid.


We touched base with Indy, too, to see if we needed to discuss materials with him. He was actually talkative on the phone. Go Indy!! When giving a bid, he gives the highest possible bid according to the most expensive materials, so we'll be happy in the end when we are under budget. There are quite a few materials we are using that will save us money: no granite countertops (yeah, we just don't like them), bamboo flooring (instead of oak...because we're tree-huggers), and fiber-cement siding (because brick would stand out like a sore thumb on that hill). 


Luckily, this week was not crammed with house stuff but there's never a dull moment in the house building world.