Island Panels

Today, I completed the island construction with the installation of the two back panels, one six feet long and one four feet long.  Both were quite heavy!  The pull bars for the cabinet doors and drawers will be installed tomorrow, and the kick space veneer will be one of the last bits of detail work at the end of the project.  We are now ready for the granite fabricator to take measurements on Monday.  Actually, they make templates to achieve a more precise pattern.  Stand by for some photos of that process in Monday's blog. 


Here is one of the 96-inch long panels ready for cutting to size.

Level clamped to wood as an edge guide for the jig saw

While I cut the panels, Amanda did a bang up job of cleaning the stainless steel surfaces in the kitchen and then organizing and cleaning a lot of the stuff we had piled into the living room to clear space for the construction project.

For lunch today, we fired up the grill around 10:30 and filled a pan with chicken thighs slathered with some yummy BBQ sauce.  Here it is ready to come off the grill after achieving a 190-degree internal temperature.  We spooned some of the sauce onto some baked beans to enhance them as well.  Who says you can't cook just because you don't have a kitchen!?

Very yummy BBQ chicken

Drilling pilot holes for decorative panels

After lunch, I brought in the cut panels and screwed them into the backs of the cabinets.

**Comment from Amanda: Please note Dad's patented technique of bending over, making his body almost U-shaped, to drill the holes.  Somehow, this was successful for him.  But mostly, it was amusing for me. :)






























Here are a couple of photos of the island with the panels installed:

View from kitchen stove area

View from the dining room