Cabinet delivery didn't happen today as planned. Apparently is has been re-scheduled for tomorrow. We shall see.

caryscott - I haven't gotten around to posting in the FKB yet, but here's a couple of pics

looks great. Check out my thread from my kitchen as well. What is the backsplash that you have, and can you take a closer picture. looks similar to what i was thinking. They dont have that aura paint available here so i went with the ECO spec. Ace hardware said that they thought aura would be over 100 bucks a gallon, is that true?

Queenskitchen - Is it my backsplash you're asking about? If so, we used a blend called "Backgammon" from Modwalls.com.
Here's a slightly closer shot of the backsplash, pre Masada

We paid about $70 a gallon Canadian so it was no bargain but we would have never used flat in the kitchen unless it was Aura paint and with that kind of deep colour I really thought it was important that it be flat - I wonder if going to eggshell would have made a difference and I think in this small a room it would have. This is a budget kitchen redo so I have been really mindful of how expensive materials behave versus less expensive ones and my feeling was shiny is rarely your friend if you trying to make something less expensive look more expensive. We chose a Formica Riverwash laminate that combined a matte and shiny textured finish, floor is also matte though the ceramic mosaic backsplash is shiny. Cabinets are thermofoil - which was the big concern - and I will get to that in a seperate post as they arrived today - or tonight more accurately.

Both my parents worked in the moving industry for years so I don't know why we thought as the last delivery of yesterday we would be the first today - our order would have been loaded yesterday so (of course) we were last off the truck today at about 5:30. Movers were in great spirits for late in the day and very careful. I was pleased with the packing: all the fronts had cardboard covers, cabinets were bubbled (not every inch but pretty well) with cardboard edges\corners and cabinets with glass doors were well marked. I have nothing to compare it to but I thought they were well wrapped. I did a rough check and things seemed correct - I will do a proper inventory of the cabinets tomorrow night as I will have to go up to take off the glass doors so my Mom can take them to get the patterned glass put in on Thursday - I had hoped to do that today but no such luck.

Yes she does have vertical blinds and they would be long gone but they are having some problems in the building with the windows and her unit is south facing so she wants to put a ceramic film on the windows before she gets new window coverings and can't do that until she finds out the fate of the windows. Floating Sears bag conceals her dining room chandelier which has a cloth shade.

It was overcast last Saturday and I took some shots of the view from her unit. I love rainy days this time of year.

Peeled back this one (33 inch sink base) and colour and door style are correct. This particular colour used to be an eggshell lacquer (very yellowy) with the previous company who manufactured this line for HD so in-store vignettes are usually that and not the antique white thermofoil. Happy to say that the thermofoil is a nice and creamy white matte finish. Another concern laid to rest.

Appliances get delivered tomorrow - it's going to be crowded but I thought they should be on hand just in case the installer needed to refer to them (he's only installing the OTR microwave and fan but you never know) and the company she bought the new ones from will take the old ones away so we aren't losing any space.

Fridge was dented on both sides so back it went, they wouldn't take the old one but they moved it out of the kitchen. Might be good if the replacement takes long enough the floor will be in and we won't have to figure out how to get the fridge into the kitchen - they can do it.

We seem set, I took off the glass doors tonight and we loaded them into the car so my Mom could get the new Silvit glass put in tomorrow. Quite like the glass set up on this product it is held in with a rubber gasket all around rather than clips. Like Fruit of the Loom the cupboards had inspected by slips in each one.

It's nice to see progress. The cabs look very nice - I'm interested in seeing how the glass doors turn out.

Wow, look at all the stuff packed in there. Is she living in the bedroom? This worries me, as my house is not large and we don't have a garage. I wonder how people manage. In good weather, we eat most meals on our porch, but our reno is scheduled for January!

Essentially she was confined to the bedroom and office (where her temporary kitchen is). Can't complain about the timing though - that was Tuesday after the delivery and by Friday at 5 she could watch TV in the living room again.

Fillers went in yesterday and countertop measure. I didn't go up last night but will tonight to put in the drawer inserts and cut the appliance slides.

No flash so things are a little murky. I think we will add one more glass shelf in the middle:

Haven't seen it in person but the installer is pretty picky:

Light rail still has to go in and decorative moulding along the top of the cabinetry on the front wall (fridge pantry etc.). He isn't coming back until after the floor so he can secure the fridge panel and put on the toe kicks.

Really looking great! Love the color and the cabs. Can't wait to see it finished.

Are you happy yet or are you in "anything for a sink" mode?

Its looking great.

Mercifully I have a sink but I can safely say she has definitely hit that stage. We hit our first big hurdle today when we learned the moulding we selected was not available in our finish and something else was substituted without telling us - substitute which was already cut (my bad for not checking it before the installer took it away) isn't going to work - in fact we both hate it. May be a blessing in disguise I wanted them to cut down the light rail which could effect the adhesion of the thermo finish so we will select a light rail and have it sprayed at the same time as the moulding so we won't have to worry about any problems down the line. Not a huge cost and we might get some $ back for the unused light rail and the incorrect moulding - probably not but as long as the installer puts it in without any additional charge I can live with it. Good news, it won't delay the installation of the sink. However I have little enthusiasm left for the project and would have preferred to have done this at the outset - the reality phase is not where I shine.

Countertop folks haven't been heard from since Monday's measure so we are still waiting to schedule the install so the plumber can be called. In pre-ordering we purchased what I think was too much product to give them a large margin of error, sort of a trade off to get a quick turn around - so it better be quick. This is only week 4 and any problems have been fairly minor but it is starting to work my last nerve and we are, of course, over budget. Flooring is tomorrow so we will see how that goes.

Just wanted to say it's looking great. I'm enjoying watching your kitchen progress. Thanks for posting!

The floor went in today: Concrete (pattern) Copper (colour) Fibre Floor from Tarkett. It is available in Canada exclusively through Centura Flooring. Nice and soft to stand on, seamless installation, water resistant, and sound absorbant. Has a Tritonite Plus finish that is embedded in the urethane wearlayer which makes it very resistant scratching and it doesn't require waxing. Installer did a good with no surprises. We are pleased with the overall pattern - hopefully it pushes things back towards the transitional rather than traditional. Grounds the space nicely.

I put in the appliance slides tonight as the second try with the fridge is tomorrow - hopefully this one won't be damaged. Same company that delivered the oven so hopefully they will move the oven in to while they are there.

Floor from the front entrance to the kitchen.

A bit further in from the same entrance.

View from the dining room entrance.

We took fridge panel out for the floor installation. This is the cabinetry run that we have to find a crown moulding for on the weekend.

No word from the countertop fabricator so my Mom will phone tomorrow - looks like it will be next week at least if we pin them down she can book the plumber in to install the faucet and sink. New Shaker style bi-fold for the closet nseeds to be picked up this weekend.

So fridge arrived safely this time and with the promise of a small gratuity she got them to move the stove into the kitchen as well.

Fridge:

Stove:

The big success of the day was the Glide-n-Guard floor protectors - the delivery guys had never seen them before, they liked them so much they wanted to know where to get them.

Glide-n-Guard

Below is roughly how it works, they provide instructions on how to cut the length down so they don't stick out like they do in these renderings. Works better with her fridge than her stove because feet for stove are right at the front but I think I just need to play with the positioning a little more.

She had a weird phone conversation with the countertop folks, the woman we usually deal with was away, so we will drop in tomorrow and try to get the install scheduled for Tuesday. After a little on-line moulding hunting after hours I actually got to come to my own home tonight, hooray! Moulding shopping tomorrow - I hope it is going to be easier than I think it will be (just one stop would be great). Inching closer.

Appliances are in more or less:

Fridge from the dining room entrance (still need to put down front feet and level it):

Reverse angle without the fridge panel (had to be taken out to lay the floor):

Stove:

Moulding shopping was a bit of a bust but we got a couple of ideas and some suggestions of other places to look - Saturday is bad day to hit the lumber yards\moulding shops most close at noon if there open at all. Did a drop in at the countertop place to see what's up - not clear what the problem is (I don't think there is one, other than they are busy) but we will follow up on Monday and see if we can't get things scheduled.

Countertop fabricator phoned this afternoon (my Mom phoned this morning to see what was happening after our visit this weekend - gentle pressure I would call it) and she is scheduled for installation Friday and the plumber\electrician will be in the following Monday to put in the sink and faucet, not sure if he will do the dishwasher and the finish electrical on that visit or not. If, big if, there are no major problems then she will have been out 5 weeks and 2 days. It won't be finished by any stretch but it will be functional and pretty much on schedule. Rest will probably drag as we head into Christmas, but that isn't a surprise.

Of course things did not go according to plan, are we shocked? Definitely no, not a huge deal the cuts for around the water supply needed to be made on site (no one told us) and the room for this in my Mom's condo was being used (the buildings hot tub is being replaced) so they will come back tomorrow afternoon to make the cuts and install the 2 sections of the L.

My Mom e-mailed me some low resolution images of the 2 small pieces they were able to install:

Beside the stove.

This was the tough one, once she went with this angled cab we weren't sure about proceeding with a postform edge because it wouldn't go around the angle. We looked at a few different set on edge options and finally decided to stick with the postform edge my Mom originally wanted just over the door and set on flate edges on the intersecting sides.

I think it's OK. She chose a pretty dark mid-tone so it would seam well and they did a good job. This corner gets pretty light use, there is a plug and a phone jack in the cab (the guy installing the cabinets will put the hole in the back corner of the top when he comes back to finish - we already purchased the little cover) and an occasional landing zone for stuff going in\coming out of the fridge is about the only action this area will see.

I really don't get people sometimes, the installer made all the arrangements on his own with the Super in my Mom's condo to get access to the cutting room today, he found someone to give him a hand and then he didn't call or show up. My Mom didn't ask for him to come today he offered - what's that about?. Oh well at least I got to see "Million Dollar Listing".

On a brighter note we solved the moulding dilemma - the company that provides the refacing product HD uses has a Shaker crown in an Antique White so we are going to go with that and save ourselves the aggravation of the paint match.

They claim they will finish on Monday. If the plumber can come on Tuesday we might still make 5 weeks, 3 days but all bets are off.

So they screwed up the counter install - ruined not one but both pieces of L so they will have to be re-ordered. No cost to my Mom but yet more time in reno limbo. Things had gone too smoothly. There is a gap at the front edge of one of the pieces that is in so I am going to ask to have that piece replaced while they are at it (they don't have enough product to replace both sides of the L but they should have enough to recut that without any extra cost to them).

This is the crown moulding she chose:

She's ordering that tomorrow so when it comes in the installer can finish up with the toe kick, the filler between the stove and the dishwasher, the recycling pull out, light rail (maybe we will need to consult with the electrician) and assorted other little things that didn't get done.

Belanger was really fast the last time we ordered so the new pieces could be in Ottawa by the end of next week for round two. Kitchen renos are fun.

Dear Diary,

So today was a better day. First of all perspective is always a good thing and given that she started out with this:

{{gwi:1577470}}

We have come a long way so what's another week. I have probably advised on more than one occasion here that after things go wrong you have to think about how you go forward from the mistake. Great advice that in the face of some the difficulties folks here have encountered I am not sure I would have been able to follow but in the wake of my Mom's botched counter install I actually managed to not lose my "s...tuff". So communication was good and the owner came out and took a look at what happened. He apologized profusely agreed that one of the small pieces installed Friday was not properly scribed. He agreed with the 1st installer who told my Mom that more of the cutting on the larger pieces should have been done at the shop. We requested that he do the install himself (he did the original site visit) and he agreed. He also promised to do the install at my Mom's convenience. He will scribe the small piece as well at that time. As I thought, they ordered so much product initially that they can replace the shorter side of the L with what they had left over and they have re-ordered just the the piece on the long side.

There is no over hang over the drawers:

The problem as I understand it was that he cut the mitre on the sink side too short so in order to bring the other side flush he trimmed its depth - he made one mistake and compounded it with another. So once my Mom questioned him about the clearance over the drawers he admitted he had goofed:

Things are sort of looking like rust overload so I should point out that this is the backsplash:

No rust just nice off-white and soft beiges.

She ordered the new moulding today - came to a whopping $75. She also spoke with the plumber\electrician\tiler who told her he really didn't want to come in until things were ready as he figured it was only a days work and he preferred to do it all at once. If this were true we might actually finish pretty close to on budget.

Otherwise I am quite psyched about the possible changes in the political landscape here in Canada.

I'm glad you got the problems with the counter straightened out and things are back on track. It's difficult when a "professional" messes up and YOU have to figure out what to do (I read your post yesterday but didn't respond as I don't know anything). Also, good news about the budget! Many posters joke about blowing the budget, but it would be no laughing matter to us.

Ooohh I just had the best time reading through your diary! And it looks so great, I bet you can really start to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Nice job. Your mom is lucky.

And what is happening in Canadian politics (I haven't read the paper for weeks, so I'm not keeping up with anyone's issues very well)?

Hey Maureen!

How is your reno proceeding?

There were tears on Saturday (not mine) as she was so close to a sink but by the time of the mess on Monday she was pretty resilient (the availability of the plumber disappeared with the passing of the day). I didn't really need to be as armed as I felt I might need to be, the company has been very good and were really clear about how things would be different on install number 2 and they didn't deny the problems with small piece that went in on Friday (owner told my Mom the installer on Friday should have installed the big pieces first anyway).

We have had a few different budgets as this has proceeded and I'm still not sure we will bring it in at the final number we settled on (12% of the value of the unit at last years' property tax assessment). Very conservative, a bit over the $20 000.0 we were using when making most of our decisions. If we can keep it within 5% of our budgeted total I would be happy (my Mom is usually a bit tight but she has been pretty content so far). The budget thing is super stressful but if you let it go the costs can just spiral.

I hope everything is on track with your kitchen.

Thanks for asking! But nothing's happening until January. I believe my GC ordered the cabinets, and is supposed to bring some plumbing/heating people over. He is removing a giant radiator but hasn't really come up with an alternate heating plan. Meanwhile, I'm looking at tile, and finding it much more expensive than I realized.

My son is looking over my shoulder as I type this and has now decided to tell me that the GC called hours ago.

claybabe,

I'm glad it is enjoyable, it is a bit out of the norm for here as it isn't my kitchen and it is more of a chronicle than questions. I think it is going to be nice but I think it gets harder towards the end because you just want to be done, I think it sort of intensifies the emotions (less for me and more for my Mom). She is proctoring exams at the University this week and next so I think getting away from the house will be good.

It's complicated and I don't want to be disrespectful of different perspectives (I am very left leaning) and this isn't the place but in a nutshell:

Canadian Parliament is comprised of 3 national parties and one regional party. The party with the most seats and the one in charge has more seats than any one of the other three but not more than the three have together (we call this a minority government). After the ruling and richest party introduced legislation that would end what amounts to our version of public campaign financing the other three parties have gotten together and formed a coaltion and intend to defeat the current government and take power. To make any move the Prime Minister now has to go to the Queen's representative in Canada, the Governor General (appointed by the former Liberal government) to get her either to postpone the next convening of Parliament so he can buy some time or try to get her to bypass the coalition and call an election. The GG is awesome, she is a very intelligent former journalist and a first generation Canadian (her family immigrated to Canada from Haiti when she was 11) she and our current Prime Minsiter are very very far apart in terms of life experience and ideology so the fact that his future is in her hands is very interesting.

I'm glad you won't be starting until January this would be a very stressful time to be managing a reno. There weren't many occasions where I didn't say "what, it's how much?". Given there wasn't much DIY I think we have done OK but sometimes I still wonder.

At least he let you know on the same day, I can remember letting days go by without bothering to convey messages - I would always remember when my parent weren't around or when I was engaged in or watching something far more important. LOL.

Thanks caryscott, sounds like interesting times! Nice job on the mama's casa.

Had the week off after the botched counter install. Decided to hit the kitchen shops this weekend to see what sort of accessories I could find.

Got an Umbra Insync Caddy (see pic - I got her one in white) along with some nice dish cloths and tea towels. I also like the Richlite cutting boards so I may get her one if I can pin her down on what size she wants.

Dropped them off today with some other treasures. Hung around to finally level the fridge which was tilting back sharply.

This is the front view looking up from floor level where the dishwasher will go:

Side view, look at that just a smidge of door and then all handle:

A bit wider:

Opposite side:

I moved the appliance slides in but I still need to shorten them before I'm done. I didn't put down the anti-tip legs at the front because the installer also needs to get back there still and we still have baseboard to put in at the back.

So week 7 (last week) of our planned 6 week reno was a bust, Belanger couldn't turn around the new top in a week so we waited. New tops went in yesterday (week 8). They look pretty good in the pictures, we are amidst a transit strike so I may not see them until I head up for my holiday house sitting duties on the 23rd. The moulding came in as did the replacement doors\drawers and she is waiting for the scheduling on the install (probably January now). She will touch base with the plumber today but again nothing is too likely before January at this point. My Mom's off for a week to my Aunt's for a break.

Hooray my Mom has a working sink and a dishwasher in her kitchen finally. So I think this is week 10 and we finally made it back to the point we were on the verge of at week 6 before the botched countertop install. Plumber came today - he promised his wife no work between Chrismas and New Years but she relented when she found out it was for my Mom - my Mom used some of that sweet old lady mojo that thanfully almost never works on your own kids. She only returned last night from her sister's and tonight she is rinsing dishes in the sink and loading up the dishwasher. He hooked up the microwave\fan but had to high tail it out for a hockey game at 3ish so he didn't quite finish that or get the under cabinet lighting in.

View from front doorway. Filler is missing between dishwasher and stove, post-it on right cabinet door makes note that the handle is wrong and needs to be changed. HD installer is back on the 5th to check on things and then will be in on the 6th to finish up.

Pretty psyched about how this turned out. We couldn't make an undermount work in terms of budget so we opted to go with a deckless drop in and mount the faucet separately. By mounting the lever at the front it is still over the sink if it drips. We picked up the faucet early on for 50% off and I have been worrying about whether it was going to work ever since. Thanks to Gardenweb I realized we could mount the lever at the front or there is no way it would have worked. Because my Mom didn't want to take the cabinets up at the sink the height has also been a real cause for concern but we have room for the light rail with about a quarter inch to spare (highest point isn't at the light rail but I didn't think it would look so good obscured by the light rail)

and closer...

Frome the side

Didn't see the first load of dishes come out of the dishwasher so I can't vouch for how clean they were but it was considerably quieter than her previous 20 year old GE model. She will start loading the cupboards tomorrow. Still a ways to go but at least she can finally use the kitchen.

So happy for her use of the kitchen! Looking great,
you guys are amost there!
vic

I'm so excited for your mother to have a working kitchen, a beautiful kitchen at that. Love the color contrast between cabinet and the rest of the room. Never seen a Umbra Insync caddy before - must be a Canadian thing.

vicsnb and budgeteer_s your too kind, she has been going to town loading things back in.

Electrician was back on Monday to install the main light (and dimmer) as well as the under cabinet xenons (and dimmers). He also finished up with the charging station stuff and sealed the duct for the fan. He was in about 1\2 a day and the inspector signed off today on the finish work.

HD installer was in today to install a couple of handles, light rails, toe kicks, moulding and filler between dishwasher and stove. He brought the off cut for one run of the light rail by accident and he didn't bring the recycling pull out so he's back later in the week.

Moulding purchased from another product:

Last part of fridge enclosure, light rail moulding added across the top of the opening and the new moulding above (I didn't take these pictures). My Mom claims the moulding matches well (it looks good here and we did compare between samples) but I won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes. Even if it isn't seamless it's staying.

Light rail and toe kicks along the short side of the L. You can see one of the Xenon's in the corner by the sink. Accessorizing has a ways to go and I'm not sure what the amorphous blob behind the glass on the left is but I'm hoping it isn't staying. She isn't one to take a lot of photos and edit down so that's all I have for now.

It is really looking great. What a lucky Mama! Like that Umbra sink caddy.

Murray Feiss 2 Light Barrington (Brushed Steel with with Dark Cream Scavo Glass):

A corner of the new moulding and the installed light:

She had a dimmer put in for this light and she is trying GE's new dimmable CFL's, apparently the range in the dimming isn't the same as with standard bulbs. Lots of mixed light in the picture so it's hard to say what kind of light they give off from this:

Phone jack and plug in the angled cupboard:

With the top:

With the transit strike I haven't been able to get up to my Mom's to fufill my remaining obligations (not a huge list but enough). Painter was back this week to do touch ups (he also finished changing most of her switches and sockets in the rest of the unit) Backsplash isn't in yet so my stuff isn't all that isn't done. Spent a few hours today and got a couple of things done.

Installed these (both products from Lee Valley):

Cabinet over fridge:

With dividers:

With cabinet doors back on:

Doors closed:

Partially open:

Fully extended (lid pops open):

what a great thread (and what a great kitchen so far!) i think we have the same refrigerator (or will-- I haven't ordered mine yet).

Can't wait to see the finished product.

I gotta say reading all the follow ups was fun. Now for the final product pic, please!

Caryscott

I love the look of the Rust countertop. I realize now that that's the one that caught my eye at HD and one of the designers there had to hunt around for a sample for me because it was so popular. Looks like I'm going to have to look into that one for sure when the cabinets are in! My walls are going to be a similar color.

danielle00

That's very kind it isn't fancy but I think it has worked out - like a lot of people I went through a let down when it wasn't exactly like I pictured it fortunately my Mom had no such qualms. Yesterday was the first time I had seen it in a couple of weeks and the things that bother me didn't jump out at me quite as much as they did initially. My Mom is very happy with the fridge. I really hope your situation gets resolved amicably and quickly.

debbie_2008 (and danielle00),

I hope it will be finished soon, we picked pretty much everything before we started but once you get back in you really do lose some momentum. Her original Contractor for the electrical and plumbing was going to do the tiling but he is busy and now that everything else is done we really don't want to pay 65$ an hour for tiling (going rate for electrical and plumbing hear and he was very good but a little steep for tiling). She is calling another guy this week. We are still waiting on HD for the recycling pull out as well. I should have taken some overall shots of where we are now but I ran out of time.

sprengle1

I don't find it photographs so well (particularly in overall shots) but I really like the way it looks and feels in person. The only other person who has mentioned having the Riverwash finish here is rhome410 who has it in another colour but laminate isn't so common on GW. My Mom is doing a light mosaic backsplash so I think the countertops will look really good with the contrast. She really likes the front edge and is very happy she didn't go with an integrated backsplash. She loves having the darker counters and finds the finish, pattern and colour so much easier to keep clean than the solid white untextured laminate she had before.

This came out after we chose the finish and colour:

Good luck with your kitchen!

Hi Caryscott

The kitchen looks fantastic so far. When is the backsplash going in?

Thanks for showing all the nifty gadgets you installed. I'm thinking about getting some of those dividers.
Maureen

All right, so HD finished up today with the installation of the recycling pull-out. We have been quite happy with them though with the couple of problems we had (including this pull-out) I really had to find the solutions. With the pull-out (I found it in the first place as top mount double bin pull-outs for 15" cabinets are not a dime a dozen) they priced it and charged us then when it came time to install it they didn't know which one it was or where to get it. I directed them to a local outlet of a chain who sells this unit (for more than HD charged us) and voila they ordered it and we're done. Odd but they honored the original price.

Here it is (it's from Rev-A-Shelf):

Closed:

2 Views of it opened:

Unlike the garbage which is just down the hall she has to take her recycling (bottles\cans and paper) downstairs and outside so she needed something larger than her small door mounted garbage for the recycling.

I ordered a clear plexi riser for her Denby Caramel Stripes teapot this week. She finally called someone about the tiling and I got her another referral so hopefully the backsplash will go in soon. Public Transit is back so I should be able to start working through the remaining jobs next week. I'm thinking end of the month for completion but we shall see.

So she seems to have secured someone to do the tiling (for a very fair $300-$400). He will call next week to set it up for the week after. I better get cracking.

Amidst recent discussions of how sophisticated our kitchens are I have to admit of late I have been thinking we sort of missed what we were shooting for on this one. Given the relatively modest budget and the dearth of DIY skills (there is a bit of sweat equity in there but not a lot) we were never headed for understated elegance but I really thought we could achieve something with some style. Not a big deal my Mom is happy and we did Ok for our $20 000ish budget (about $18 000.0 and change in US funds). All that to say when the pics of the newly installed backsplash (not grouted yet) came in I changed my mind - I think it sort of makes the whole thing. Weird how one element can have such an impact. We fought a lot but we made a good team, she made all the final choices so full credit to her.

Photos aren't great I'll go up tomorrow and take some more. I think this is the end of the road for this thread I'll post the new photos on there own in a 94% done thread. I really appreciated all the responses.

that tile is perfect! what a fabulous choice!

Danielle,

Thanks, she took the shots yesterday afternoon so the crazy mixed lighting in the room makes it hard to take great photos but I think it really works - the room needed something light and sparkly to pull it together. How are things coming on your kitchen? You are on a such a tight timeline with the arrival of family looming (no reflection on the family).

I have followed this thread but not posted to it before. The backsplash completes the kitchen! You and your mom have done a terrific job on a budget. May I suggest you post to the $20,000 thread that pops up here? It's great to have that information and inspiration all in one place and the evolution of your mom's kitchen would be helpful to many.
Your organization skills come through in your posts.

Talk about a backsplash completing the picture! What a great choice. I'm sure Mom is so happy to have a daughter like you helping her with her kitchen remodel. It's been a joy to read about your teamwork with your mom and doing such a beautiful kitchen for under 20K.

caryscott~~
What is the stain color and wood on your cabinets....also the floor? I am not a fan of dark wood, but really did like the color of yours lighter wood....thanks.