Kitchen Cabinets

With one house in two pieces in another town, and the other not yet moved or raised, the kitchen not even framed - why are we talking about cabinets?

But today, Tom and I moved 17 cabinets from Ohmega Salvage to 62nd Street. Most of our friends are putting in brand new, state of the art wooden cabinets with easy glide drawers that close automatically, low voltage cabinet lighting and handles that cost $40 per.

But we love old stuff (in case the careful reader hasn't figured that out yet), and we love old metal cabinets. So last week, we went to Ohmega Salvage, looking for pretty much anything, and we came across a huge set of St. Charles metal cabinets, circa 1949. And best of all, they are not white - they are aqua.

St. Charles cabinets are incredibly durable and well made, and they last virtually forever. They are also beautiful in a retro kind of way. St. Charles are the gold standard of metal cabinets - the top of the line from 1949. So we did what any insane home remodeler would do - we bought them all.

So now, sitting in the back bedroom of the Delaney House, are 17 cabinets, waiting to be installed in two kitchen that aren't even on the property yet.

The problem with buying metal cabinets is that you have to move them. So we rented a 20 foot truck, and loaded them all in. Then, once we got back to 62nd Street, we had to haul all 17 cabinets, plus their various accessories, up the stairs, down the hall and into the bedroom. Metal cabinets are sturdy in part because they are so heavy.

A man and his truck

Now I'm sitting here with layouts of the two kitchens-to-be, plus all the cabinet dimensions, trying to figure out which cabinet will go where and how to use all the cabinets. We should end up having enough to do both kitchens.