A time-lapse movie tells most of the story.

Last week, before heading out to California for a few days, my kitchen cabinets were delivered, unpacked, inspected, and moved upstairs to my living space. Yesterday, the installers came to put them in.

The cabinets are Kraftmaid and very good quality — certainly better quality than the cabinets in my old Arizona home. They feature soft-close drawers and doors. (Oddly, I had a problem remembering to close cabinets in Arizona. That won’t be a problem here because my cabinets are actually fun to close so I’m not likely to forget.)

The install went pretty smoothly, with most of the work done by the boss and an assistant while the boss’s wife looked on, spent a lot of time searching for the right size screws, and chatted with me. Two or three cabinet doors need to be replaced due to cracks; the installer will take care of ordering the replacements, which are free. In addition, the bottom end cabinet with rounded shelves appears to be the wrong wood — that’ll also be replaced for free.

Here’s the time-lapse:

I should mention that I went with a professional installation for a few reasons. First, they’d handle the replacement of any defective parts. Second, they’d get the installation done right the first time. And third, while I don’t mind learning how to wire my home, I certainly have no desire to learn how to install cabinets.

Here’s how my kitchen looked by the end of the day. The rustic hickory finish I chose is full of “imperfections” that add character to the kitchen. And yes, there will be a breakfast bar on the camera side of that kitchen island. My stove will go between the two cabinets there.

Today, they’ll install the cabinet for the area over the fridge and will likely install the crown molding and a spacer under the microwave shelf. They’ll put on drawer pulls and door handles when they return to replace the damaged pieces, probably in about two weeks.

In the meantime, everything is set up and ready for the next part of the kitchen installation: appliances. I expect them any day now. The countertop folks will come in about two weeks to measure for their “template”; the countertops will be installed two weeks after that. By then, I should have the rest of the kitchen done.

Things are certainly moving forward nicely!

And I know I didn’t blog about the insulation, drywall, and painting. I’ll do that shortly; there’s a lot to show and tell!