At long last, the buffet/bar/desk area of the kitchen is complete! We cast this one final slab a couple of weekends ago and I finished finishing it last week but I'm just now getting a chance to post about it, because, well, the crazy season IS upon us and all that...



ahem...complete, that is, minus the cord management portion of the event. Please nevermind THAT.
I left the opening between the cabinets to improve the multipurposeness (word?) of the space, so that we can tuck a stool under there and have it avaliable as a desk area when we need it. Otherwise, I'm thinking it's a great serving and drink making spot. Plus I love that it gives me a place to put the few items of chachke that I will allow to exist in a functional zone.
So, believe it or not, that puts me a little wall patching and some paint away from having my kitchen completely 100% done. Amazing. But oh yea, and that's not counting the "what to do about a backsplash?", "what to do about a duct cover?", "should I add cabinets above the tall cabinets?" questions that, truthfully, might never be answered. But, I'm now hindered by the fact that my beloved Hallarum doors are no longer avaliable. Yes, that's right. Done and gone. And without IKEA even giving us any warning, apparently due to production/quality control/child labor issues depending on who you listen to. Either way, it SUCKS and makes me downright panicky.

I hope y'all are keeping the sanity. Personally, I've been a little anti-Christmas this year for some reason. We are sans-tree here at Casa Splatgirl, which is funny because we had a heck of a lot of fun imagining having the tallest tree we could possibly fit inside the house while we were building. It's not for want of a really tall tree, but more because I discovered around tree-buying time that I was going to need the super hero of tree stands for said really tall tree, and while I can easily procure the giant tree right here in my town, nary a giant tree stand is to be had anywhere except via the internet, apparently. And I was running late with getting things going anyway. Plus, I wasn't feeling the whole having to go out and shop for enough ornaments to decorate a tree more than twice as big as any we have had before, because I am very picky about the ornaments, you see. So anyway, that's the deal. Remind me next October to order that freakin $180 tree stand, OK? And here's hoping I can muster the energy to hit some day after Christmas sales for the supertall tree ornament basics.