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Chronicles of the Design & Construction of Two Waterfront Hurricane Proof Dry Stack Modular Green Custom Homes
1. Villa Lagoon, Wilder Italian Style Home
2. Nasello Italian Style Home


Delivery of our Kitchen Cabinets

Second Week of December, 2008

Our custom kitchen cabinets and the two bathroom cabinets were delivered by Valerie and Billy Dunsford of Architextural Millwork & Cabinetry. Billy made us really nice temporary countertops to use while we figure out what to use as the final product.

The guestroom bath cabinet has a clever drawer in center making good use of the space under the necessary plumbing access. I was able to salvage 10 nice stainless steel drawer handles from some cabinetry that was being discarded on Hardwood Drive. I will use them on this bath cabinet. This piece has a nice modern look and a natural finish. The drawers all function smoothly on ball bearing glides.

We just have a narrow space in the master bath upstairs. There was a time that I could have given up the full length window in order to have two sinks, but I decided the value of the functioning window was greater. I am using a green sink, one of a pair, that I found roadside after Hurricane Ivan repairs had begun.

Our helpful Mexican tile guys assisted Billy getting the heavy pieces upstairs.

Originally I had wanted two sinks in the master bath but it would have meant losing the big window. Even tho the matching green sinks would have looked great together, I opted to just have one sink and keep the full sized window. Some people think I am nuts for putting the green sink in this bath, but I have a plan. I found some lovely inexpensive matching green stained glass at Hobby Lobby that I plan to cut into mosaic tile size pieces and make a framed mirror with it for this bath. I also picked up some lime-y green glass drops that I can add to the little chandelier that hangs in this room.

Here Valerie and Billy bring up part of the kitchen cabinets. Notice that we have the permanent stair treads installed and covered them with cardboard boxes to protect the wood.

Valerie and Billy of Architextural Millwork & Cabinetry, LLC assemble the kitchen cabinets that he made back in his shop.

Billy did a great job on our curvy cabinets.

Now look at the photo above to see how un-level my floor is here ! It seems to be due to the thinset under the tile being a lot thicker near the wall. Since I don't want all my lemons rolling off the counter onto the floor, we decided to mount the cabinet to the (plumb) wall and run a kickplate strip along the floor to cover the gap.

This is a photo of the vent opening that we are using for all sorts of exhaust ducts. This is before the kitchen fan is mounted down here in the basement.

Aaron is constructing the framework for a box to house the intake for the kitchen stove vent. We have a rectangle opening which will be above the back of the stove and the air is pulled down thru a long run of ductwork to the basement where the fan is mounted. It seems to work great, we have a surprisingly strong pull considering the distance and the bends in the ducts. It is quiet in the kitchen with the motor two floors below. Aaron will cover the wood frame with scraps of our magnesium oxide sheets.

Here you can see the vent box with its skin on it. The stove slid in and guess what ? We can't open the cabinet drawers next to it !  There is no extra room in the stove opening to scoot the stove over any. The angle of the edge of the drawers is going to have to be changed. I think we will need to cut about half an inch off the left edge of the drawers.

We have ordered some thin stainless steel film from Outwater to cover the vent housing in.

Feb 20, 2025

Today Billy and Valerie brought the kitchen island and the upper cabinets. They brought a friend John to assist. The kitchen looks fabulous and is so harmonious with the other patterns in the room.

Getting the heavy island up all the stairs was quite a feat.

I plan to order oval mosaic tile in the color of these circles. I wanted to wait to get the island and figure out the amount to tile to order. I found it on eBay.