newsflash: white house selects new cabinet

[does anybody get that?  chris didn't find it very clever... but I'm rolling with it since it's the season of the caucuses and all... is "caucuses" a word?]

The cabinet story:

We went to Lowe's and worked with Bernie - who was so nice - to design semi-custom cabinets.  We spent a good deal of time and came up with a pretty sweet configuration with him using their CAD program.  Only downfall - the price tag was $8500 without installation and that didn't include anything to replace our built-in "pantry" in the nook.  We probably would have gotten some discounts bringing it closer to $7500 but that was still considerably more than we wanted to spend.

Here's what we came up with:

Then we met with the Casiano brothers - of Casiano Cabinets.  They're a local, family-owned business that our plumber told us about, and we're so glad he did.  They've been great to work with, it's all completely custom, and they're really flexible.  Plus the whole thing - including installation and a custom built-in in the nook - is going to set us back about $7200.  We're really confident with our decision and are happy to be supporting local business.  Lowe's gets enough out of our paychecks as it is.  (But I still get nervous and hide every time we walk by Bernie's area at Lowe's because I feel bad.  Chris thinks I'm ridiculous.)

Here's their old school CAD (as in Casiano-aided design) drawing:

This is the new wall of cabinets.  From left to right beginning on the left with angled open shelves and ending with the double oven on the left.

This is the side wall with the cooktop in the middle.  We want a big "statement" hood above the range.  The the fridge on the right with open shelves above.

This is the island with the sink and dishwasher.  To the left I want a shelf with baskets like this, which I thought was silly/trendy at first when I saw it in magazines.  But I like the idea of storing things like potatoes and onions in there.