at long last my love arrived

Two weeks ago was the week!! It was Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one!!  My hood arrived (again, for the second time) and it was everything I had imagined and more. Until it wasn't.

I'm not even going to joke about it being cursed because it most certainly is. The first time it arrived (after 4 months) it was gouged to hell down the middle and had to be sent back. I cannot go back into more detail because that was a dark, dark place in my life. Hood #2 arrived a few weeks ago. Yes, I am about 3 weeks behind in updating you. I hope you can forgive me. My contractor goes to hang it and says it doesn't have power. NOnoNonOnononono. No. no. NO. This cannot be happening.

As it turns out, when they had drilled a support ledge in the wall to hold the base of the hood, there were wires that were hanging between sheet rock and an old layer of plaster. One of the 4 inch screws that went through the wall then nicked one of the wires. What are the freaking odds. My contractor didn't realize that is what happened until he reached to grab part of the hood and got a nice, high voltage jolt letting him know the hood was charged and ready to go.

No big deal. He only then had to knock a gigantic hole in a wall in the guest bedroom to deal with that situation. Not a big deal at all. It was only the same day we had decided to have a party at our house. Perfect. Who doesn't love sheet rock dust all over their clothes as a nice little added party favor.

Anyway, it is all water under the bridge now. And I can cook as much curry as I want and it goes right out to flavor my neighborhood.

Quick reminder of what we've been working with since August...I was going for a very industrial chic, aluminum shaft hanging from the ceiling kind of look. 

I honestly had no idea something could take this long to create without it having organs, fingernails and a social security number, but without further ado, here hangs the hood!

hood rat

In a rare show of  semi-laying down the law, Jack made sure to reiterate that he wanted the kitchen to have an exposed hood. I was already leaning that way anyway, so it was a pretty easy decision to move in that direction. The only issue was, the contractor's bid included an allowance for the hood at $ and I seemed to have an eye for hoods that were priced at $$$$$$.  But who doesn't love a good exposed hood?

Jenny Wolf Interiors

This may come as no surprise to anyone, but I think HGTV has ruined my life. I think all of my frustrations and heartbreak regarding kitchen reno sticker shock could have been avoided had I never been exposed to their fallacies. I watch way too many shows where they do an entire gut job, put in granite counter tops, Wolf appliances, always completed in only 3 days, and then say "we just did this whole kitchen for $20K." I hate to be the one to break it to you, but they are liars. LIARS, I tell you, LIARS. I have a vivid memory of a Nicole Curtis episode where she does a full kitchen remodel, puts in carrera marble counter tops, then boasts that the whole job was done for $4K. That, my friends, should be a lawsuit. It gets my heart rate up just thinking about that episode. Am I the only person who got "got" by HGTV?

Throughout this process, whenever I have first gotten a bid back or seen a price, I feel like the whole world is out to get me or someone is playing a sick joke on me. Fortunately, I now realize this is all HGTV's fault, but unfortunately, I am having a hard time accepting reality. I still have the delusion that for one of my big ticket items, the company I ordered it from is going to call me and tell me I am getting it for free because I am their 10,000th customer. It's crazy and ridiculous, you don't have to tell me. But sometimes it's just nice to think about. Kind of like thinking that one day I'll be the opening act for Beyonce, or one day I'll have a frozen yogurt machine instead of a water dispenser in my kitchen. These are just some of the comforting thoughts I like to have in my delusional little head. 

Costs aside, one thing I loved doing for the kitchen project was designing a hood. It was so much fun! My how my definition of fun has gotten drastically lamer the older I get. I went with Vent-A-Hood and they have this sweet feature on their website where you can design your own hood and (instantly!) see a preview and the cost. Confession: I made over 30 hoods. Easily. Once I decided to stop being lazy and finally met with a rep about placing an order, there were actually way more options. More options does not necessarily = a good thing for someone as ADD as me. I have to make a decision at some point. All these options and I am like a 6 year old on espresso. 

I had done years a bit of research ahead of time on hoods, and some of my favorite forms of inspiration are below. 

via Lonny

via Cococozy

via The Suite Life

Next up, Naomi Stein shows us she is a genius once again. She really always gets it right. 

via Lonny

Dianna Agron's entire kitchen...are you kidding me? Can I just be her?

via My Domaine  

Alison Cayne's Kitchen.  A real chef's kitchen for crying out loud, it's not just the hood I want out of this masterpiece. When can I move in and what is the first meal she is going to make for me? Do yourself a favor and check out her entire home tour, linked below, to really make your day. 

via One King's Lane

Then, of course, I got the half awesome/half terrifying news that the ceilings grew by about 3.5 feet. Guess what that meant? 3.5 extra feet of hood at 3.5 times the price. OK, I am kidding, but it was a little disconcerting at first since I had already designed and gotten my heart set on a particular look. So then I started looking for photos of exposed hoods with higher ceilings to make sure it wouldn't look like it was about to suck up the entire room. 

via Traditional Home

And one last final photo of inspiration. If I am being honest here, I have used every square inch of this kitchen for inspiration. I want everything about this situation to happen in my house. Perfect 10. 

Chassity Evan's kitchen (of Look Linger Love) via So Then They Say

So, I finally placed my order for the hood in May and it is still going to be awhiiiiile before it gets here. Come on Vent-A-Hood, I am dying over here. The suspense is killing me. They really said it could take 15 weeks. 15 weeks. That is 105 days. You are killing me smalls!!!
In the meantime, here is a little sample of what I am waiting on.