For the past 3 months we’ve lived with our new IKEA Ulriksdal kitchen, still in its packaging, in our garage as our kitchen renovation blossomed into a half-house renovation with new plumbing, wiring, central vac, etc. In the meantime, I’ve had ample time to play with Google’s free 3D program, Sketchup, and get the satisfaction of a completed kitchen if only on my computer. And with the help of Sketchup, I’ve come to realize that the Ulriksdal style was all wrong for our kitchen. While it’s a handsome style, its vertical lines were too distracting when combined with our checkerboard floor and future dazzling backsplash. So Andrew and I discussed it and came to the conclusion we should attempt to return the Ulriksdal doors and cover panels to IKEA (Stoughton, MA) and exchange the for Abstrakt. Amazingly, they accpeted our return (we were WELL over their 45-day return policy) and were able to exchange everything. With the price difference between the two styles, we were even able to buy a new sofa:

This is IKEA’s “Arild” sofa in white leather. I never thought I’d go for a white leather sofa, but this one is quite beautiful. It has a pebbled texture and I think it’ll hold up well. It’s being delivered this Friday along with our new kitchen cabinet doors.

Here are my Sketchup images of the new kitchen - hopefully to be finished in April:

All that’s there in reality right now is the floor and the walls (Benjamin Moore’s “Tropicana Cabana”). Andrew, Bingo and I decided to pose for some pictures while the walls are still bare:

And with the new floor: