Installing IKEA cabinets in all three of our beach house kitchens often prompts the question: why didn’t we use them in our Richmond kitchen? In this post we explain what gave us pause about using IKEA back then, how choosing them might have changed the final result, and which cabinets we would pick now if we were selecting kitchen cabinetry for our home today. We also share how a small outdoor task at the duplex turned into a major plumbing headache (yes, the water curse strikes again!) and why an evening emergency call to an electrician made the week feel perfectly balanced.
What’s New
- I sent Sherry a frantic text when I realized one of the water shut-off valves at the duplex had been buried. You can see the exposed valve in the foreground; the other one should have been about four feet in front of it. I dug around for a while and couldn’t find it.
- When the pathway was installed along the side of the house the valve ended up buried deeper than expected — roughly four inches below the finished ground level. It was also very close to the path, so plastic edging actually blocked easy access to the cover.
- I didn’t take pictures while digging because I didn’t expect anything dramatic to happen — until the water line broke. The next photo shows part of the aftermath, with the little box (yes, the “margarine tub”) removed and set aside.
- The break itself wasn’t massive, but it released a surprising amount of water very quickly. The pipe stayed hidden for hours until the water drained away, which left a glorious layer of mud.
- The plumber repaired the break and reinstalled the valve a bit higher so it now sits level with the ground. That should prevent it from getting buried again and moves it farther away from the path where it was previously obstructed.
- If you want a refresher on our past water dramas in Cape Charles, we’ve had a handful of memorable incidents over the years: discovering the beach house had no water line, frozen pipes, a broken water meter leaking while a house was gutted, and a bathroom flood revealed during demolition. Those experiences have taught us to never take plumbing for granted.
That’s Embarrassing
- We’ve been making great progress in the beach house backyard and will share a full photo-filled post soon. For now, here’s a peek at the outdoor lights on the sheds that caused more trouble than they were worth during installation.
- We used the smaller fixtures on the shed sides and back of the house, and larger fixtures near the peak. The dusk-to-dawn sensor is subtle and not obvious in photos, but it’s there at the top of the shade on the back side.
Ikea Kitchens
- We used a local cabinet company for our Richmond kitchen for reasons we explain in our renovation posts, but over time we grew more comfortable with IKEA cabinetry and started using it in more projects. Below is a summary of where and how we’ve used IKEA cabinets in our homes:
- Our Richmond laundry room was a first small experiment with IKEA cabinets. We relied on filler pieces to achieve a wall-to-wall look and used a lower piece to conceal under-cabinet lighting. The cabinet fronts there are a style called BODBYN.
- Next came custom built-ins in our Richmond bonus room, again using BODBYN fronts. That job moved faster than the kitchen remodel and gave us more confidence in working with IKEA components.
- Our beach house kitchen in Cape Charles was our first full kitchen done with IKEA. We planned and installed it ourselves, choosing VEDDINGE door fronts and learning a lot about planning a small coastal kitchen.
- This past winter we completed both kitchens in the duplex using IKEA again. One kitchen used ASKERSUND fronts with a warm, natural look; the other features blue KALLARP cabinets for a pop of color. Those projects helped us refine installation tricks and tools that make an IKEA kitchen installation much smoother.
- One custom-feeling feature in our Richmond kitchen is an “appliance garage” built from stock doors and filler pieces so it looks like a cabinet but doesn’t have a full back. It’s perfect for storing breakfast foods and bulky, frequently used appliances like the toaster and crock pot — leave it open while in use and close it to hide clutter.
We’re Digging
- For our unofficial Creepy Murder Book Club, I read two titles over spring break: Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown and The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. Both are atmospheric thrillers that kept me turning pages.
- Sherry has been deep into Sarah J. Maas’s fantasy series after recommending the Court of Thorns and Roses books; she’s now working her way through the Throne of Glass series and has been enjoying the characters and worldbuilding.
If you want to revisit recommendations from past episodes, we keep a master list of everything we’ve dug into across our show notes and a dedicated Book Club page that collects all the books we’ve suggested.
Thanks to Annie Selke for sponsoring this episode. They recently launched a collection in collaboration with artist Laura Park. Use code YHL15 for 15% off your order.
Thanks for listening, and thanks for reading.
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