We had obviously expected the job to take three weeks, so is a little frustrating to not have a completed kitchen and go into a fourth week, especially with the end so close and in sight.
We didn’t want to “move in” to the kitchen until it was done, otherwise you get in the way and everything gets messy…. so we were very happy when the fitter came back on Tuesday to complete the cupboards and fir the appliances (at last we have a fridge!!) and then the builder came on Thursday to finish off the radiator, skirting, etc. and we even got the driveway cleared of the rubbish on Thursday as well !
So in the fourth week, I have pleasure in declaring this kitchen now OPEN 
Of course it’s one thing getting your kitchen back, but another to actually get everything sorted out! We did start putting stuff back into the cupboards on Wednesday afternoon/evening, then took Lynn all afternoon Thursday to unpack all the pots, pans, crockery, etc and find a home for it. I managed to put the clock up as well !
We have a couple of small things to get sorted, there is a wobbly electric socket (Oakwood are sorting out) and also need to get someone in to put up the blinds (yes I really am that screwdriver phobic 
) but otherwise, as at Thursday night, we are fully moved in and using the Kitchen now.
So were there any lessons to be learned ?
- I didn't like having to pay the whole balance up front, despite the monies and finished work being guarenteed. At the time it made sense, but made me uneasy throughout the process.
- Certainly didn't like having to order all the appliances and radiator myself. In some respects it makes sense as I could order precisely what we wanted and get it cheaper, but added additional areas for mis-understanding or dispute if something is not as expected, and the whole project is not under the installers control (which was one of the things I really wanted and had expected)
- Having the rubbish sitting on the drive wasn't ideal, especially as the third week was very windy! I was expecting them to put a skip on the drive, so just leaving it loose on the drive would cause us and the neighbours inconvinience if stuff blew everywhere. I guess this was a cost shaving exercise but seems a false economy to me.
- Oakwood Bespoke didn't really seem to be doing any project management. I have no idea what they did behind the scenes, but would have certainly have liked a courtesy call at the end of each week or even an inspection visit to see how things were looking. Perhaps they just trust their sub-contractors that much they don't need to inspect, but seemed it was up to me to keep an eye on things and make sure they were on schedule.
Overall though, everything went pretty smoothly and worked out to give us the end result we were expecting, so have to give Oakwood credit for doing a good job.
In the end we are both very pleased with the result and have got new matching kettle, bread bin, etc to go with the new kitchen so everything is nice, shiny, clean and new.
Of course it's easy to love a brand new kitchen before you've really used it, but first impressions are great and we are really happy with how it's turned out. I guess the real proof of the pudding is in a couple of months time to see how we have adapted to the new layout and new equipment, but for the moment at least we are delighted :)
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