Best and easiest $2500 we saved! Many places charge even more for installation. I've heard some on this forum have paid AS much if not MORE for installation as they did for their cabinets! DH built a box to help support the uppers, (guess he didn't want to put holes in the drywall- we're taking our time with backsplash, so it's all painted and purty). He screwed cabs into wall and then bolted each of them together. Make sure your level is working well- he splurged and bought himself a fancy new one. Have lots of shims of different sizes- and make sure your cabinets are totally square before you install them.

I just did it myself last summer (for the first time). I would definitely do the wall cabs first. If you have an inside corner, you probably want to start there too. I did what raenjapan said and used ledger boards. I didn't use 2x4's for them, but finish quality spruce 1x2's available from Lowes. Much straighter. The most important thing is to THINK ! If you have a complex design, you need to be three steps ahead to figure out how to fit pieces together. particularly where there will be a tall cabinet, you need align the adjoining wall and base cabinet very well. Mark where the studs are. Have strong help for lifting cabinets into place. (He just had surgery?) If your walls aren't perfectly flat, consider assembling adjoining cabinets together before placing them. Dry fit cabinets. I have a normal sized cordless drill that would have been a real pain to use in confined spaces. I got a Bosch angle driver. At first I thought is was expensive, but after I was done, I thought it was the best $150 I ever spent. I used GRK cabinet screws which use a Torx bit. The bit never jumped like when you use a Phillips. There really are a LOT of details to keep track of for a first timer. I attached a URL for one article, but I couldn't find the one from This Old HOuse that helped me. If you have cable, the DIY network has a show call Kitchen Renovations which will give you a look at how cabinets are installed in different situations. Plan on it taking 3 times as long as you think it should. Here is a link that might be useful: Installation article

I am not sure if it rectified tile or not. Here is the info on the Florida tile we chose. http://www.floridatile.com/products/berkshire We chose a cocoa colored grout or maybe it was called coffee, I can't remember for sure. Go with a darker shade of grout to make it look more like wood. The lighter u go with the grout color the less realistic it will look.

We moved into our new house about 4 weeks ago and finally have internet hooked up! Woo hoo! I just read the above post. I am having trouble with the satin finish WL too. I still haven't gotten our wood top completed and started the process of applying the first coat of WL probably at the beginning of Sept! We applied the original WL with no problem. I just poured it on and smoothed it out with an old t-shirt. The girl at the store where we bought it had a lot of experience with applying the original and she said that's what she always did, and got beautiful results. Unfortunately, she did not have experience with the satin. After applying several coats of the original, I followed the instructions on the Craft Art website and applied the 75%satin/25%original mix with a bristle brush. It had some bubbles in it and mistakenly I tried to get them out after the mix had been sitting for a few minutes. I should have just left it alone! Maybe the bubbles would have come out on their own..I ended up with noticeable brush marks where I had messed with it... I tried two more times to put on the satin/original mix! Next I tried with a t-shirt (not good). The third time (after talking to WL, and yes they are snippy) I used a natural bristle brush and applied liberally as the WL man said. After I applied it I had to go back over it because I noticed some of the WL was puddling. It was very difficult to get it on thick without this happening! After it dried I still had brush strokes! Then we moved in and I haven't had the energy to deal with it since. I've been a little distracted with getting unpacked, etc... The wood top really looks gorgeous when the light is NOT shining on it in a certain way, and you can't see the brush strokes! LOL! I'm sure it will be worth it in the end and I'm very happy with the money I saved doing it myself. I'm starting to get my energy back and now I'm trying to figure out what to do next. I sanded the brush strokes out already and it now has sanding marks on it. I hope those go away when I reapply. I am thinking about going back to the original for the final coat but I'm a little frightened of trying the satin AGAIN! Any advice! Hope all this makes sense. Capegirl- did you end up using the satin for a final coat or a mix? Thanks! Jill