And no, "Being corked" is not some allusion to a lascivious state of drunken or debauched excess. (Although Corked.com is some kind of an affiliate/web traffic site, which is about as lascivious as we get over here at yonked.) What I am trying to say is that we are now the proud owners of an officially installed cork floor. One step closer to the kitchen of our dreams! Above is a picture of Mike (or Corky, as we like to call him) installing the floor. Mike was recommended to us by the cork company. He did a great job installing the cork. As it turned out, we have at least two people in common that we know-- one person in Maryland, and one person in Rhode Island. Guess their is only one degree of separation for clowns. Cork comes with a lot of restrictions-- For the next 8 hours the floor is unwalkable. After that, socks only. After that, 48 hours later-- shoes are okay. And 8 days from now, the finish will have hardened and be okay. And after that-- we have to re-apply the finish every couple of years or so. The only snag in our cork-sational plan is that on Thursday of next week (6 days) we are having the granite installed. Which means a round of masonite on the ground to protect the cork from the granite-- because you know, they are opposites, and if the two ever manage to actually physically touch, it is possible that the world as we know it would completely explode. I'm not saying that it definitely would-- I'm only suggesting that it MIGHT. Can I also mention that the floor looks beautiful! Stephanie did a great job of picking the colors-- they all match perfectly (that is, they will, assuming that the last piece of our puzzle (the granite) install goes smoothly)