We have a new kitchen and it is beautiful. In case you need some help appreciating the shiny new splendor pictured above, here is a reminder of how far we came...
The original pansies didn't stick around long, but the tiny island, cramped stove area, bulky brown towering cabinets, and "meh" linoleum managed to hang around for eight years. We did update some appliances along the way, but for us the biggest reason we never addressed much else in the kitchen was because we didn't like the layout and had hopes to someday tear down the wall between the kitchen and dining room.
We started working with a designer last fall and were ready to start demolition the first weekend in April. We did this ourselves, and when I say "we," I mostly mean Matt. Although everyone did pitch in some.
After tearing it out ourselves, we let the pros come in to knock down the wall, frame in the staircase, and deal with rerouting pipes and ducts.
By the end of April we had a fresh, crisp, clean blank slate to start putting a dream kitchen back together.
Every afternoon it was exciting to come home from work to see what progress had been made during the day while we were gone. I'm terrible at visualizing things, even after months of studying the plans it didn't really click until I saw it start to take shape.
During the renovation one of the biggest hassles of course was that we didn't have a way to cook or clean dishes. When the countertops (and therefore the sink) showed up we were thrilled.
Once it started coming back together into a functioning room, a lot of the final steps were items that Matt was taking on himself. Since the kitchen touches so many rooms, painting it meant that he also painted the laundry room, the dining room, the kitchen, up the staircase, and the upstairs hallway. He also painted the trim, put crown molding up in the dining room, rewired the switches to have dimmers, painted and hung our new lamps, installed every knob and pull on all the drawers and cabinets, painted the bench seat, sanded and painted an old table for the nook, and completely redid our stairs. He spent every single evening for about a month working on something related to this project and I'm so grateful for his attention to detail, quest for perfection, and hard work.
The stairs before were carpeted, and Matt tackled their upgrade completely by himself- tearing out the carpet, pulling countless staples out of the wood, sanding it over and over, multiple coats of staining, painting the risers, and several coats of sealant. They turned out beautiful! Before:
After:
It feels like a completely different house. I can't believe I get to cook in this kitchen! We have used our dining room more in the last month than we did in the last nine years living here now that we can see it and easily access it.
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| Think of the Christmas cookies we can bake here this year |
The pictures actually don't fully show how spacious, how airy, and how pretty it turned out. I recommend you come visit us to see it in person and let me cook something for you while you hang out by the massive island and chat with me. It was by far the most major undertaking we have ever done, way more involved than our first house, and that kitchen was also a total gut job. There were times during the project that I wanted to scream if I had to discuss another detail, was frustrated by contractors making assumptions instead of asking us, felt annoyed by hidden costs, was discouraged when days went by with no action, and felt claustrophobic living in a living room that also included our dining room table, kitchen table, refrigerator, old island, and no breathing room. But, oh my, it was all completely worth it and I'm so happy that it is finished!
so pretty!!
ReplyDeleteYour kitchen is awesome and I am so impressed with all the work Matt did. I know you are enjoying it. I did enjoy hanging out with y'all in the kitchen.
ReplyDelete