Kitchen renovation

Dan and I have been talking about renovating our kitchen someday but, to be honest, I didn't think we would actually do it.  Our main issues with the "old" kitchen were the deterioration of the cupboards, the bulkiness of the serving peninsula, and the feeling that it just wasn't our style.  After much deliberation we decided to take the plunge!  Here are the official "before" pictures:

We timed our vacation for the week of demo and cabinet installation.  After selling our appliances on craigslist, here was our view of the kitchen just before we left for a week in Houghton Lake.

 

Our contractor offered to send us pictures throughout the week.  We were excited to see the progress while we were away!

 

 

 

When we returned home we were excited to see the cupboards in person but also slightly overwhelmed at the task of cleaning off all of our kitchen supplies (which were now coated in dust), installing the shelves into our new cabinets (and making sure they were the perfect height for optimal functionality!), loading up all of our supplies, and keeping the kids from getting into things!  We also knew we'd be living without a counter for several weeks.  Thankfully the appliances arrived within a few days and the kitchen started to take shape.

With the new cabinets in place it became apparent that the cherry dining room outfit Dan's parents generously passed on to us was simply not a good match.  Dan's mom graciously granted us permission to replace it.  The new table and chairs were delivered the day before Caleb's 4th birthday party and were quickly put to good use.  The disrepair of our kitchen fit perfectly with the construction theme!



After regrouping from birthday festivities, Dan and I took on a project of our own in the renovation.  We realized that the finish of our sliding door and kitchen window just didn't look good against the dark cabinets and furniture.  So, we sanded and sanded and sanded... and stained and stained... and, well, you get the idea.

 

 After some good ol'-fashioned elbow grease we were pleased with the results.

And, after five weeks with plywood for counters...





Our countertop and new sink were installed, the backsplash was tiled, holes were filled, paint was touched up and retouched up, decorative accents were purchased and at last we could say "The kitchen renovation is complete!"

 

Phew!  Truth be told, we are still on the hunt for the perfect valence for the kitchen window and some more colorful touches for the kitchen.  But, for all intensive purposes the kitchen is done and we are very pleased with the final results!  For those of you who want a concise before and after, here you go.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Woohoo!

















Almost there...

After five weeks without kitchen counters... they were finally installed!  And, today our contractor started phase one of the backsplash install.  The kitchen is so close to being done!

 

 

An exciting day (haircut, ice cream, and minions)!

Today has been quite the exciting day!  It started with some of the usual fun and craziness at our house...

 

...later on, Lillian and I went out to get her hair cut.  I mean, really cut!  She donated 10 inches to Locks of Love when she was three, and now it has grown long enough to donate a second time!  She was very excited!

 

 

 

Later on the whole family went out for ice cream.  

Caleb was concentrating rather hard on his ice cream!

After we put the kids to bed, Dan and I continued our project from the last few nights.  We have been hard at work sanding, staining, and sealing some of the wood work in our kitchen.  Here's some of the progress from the last few days.

 

Tonight we had to remove the door in order to stain it.  It's rather humid out and we wanted to keep the A/C on to help the stain dry, so we covered the screen door in plastic bags to minimize the amount of air flow in and out of the house.  I also positioned the minions to protect us from any intruders. 

Progress and a dilemma...

We have appliances!  We're making progress!  However, in the process we determined that the contrasting wood finishes of our cabinets, floor, table, slider, and window trim are a bit much. 

The first step in solving the problem is to sell our current dining room outfit and replace it with a darker, more modern dining set.  We listed the furniture on craigslist and it is supposed to be picked up tonight!  Next we will go out shopping and hopefully find a beautiful, dark, modern table to take its place.  We are grateful to Dan's parents for the beautiful cherry furniture they passed on to us six years ago and for their blessing to replace it at this time.

Our next project will involve the sanding and staining of the sliding doors and kitchen window.  We might have out work cut out for us!

Boxes, boxes, and more boxes

Liam had fun playing among the boxes today as Dan and I finally collapsed them and brought them to the recycling center.  It will be nice to park both cars in the garage again!

Coming home

After a great week up north with Dan's family we were excited to come home and see the progress on our kitchen.  Hooray!  We have kitchen cabinets!

 

Despite our excitement, we were also overwhelmed at the thought of cleaning and organizing our now dust-filled kitchen. 

 

Thankfully the boys were ready to nap and we were able to get some work done.  I found some plywood in the garage and was able to clean it up to serve as our counter top for the next several weeks.  In two days we will have appliances again! 

 

Houghton Lake, day one

We love vacationing up north in Houghton Lake and this week is the perfect time.  Not only is it the Fourth of July, but our contractor is installing our new kitchen cabinets while we are away.  Dan asked that I keep pictures of the progress of our kitchen secret until the whole project is complete.  But, I will give you a sneak peek at the "before" pictures from when we left this morning.

We sold all of our appliances on Craigslist so our kitchen is looking rather empty!

 

We had a fairly uneventful drive up and, as you can see, the kids are already finding ways to have fun!



All in a day

We started our day with a little Angry Birds reenactment...

...followed by church and a picture of a sweet Lillian who is going to have a Tinkerbell birthday party soon...

...and ending with a trip to Lowe's.  After much deliberation Dan and I have decided to renovate our kitchen.  Tonight was the first of what will certainly be many family trips to hardware stores!