Thanks Unstiched!

Lillian, from Unstiched was so nice to feature my kitchen renovation in her Kitchen Comforts series. She reached out to me right away with the kindest words and I am quite honored to have been asked. Thanks Lillian. Unstiched is composed of equally beautiful words and photos...do check it out.

Design*Sponge!!!

Hi Friends, I am so excited to share some big new with you all. My kitchen renovation that Katie photographed was featured on Design*Sponge yesterday!!! Such an honor and a big deal! So excited! You can check out the post here and see more of the renovation here. Thanks again Katie and THANKS Design*Sponge. Ohh and Amy...it was great emailing with you.

Merci...

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Thank you Kindly for all your sweet comments about the kitchen. It means so much to me! Now, its time to throw a party!!! Yeah!
Here are a couple more pretty detail shots taken by Katie.

Don't mind the little section next to the mixer that needs a paint touch up. :)

Before & After: The Kitchen

So here it is...The Kitchen. I finally have the before and afters for you. I hope you feel it is worth the wait. In truth it has been at this state for about a month and we are so happy with the results. There are still little things here and there to do but its is totally functioning and so much better then what we had. It has opened up the house in a way we could not imagine and we love it. Well, enough talking...drum roll please!

The goal: To increase the visibility from the kitchen

 to the living room and create a more open feel.

One of my favorite features is the bookshelf. 

We created a pantry at the end of the kitchen by closing up the existing pass thru from the front door to the kitchen. I just painted the pantry on Sunday and will show you that when its all put back together.

The design intent was always to blend the living and dining area, this is how we did it.

The counters are granite but look like marble, no inch is the same. 

The back door was replaced to allow for more light to come thru. 

(There is a picture of it in one of the past posts.)

The "Hutch" houses all the pretty stuff and has more 

storage than we know how to fill.

The wall mounted shelves freed up precious floor space 

and allows for better wire management of the TV & cable box.

Scout snuck into this photo. 

Our next purchase will be counter height stools. Our current ones are bar height 

and we are trying to decide between these two. (one &; two)

Then lighting over the table.

This renovation is all thanks to Alex! He, our friend Jose, brother in law PJ and friend Benny Blanc (painter) made this happen. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! It took longer than we ever imagined and was more difficult than I ever thought it would be (really it was horrible and looking back on past posts makes it all come back)... but of course it was all worth it.

Before Post
Middle 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

All after photos by Katie Stoops! Thanks so much! LOVE YOU!

Next: Guest Post by Alex: The Trails and Tribulations of Home Renovations.

Sources:
Kitchen Cabinets: Martha Stewart Dunemere: Color: Picket Fence from The Home Depot
Granite Counter Tops: Super White from Renaissance Marble and Granite
Flooring and Tile Backsplash: India Black Slate, Beveled edge subway tiles Avalon Carpet and Tile
Appliances: Bosch from Queen Appliances
Wallcovering: Wolf Gordon
Lighting: Suburban Wholesale Lighting
Door,Window Trim and Base Trim: Lowe's Historic Line
Entertainment Shelving: Bludot
Paint: Martha Stewart Colors: Nimbus Cloud, Heavy Goose, Picket Fence

sneak peak....

Remember about 9 months ago when I told you that we were renovating our kitchen! Well, it has been done for a while and I finally have some results to show you. Here is a little sneak peak...full reveal on its way. I am putting the post together as I type. I can't wait for you to see eveything. Have a great day.

photo by Katie Stoops

Our New Backsplash

So you know that Kitchen Renovation that I have been in the midst of for months...well here is a picture of the new backsplash that Alex and I installed over the weekend. Its a two day projects, everything has to set overnight and when its grouted and finished and all cleaned up I will make sure to show you those results and the rest of the kitchen. We have gotten to the point where we just need to finish it. Or we will just continue to live in a half done, state of limbo space for ever.

Alex met with a wall covering installer the other day and are about to get that rolling and our friend who is a painter is going to come and paint the whole interior of the house in a couple of weeks too. We have actually selected the color which is a feat on its own!

We are in the finishing touches phase and its really getting there! I am so happy with this white subway tile, it has upgraded the look instantly!!! Till tomorrow and till more pictures...the transformation from what it was is amazing! A quick reminder of the before.

Subway

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Alex and I are thinking about using white subway tile for our kitchen back splash. These kitchens are really inspiring me. Our counter tops are the same as the first and last image which is really helping me visualize it all.  I am hoping to do this little project over the holiday weekend. What do you guys think about subway tile? I know it is really popular right now but, I think for good reason.

Box Layout

Lets play make believe and put all the boxes were they will eventually end up so we can see what the new layout will look like..I like it! Scout loves it too. She loves all all the new spots for her to take a nap.

Before

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

30 Boxes and a new floor

Our kitchen has arrived...in the form of 30 boxes!! Yeah! We opened a couple boxes to make sure everything was just the way we ordered and they were and then just left them piled in the living room. The next project on the list was installing the new slate tile. The guys thought it would be a quick and easy project but unfortunately it has been the most difficult yet. The slate tile caused lots of problems, no one tile was alike or level. This made laying a grid pattern and having 1/8" space for grout impossible. A estimated 4 hour job took more like 24 hours. If we were to do it all over again we would have defiantly gone with a man made tile. But, Alex and Jose did make it work, they staggered the tile and the grout spacing increased. The images above of the floor are sans grout and when it is more complete I will make sure to post a picture. It does look pretty nice against the hard wood. We now have to scrub the tile super super clean and then seal it.

Before

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

New Drywall...clean slate....

New Drywall makes everything better. Makes everything look better. The new pantry also has been framed and drywalled and I am so excited for it. There will be a pocket door installed there. The hardware is there but we still need to get the door. It comes to about 3'x5' of storage and will be filled with shelves and will house the garbage can and a future microwave. For some reason when we moved to this house we never got a microwave and have not really missed it. When we do get one we don't want to loose valuable counter space so in the pantry it will go.

We also put hardi board down to get ready to do our new slate tile floor. Now there is a real delineation of where the kitchen starts and stops. 

One of the bigger challenges of this phase was making the ceiling look as if the wall opening was always there.

Oh, and all those wires you are seeing hanging down from behind the tv..well, we have a big plan for that. So don't worry...it won't be ugly forever. We just have to get to it.

Before 

Phase 1 & 2

Down To The Studs...

So, when I last left you we had made the wall cut out where the new counter /bar was going to be. The next step was demo demo demo and getting the floor prepped for tile. It was dusty little project but it was best if we just started fresh with new drywall and as it turned out new plumbing and electric. We encountered a lot of surprises and hiccups. From un-grounded junction boxes with hot wires and that there was no water shut off valve under the sink.  Needless to say Alex and Jose have made many trips to Home Depot. Thank goodness it is so close. I am know known as the Inspector...that is my role in the project and the provider of food, sweets and beer.

Kitchen Renovation- Middle

So, a couple things have happened to the kitchen in the past couple of weeks. A new back door was installed with a screen/glass combo storm door. We get tons of light on that side of the house and are already enjoying the difference.

Over the last two weekends when I came home from work I knew not what I would discover once I opened the front door. First one side of drywall disappeared and then the upper cabinets and then the ugly wood soffit and then everything went down to the studs! The base cabinets disappeared too. I was not expecting that so soon.  It got really dusty...so that is what you are seeing in pictures. But, you/we can now get a sense of what the new kitchen bar/island is going to look like.

After a lot of thought and taking everything in I gently told the guys that I thought the opening was just a little too big and that they should put 16" of drywall back up. I felt that the opening was encroaching to close to the TV.

They agreed with my sentiment and said no problem. Yeah! Next step is the floor and replacing the old dry wall. See you then.

Kitchen Renovation...let the games begin

So, the kitchen renovation at our home has started. Alex and his buddy Jose have been doing all the work and every weekend when I pull into the driveway after work I am blown away by what has been done. Here is what our kitchen started off as. Not the best looking, very usable, but in need up an update. I have lots of updates and I am excited for you all to watch the transformation. Its not been as painful as I thought. Very dusty, but we are so excited to see how it all turns out. So here we go....