Kitchen Progress!

We have been working away on our new home and are loving every minute of it!  There isn’t one area that I can point you to and say “there, that’s done!”  Yet, we’re slowly but surely making our house feel and look like us.

One of my favorite areas in our home is our kitchen.   It’s so big and open with the most amazing corner window.  We’ve done a lot of work in there, but before I show you the progress shots I’ll remind you of what it used to look like.

When we bought the house, this was the status of the kitchen.  Floral dot wallpaper, a vintage gas range and wall oven, a decorative trim over the cabinets, CARPET, and lots of pretty light.

And here’s what it’s looking like today!  It’s still most definitely in progress, but we’re loving it so much more!

The change that has made the most impact has been opening up this wall.  Don’t worry, painting that trim is the next thing on our to-do list.  We’re not trying to go for the raw wood look.

My Dad tore the wall out, moved the light switches and outlets, and installed the gorgeous woodwork.  He’s pretty much amazing at everything.

In our old home we had very limited counter space.  Now we have enough counter space to just decorate it for fun!  Isn’t that cross-stitch piece adorable?  My sweet friend designed it and stitched it herself.  It’s one of my favorite gifts I’ve ever received!

After we knocked down the wall, we took the decorative trim off the cabinet tops, ripped off the wallpaper, painted, ripped out the carpet, and installed tile.  Phew.  It was a lot of work, but so much fun!

I adore the paint color we picked, but we plan on repainting.  After we painted, Timothy’s Dad called us and offered to pay for some tile and the install in our kitchen and basement.  Say what?!  Yeah, it was pretty awesome.  His dad wanted to get it from a specific store, so he sent us a picture of the tile and said that if we liked it he would get it. Umm, yes.  Yes, please.  Ha!

We really like the tile, but we don’t love it with the paint color.  I’m thinking of going with a much darker gray.  A room this size could handle a moodier color.  I’m also itching to tackle those cabinets with a paint brush.  Crisp, white cabinets are calling my name!

Oh, and can we take a moment to just admire that gorgeous oven (and crooked hand towel)?  I’m still pinching myself.  The old range and wall oven were original to the house and desperately needed updating.  Timothy and I made plans to start saving money immediately to replace them.  But my sweet, sweet parents had something else in mind.  They have been looking to buy a big freezer, and our house just so happened to come with one (it was in the basement).  They asked if we were interested in a trade – we would give them the freezer and they would give us an oven.  Umm, yes, again.  That rocks.

Well, they went over and above and took me to pick out whatever I wanted.  Literally.  They stood me in the aisle filled with ovens and said I could have my favorite one.  Oh mylanta.  Our “trade” was nowhere near even.  Haha!  But I have never cooked more delicious food.  This is our first brand new appliance since being married, and sometimes I just catch myself gazing fondly at it.

And that nook where the old wall oven was located?  My Dad used his amazing skills and formatted it to fit our microwave.  Like I said, the man’s a genius.

The kitchen light is just begging to be put out of its misery.  It’s pretty ugly.  I’m going to try to fix it up, but I don’t know if it can be salvaged.  Ha!

As far as other lighting goes, there’s a light in the corner window and there are lights under the upper cabinets.  They’re pretty camouflaged, but you can see the one on the right peeking out a bit.  It’s a long metal light fixture with a fluorescent bulb and two outlets.  Outlets on a light fixture?  Yes.  I tell you, the previous owners thought of everything.

The other wall of the kitchen is basically an empty slate aside from the pantry.  Timothy and I are thinking that this wall is pretty much made to be a chalkboard wall.  We’ll get on that, too, eventually.

This is my favorite view in our whole entire house.  It is a joy to do dishes here!  Well, partly because of the huge windows, but mostly because of the dishwasher.  But back to the windows.  Currently there are four shutters on the windows, but eventually I’d like to put up some wooden shades and some brightly patterned curtains.

A kitchen redo is a big undertaking, but I’m so glad we’ve crossed as much off the to-do list as we have.  Here’s sort of where we stand:

-rip out carpet and install tile

- remove wallpaper and paint

-paint again

-replace oven

-paint cabinets

-update light fixture

-paint the trim on the wall opening

-new window coverings

-chalkboard wall

-overhaul pantry

-accessorize!

Whew!  I get giddy just thinking about it!  Already this little home is so full of love that it’s just busting at the seams.  It has been an honor every step of the way to work on it and live in it.

~Whitney