After eighteen months, we have finally finished our kitchen upgrades. For those of you who enjoy the process of home improvement projects, I’ll share a few photos.
When we first moved in, here’s what the space looked like. The wall (with the calendar) between the kitchen and dining room is the one we removed.
We added to the kitchen’s appeal by making a huge mess as we moved in. Moving is not something I ever want to do again. Ever.
Removing the wall was quite the undertaking. Steve and I were out of town for that part of the renovation but Sarah and Gage were home and grabbed a photo. They both said it was a little disconcerting to see the beloved house is such a torn up state.
After the wall came out, it was time for new flooring and paint as shown off by our fab Smith Sib Models.
Of course, all the lovely wallpaper had to be removed before the painting could be done. If you’ve ever taken down wallpaper, you have some idea of the great joy Gage was experiencing in this photo. He was a huge help in getting that room prepped.
The mess of painting.
It was great to see some progress.
We got some new appliances to replace the ones that were 20-30 years old.
At this point, we figured we would just live with the blue countertops/backsplash because we did not want to spend the money on putting in new countertops. And then we discovered a company that didn’t remove countertops but magically turned them into a new color for much less money. We were sold.
And so yet another upheaval began. Messes upon messes!
Finally, the countertops were done.
Steve put in dozens of hours doing painting, wiring, and myriad other things in between. He also organized the variety of workers that came in and out of the house over those eighteen months.
Sometimes it all just got to be a little too much.
One of his projects was removing the old sink and setting the new one which he’d never done before. He always says, “How hard can it be?” and then just goes ahead and does it. One of my favorite things he did was to install under cabinet lighting.
Once we finally got the cabinets painted (another huge mess) we can finally say–moment of silence, please–we are done!
Since we didn’t replace the countertop or the cupboards and Steve did a lot of work himself, we were able to do the transformation for much less than it would have been otherwise. We are loving it!
Before and after.
We look forward to many future meals with family, old friends, and all the new friends we haven’t met yet. The kitchen is the heart of the home and this kitchen has a wonderful heart history–welcoming people with open arms and lovely aromas.
We will continue in Ken and Vernie’s steps and also create a legacy of our own in our new lovely space.
What about you?
Have you ever had a reno project you thought would never get finished?
We haven’t gotten rugs for the kitchen yet. I read that some people don’t even use rugs in their kitchens and other people love them. Any opinions or advice on what kind of rugs you like? Or don’t like?
This isn’t on the subject of kitchens but on cleaning in general: Steve and I were down in the basement yesterday going through some stuff and I had to ask him to turn down the music because I can’t think when there is music playing. (It wasn’t even that loud.) Is anyone else like that? Do you like music when you work (or play) or do you prefer silence in order to concentrate?
Oh I do love a good renovation before and after! It looks fabulous! Under cabinet lighting is so luxurious. I use area rugs in my kitchen but have really struggled to find some for my new house that are: attractive, non -slip AND easy to wash (a necessity with a 6 year old!). Good luck in your hunt!
Ellen,
Who knew there was so much to consider when buying a rug? Hope you and I both find ones we love!
Thanks for the compliment on the kitchen; we are enjoying it.
I haven’t had any big projects that seemed to take forever to complete. Recently though a neighbor put laminate flooring in their living room/dining room/kitchen. Her husband decided he could do it himself. Unfortunately, he has Parkinson’s, and it took him forever. He had the floor almost complete when he ripped a good part of it up for some unknown reason. She swore he would never attempt something like that again. Well, this year they decided to put laminate in the master bedroom and sunroom. Rather than put her foot down and say we are paying to have it done, she let him start it thinking he would realize on his own that he couldn’t do it. Wrong! She was about to pull her hair out before he got done with it. Several nights she ended up sleeping on the couch as her bed was torn apart.
The only rugs I have are bathroom mats in my two full baths. I think rugs can be a tripping hazard so never got a area rug for my living room knowing I had parents in their 80s and 90s. They haven’t been in my house for 2+ years but I still haven’t gotten a rug.
The kitchen looks great. I know you must be glad to have that project completed.
Phyllis,
Putting down laminate flooring is a BIG job and ripping up part of it and starting again sure doesn’t make the job go faster 🙂 That was a very patient wife.
Yes, we are so glad to have our kitchen done. No more mess and clutter!
Your kitchen looks great! I noticed how nice it looked in last week’s post. I’ve never done any major reno’s but would LOVE to redo out master bath (we’re finding it’s not as functional as we thought/hoped when we looked at the house), but there’s not a lot of room for moving stuff aorund. I didn’t know you could refinish countertops like that – it looks amazing!
If I’m doing any kind of cleaning, I usually listen to podcasts or music; in fact, “back in my iPod days” I had a playlist named “cleaning”.
I hope you have a wonderful week!!
Sue Ellen,
A Cleaning Playlist! You are definitely an organized person. Even while cleaning, music distracts me which is sort of weird, I know.
Yeah, bathrooms are tough to “move around” because there isn’t much space to deal with to begin with. You just learn to live with how they are. Steve and I are both using his parents’ pretty small main bath even though there is a much larger one down the hall. Since we’re rarely in the bathroom at the same time, it works okay.
Glad you like our new kitchen!
My husband and I our rarely in our bathroom at the same time, either; so we are seriously considering getting a new sink/vanity with only one sink to gain all the extra counter space.
Sue Ellen,
That’s a great idea to go from one sinks to two; you’d gain a huge amount of space!
Your kitchen is gorgeous. Love everything about it. I have in my household – a jack of all trades – he says a master of none. But, you too have a wonderful worker. In our second home that we lived in for 30 years, wanted to do our daughter’s bedroom and put in new wallpaper – ouch – 5 layers of wallpaper were on her walls. Took some time, but it was worth it. Enjoy your new kitchen!
Sharyn,
Five layers of wallpaper? My hat is off to you for persevering in removing all those layers; I can’t imagine what a job that was.
Isn’t it nice having a husband who can do a lot of things around the house? Saves so much money!
Oh WOW!! Your kitchen is GORGEOUS!! You Really made some nice color choices and everything goes together so well! We re-did our kitchen several years ago. Gutted it (including the ceiling) Oh my gosh. I was cooking in the microwave or crockpot that was in the dining room somewhere in a pile and we used paper plates as much as possible and what I DID have to wash, I washed in the bathtub because there was no plumbing in the kitchen because it was gutted – – remember?? I’ll never forget. We worked on that every spare minute we had after work, usually until 10 or 11 pm and of course every single weekend and it took about 3-ish months. I thought we’d never get done. Thank goodness for very wonderful and helpful friends that dedicated so many of their weekends to us!!
I would probably skip the rugs but that’s just me. I’d just love looking at that beautiful floor and not want to have to worry about keeping rugs clean.
I like some background music when I work (usually classic country or my favorite, Dolly Parton!) unless I’m REALLY trying to concentrate. Then I need total silence!
LeaAnne,
Glad you like our reno! Color choices are very stressful because there a billion colors and then a billion different variation on those colors. Glad it’s done!
Okay, you win the reno contest for a 3-month long kitchen remodel. Our kitchen has only been torn up for 4 or 5 days at a time, several different times. But three months of no good place to cook or wash dishes? You guys are amazing! I know you appreciated it all the more when it was done because you had plenty of sweat equity in it.
Your kitchen looks amazing! Congratulations on making it through all that. Hope to see it in person some day!
The most involved project we had to do was when we realized the floor was rotting out by our patio door and we had to take out the floor, put in a new sub floor and new floor. (I don’t know if I said that right) We had a pretty big hole in the living room and could see our washer and dryer in the basement! What a memory that is! Also Arnold and Ruth came over and helped us put in a new patio door! I remember that being quite something too!! I’m pretty sure we spent a night sleeping with plastic hung up where the door was. So wonderful of them to come and help us out!! That was over 10 years ago!
I don’t have any rugs in my kitchen now. I have at times.
Yes, I love music. Music when I’m working, and music when I’m just relaxing. Even soft music if I should have a nap. Pretty much all the time, but a lot of the quieter kind.
Enjoy your beautiful home!!
Carol,
Yes, we’d love for you and Phil to come see our house in person. You’re welcome any time!
I think it would be pretty disconcerting to look down through your living room floor and see the washer and dryer in the basement! I know you were glad to get that all fixed. And kudos to Ruth and Arnold for coming over to help. I know how much it means to have extra hands when you have a project to accomplish. They are great helpers and Arnold has one or two little handyman skills. (ha.)
Good to hear from you!
Many years ago when I lived in Sonoma a massive remodel was done in the living room, kitchen, my bedroom, and both bathrooms. I went away for ten days to Disney World retuning to absolute disaster. My queen size bed was stuffed in the smallest bedroom which already had a single bed. There was about 6 inches I had to crawl sideways to get in bed. The kitchen was fully torn apart and both bathrooms had non functioning toilets and showers. Also the kitchen was demoed and nonfunctional. they got a toilet functioning and brought in a cooler, it was a lot like camping. I never want to go through that again!
Cindy,
Oh my. I was hoping you were going to say you got back after ten days and the work was done and it looked gorgeous! But returning to a disaster and indoor camping? At least they finally got a toilet functioning; that’s always a good thing! 🙂
Wow. Just wow! Love your remodel. It gives me restored hope for the huge remodel we are in. Currently we have no water or electricity in the kitchen. We do have pretty cupboards now, though. Lol. This week is forecasted to have a lot of progress. However, like the weather, I’ve learned building projects are also unpredictable. Chuckle.
Your kitchen is beautiful!
Thanks for the before and after photos.
Cheryl,
Hooray for pretty new cupboard. I’m sure you’re looking forward to getting all your things arranged in there.
I love a good Kitchen Forecast; hoping to hear good stories at the end of the week!
I am SO EXCITED to see your accomplishment with this kitchen. It looks GORGEOUS!
I’d have never known those weren’t brand-new countertops! They are amazing – and I had no idea this option existed, either!
Our kitchen renovation project is almost complete, and will definitely be complete by April 15. Why? Because that’s the day I start my NEW JOB. Remember a couple of weeks ago that I commented about big, potential changes for me? Well, that’s what I was talking about. I never thought I’d be job-hunting and job-winning at 57 but here we are…
Anyway – we did get new countertops for our kitchen (we went with quartz) because the existing ones were cracked and peeling. That’s why we’re going the rest of it ourselves. I’m currently painting the cabinets (and have been, since Methuselah was a child – or so it seems). Mike also installed the under-cabinet lighting, which we love!
Rugs – I buy rugs without backing because I learned the hard way the the rubberized backing can sometimes react with the vinyl flooring and discolor it. When Aldi has them on sale, I stock up (I buy two – one for the sink and one for the stove). They wash and dry nicely and aren’t very expensive (two big pluses in my book).
Is your new light fixture also a fan? Or is that the design of the housing? I’ve seen so many clever ceiling fan designs lately.
Stefanie,
Congrats on your new job! It’s fun to start a whole new season and even more fun when your kitchen remodel is over with. There’s nothing like having a deadline to make you get something done. (We currently have a deadline on our basement which I’ll write about more later.)
The lighting fixture in the kitchen is, indeed, a fan. It’s very cool because when you flip the switch, the blades slow unfurl from a small circle and spread way out. These fans were about $400 in bronze; Steve found one in silver for $100, took it apart and painted it bronze.
Once again, enjoy your new job and this new season.
I love the redo. Would like to see how taking down that wall opened up the kitchen. We did a very low budget redo of our old inherited house kitchen too. Replaced the countertops with inexpensive Formica one but erred in getting them white marble. We replaced black and white checkerboard floor with a floor similar to the one originally in your kitchen but with more of a stone look. It’s very cheap vinyl flooring that we hope to replace in near future. I’d like to paint the new counter tops that are not working out in the white marble look to what you have.
We can’t knock out the wall without losing the wall in pantry that is currently very valuable storage space , as well as fact that every bit of existing wall is used. I wish we could because kitchen is only 12×12 and with counters and appliances as deep as they are , doesn’t leave much floor space.
Your kitchen looks terrific!
Catherine,
In my next Thing Post, I’ll post a couple of pictures that show the difference when the wall came out.
We actually had a small pantry built at the same time as the wall came out because the storage in this kitchen was a lot less than in Manteo. It’s been a good challenge and discipline for me to pare stuff down.
Sounds like you’ve made some good changes in your kitchen; even small things can have a big impact in just freshening up the space a little.
Great job! I remember having you over for dinner when our kitchen was in the remodeling mess. The refrigerator was in the family room!
Nina,
Yes, I do remember that refrigerator–and the wonderful meal you made. I believe it was some kind of thin cut steak with some delicious seasonings. Such a great evneing.
The kitchen looks fabulous. Worth all the effort and time spent.
I haven’t had any big reno projects, usually small things that go quickly. I wish we could redo our small kitchen, but the configuration of the house, on a hill, doesn’t allow for any expansion. It works, but I would love to have an island…
I like a small rug in front of the sink to catch drips, but would rather have the rest of the floor empty. My husband likes more rugs, so we have two long runners and two small rugs in front of the sink and the stove. They catch everything that falls and get so dirty. They are too big for the washer so I really have to put up with them for a couple years and then replace them. Would be so much easier to quickly dust mop and wet mop a plain floor.
I love to work with classical music playing. Not loud and not wild music. I do play bluegrass or gospel when I am sewing or in the car. I could have music playing all the time and sometimes not even really hear it, as it just fills in the background. I have had the same CD playing in my car since I bought it last summer. I haven’t tired of it yet.
Patti,
Wow, you must really love a CD to play it for almost a year. I’m sure you know every song by heart!
Yes, I imagine a house on a hill is somewhat limiting in adding anything on. But also having a house on a hill sounds sort of great because you can look out and see over everything else!
I agree–it’s hard to know what to do on rugs. Pros and cons and everything in between!