A New Kitchen

Beginning of the End

Chris and I spent the weekend making our home feel like a home again, which is quite a task after two months of living out of boxes and take-out containers. It was wonderful to begin getting things in their places, though, and by Sunday evening we were even able to have friends over for dinner - yay!

Our first breakfast in the kitchen was a momentous occasion - we have really missed our big breakfasts. So on Sunday morning I went and got some morning staples and we enjoyed yummy egg sandwiches. Isn't he a handsome chef? 

When it's just the two of us eating, we find ourselves dining on the island right in the kitchen, which is wonderful. We're still kind of in awe of the fact that we're not hurrying out of the kitchen as fast as possible like we used to, now that it's actually an enjoyable place to hang out. 

See the nice white ceiling? The painter came yesterday and made some mean progress for the first day, mostly around painting and staining trim work. 

We decided pretty early on that we wanted to play with white and brown around windows and doors, so for our new windows, the window itself is stained dark brown next to painted white trim. It makes a nice dramatic pop and adds a lot of dimension. The muntins are still drying on this one, so once everything's finished it will be a six over one. 

Here's the view from the back door - again notice the painted ceiling and the stained door trim on the left. But before we zoom in over there check out the end of the island. 

Chris and I are both big detail people, and I couldn't resist buying a bottle opener for him to hide somewhere. Isn't it cute? The first time he used it he sprayed beer all over his face, so I think he needs to work on his technique, but it's still fun tucked in under the end of the butcher block. 

Now, back to trim. The baseboards and door trim in the kitchen look great stained dark. I love how the walls are totally boxed in with nice, pretty, heavy woodwork. I'm hoping to see color on the walls very soon.

The trim around these two doors totally impresses me. The open door way leads to our living room, and the closed one is a basement door. The way they turn the corner will all these little detail pieces of oak is beautiful, and of course it all looks great with a fresh coat of stain. 

And the view of the back door. Again, we're playing with light and dark here so we have the dark cabinets and dark door trim, and white door in the middle. They're going to put on a fresh coat so that it holds its own next to all the new stuff, and the recessed light overhead will keep everything out of shadows, so it will be nice and bright. 

 
Now let's move upstairs. The window up there is so charming, I just keep staring at it. I love the dark little box in the white room, and the muntins definitely turn up the charm. I'm going to order some plantation shutters to give us some privacy, and add to the brown accent. 

And here's a bigger view of the room. We hung the shower curtain this weekend so we're really using the bathroom now, which is wonderful. I also picked up the standing toilet paper holder this weekend, which is a fun, quirky, vintage look in there. And very functional given the placement of the toilet without any close walls. 

More painting/staining is on the agenda for today, and I really have my fingers crossed for some color. I'll update soon.

Big Changes and a (Good) Surprise

Happy Monday everyone. The crew put in a full day today to make sure that everything's ready for sheetrock installation to begin tomorrow, and it really shows. Before I walked in the front door today I walked around the side of the house to this beautiful sight.

The first of our two new Pella windows has been installed, and we couldn't be happier with how it looks. The muntins you see in the top half will be stained dark when kitchen trim is stained, so it's not totally complete but it's close. The bathroom one will be installed very soon as well.

And that's not all. Our island has finally arrived! We ordered it six weeks ago and shipping was repeatedly delayed, but I picked it up Saturday, and Chris and I promptly put it in the middle of our gutted kitchen and had a celebratory beer on its walnut top. We absolutely love it, and seeing something finished in our very unfinished kitchen was pretty surreal.

The walnut grain on top is beautiful, and will provide a very practical surface that we can use and abuse. This was something we decided was important when we opted for marble counters rather than granite. They are slightly softer and less durable (but oh-so-beautiful and perfect for a classic kitchen look) so the island should make up for any loss in fuctionality. 

I picked up these cute little saddle stools to go with it. They're very comfy and fit nicely under the petite island. The whole setup is currently in our dining room, which is actually nice since we've cleared out the table and chairs.

The crew also got everything all insulated today to get us ready for drywall. The walls were previously empty between the studs, so we hope insulating these two rooms will help our house be a bit less drafty and a lot more efficient. It's strange how filling in the spaces between the studs creates a slightly wall-like effect. Our interior designer friend warned us that when the drywall goes up the room will suddenly feel a lot smaller, and I can see how that would be the case. 

And now for the surprise. Chris was talking to the contractor this morning who informed us that included in the remodel is installation of a ventilation system, which goes into the basement and vents out the wall. To be honest I'm not entirely sure what it does, other than he told us it will make our dehumidifier, which runs constantly in our basement unnecessary. I like the sound of that!

And I like a good surprise - we've had a couple of plumbing snafus during the project - all of which have been fixed, but they're still stressful as they happen. The first was a leak in our basement ceiling last week, which was apparently the result of a poorly connected pipe (big shock there, right?) that had been shifted when the kitchen was replumbed. The plumber fixed it promptly the next day. Then this weekend I ran the washer and our basement sink backed up. We tried to snake out the line ourselves but couldn't. He fixed it today, and I haven't had a chance to talk to him to get the recap. All in all though, he's our hero and has taken everything in great stride, and we know that moving forward our once condemable plumbing is in great shape.

Chris has repeatedly expressed his urge to kiss the plumber. I haven't warned him yet.

And finally, for all of you who are dying of "did the valve arrive" suspense, rest assured we have two valves, installed and ready for faucet trim. Yay for UPS!

That's it for today. Check in tomorrow to see walls start to go up. Crazy!

Getting Closer!

Remember all that stuff that I have to buy am so excited to buy for our project? Well today I made a big dent in my shopping list! And it was just as fun as I thought it would be. The lovely sink pictured above was today's biggest purchase, but there were several others as well - in red and crossed out below.

Long story short, all our plumbing fixtures (sinks, faucets, etc.) should arrive on our front porch in approximately 4-7 business days, as well as a few fun accessories. Our island delivery was delayed from September 1 to September 13 (boo!) but hopefully we'll have it assembled and ready to show off this week! 

Kitchen Shopping List:
1. island - I just ordered a walnut butcher block island today!
2. 4 overhead lights
3. 1 pendant light for over the sink
4. sink - farmhouse sink I've been drooling over for the past 2.5 years
5. faucet - to keep the sink company
6. cabinet hardware - knobs and pulls for all the cabinet doors
7. appliances - dual fuel range, microwave, dishwasher, scheduled for delivery in September
8. rugs - 2 2x3 rugs for the backdoor and sink areas, gifted from my parents last Christmas

Half Bathroom Shopping List:
1. sink
2. faucet
3. mirror - purchased from my favorite French boutique this weekend
4. towel hook - also purchased from the French boutique this weekend
5. toilet paper holder
6. vanity light - gifted from my parents 2 Christmases ago (originally intended for the kitchen, but plans change in 2 years!)
7. rug

Upstairs Bathroom Shopping List:
1. 2 wall-mount faucets
2. 2 medicine cabinets - ordered this summer during Restoration Hardware's bathroom sale
3. 2 vanity lights
4. 1 overhead light
5. 2 towel hooks
6. 1 towel rod
7. shower curtain rod - reusing our existing rod and roller hooks
8. toilet paper holder
9. shower curtain
10. bath mat
11. bath and shower faucet
12. window treatment - cafe plantation blind
13. cabinet hardware

As you can see, the kitchen and half bath are getting pretty close! The upstairs bathroom needs some love, so I'll have to get rolling on all those items soon - mostly lighting and hardware.

I keep telling myself that the arrival of all of these items will be a great reward for all the cleaning out we have to do this weekend to get ready for demolition to begin on Monday, but somehow I'm still not feeling all that motivated to pack . . . 

Spending the Savings

It's strange after nearly two and a half years of saving to be spending our kitchen savings, but it has officially begun! I've got quite a list of things to buy that go into the project, and I've begun chunking away at it. And to tell you the truth . . . . it's pretty fun!

Kitchen Shopping List:
1. island - I just ordered a walnut butcher block island today!
2. 4 overhead lights
3. 1 pendant light for over the sink
4. sink - farmhouse sink I've been drooling over for the past 2.5 years
5. faucet - to keep the sink company
6. cabinet hardware - knobs and pulls for all the cabinet doors
7. appliances - dual fuel range, microwave, dishwasher, scheduled for delivery in September
8. rugs - 2 2x3 rugs for the backdoor and sink areas, gifted from my parents last Christmas

Half Bathroom Shopping List:
1. sink
2. faucet
3. mirror - purchased from my favorite French boutique this weekend
4. towel hook - also purchased from the French boutique this weekend
5. toilet paper holder
6. vanity light - gifted from my parents 2 Christmases ago (originally intended for the kitchen, but plans change in 2 years!)
7. rug

Upstairs Bathroom Shopping List:
1. 2 wall-mount faucets
2. 2 medicine cabinets - ordered this summer during Restoration Hardware's bathroom sale
3. 2 vanity lights
4. 1 overhead light
5. 2 towel hooks
6. 1 towel rod
7. shower curtain rod - reusing our existing rod and roller hooks
8. toilet paper holder
9. shower curtain
10. bath mat
11. bath and shower faucet
12. window treatment - cafe plantation blind
13. cabinet hardware

So, we have a good start on our shopping but quite a bit more fun to come in the next few weeks. We met with our prospective cabinet maker today, so should have good numbers on the project in the next few days. Things are moving along, and we couldn't be happier!