Kitchen -The Putting Back Together

 

If anyone's ever remodeled a kitchen, they know that it is by far the hardest room to work with. There are so many little parts and jobs. Even now, as I'm writing this, we have finished a living room, den, laundry room and half bathroom and are still working on little details of the kitchen. Ours was especially hard because we literally moved the kitchen.
First, we replaced all electrical, insulation, and plumbing. And...let me tell you, to a girl, this was not exciting. It didn't even look like much progress-they're all hidden anyway behind walls.

Next, we Jesse built an archway going into the kitchen:

 And also a pantry (where the fridge is in this picture). To see more pictures of the "floating fridge," click here.

Next was drywall-which I'm so thankful for the friends who helped hang all that beautifulness. I don't think I would've lasted long on the ceilings trying to hold it.










Okay, ready? Here is where the women come in....drum roll please? The painting! And I have this wonderful lady to thank for it! (Jesse's mom).
Prepainting                                                              Postpainting

 Just look at all that beautiful sunshine!

Next, cabinets.







 The difference:

 Next, a hardwood floor. This was the point where I really started seeing it come together. I had become so accustomed to looking at all kinds of dirt and filth and pieced-together parts that, when the floor was finally put down, it made all the difference. Sooo...if you are going through a remodel, hold on til the floor honey! It makes all the difference.







The details:
Last, and always ongoing, are all the details of lighting, cabinet knobs, counter-tops (yes, for 6 months I cooked on plywood counter-tops!), etc., etc. etc. Was it worth it? Yes the memory of stud walls and dirt floors is starting to fade and I do love my kitchen! We've designed the entire thing-it is truly ours. However, I don't want the memory to fade completely, for it developed some character I never would know, empathy for others going through hard times, and a greater faith.

The pantry that you previously saw the fridge in.

Kitchen -The Demolition

The kitchen was our first priority and I'm glad we started off with it. The kitchen is the heart of a house and also the most complex. If you're doing a renovation, you might as well jump in head first!

A week after moving in, we started the fun process of demolition. You've heard it before but demolition really is a great stress-reliever. Nothing like getting out the ol' sledge hammer after a rough day!


However, what we weren't prepared for was how long demolition actually takes. We gave it 1-2 weeks on our schedule. It actually took us a good solid month. Here are some factors we hadn't considered.

1. Face it-houses built back in the day were much stronger and better built than they are today. The cabinets that we took out were custom-built into the walls. In other words, we could not pull out an entire cabinet. Instead, each piece had to be torn out individually.
2. Things cost money. We saved everything we possibly could. This means, we did not just rip down trim. We gently pried it off, sanded it, primed it, and painted it.
3. Finally, during a house renovation that you are doing the work for, always budget 2-3 more time than you think it will take. This was the consistent lesson we learned throughout the entire process.

Ahhh...now that's much better. Only the fridge and a lone sink remain. And...as the renovation continues, you might see them in different spots. We called them our floaters (click here to see more). I never knew from one day to another where the sink and fridge might be.





Another thing we wanted to do right away was take the diner out. Again, we used the table throughout the entire renovation as a working space to set tools on. The orange bench is still sitting in our garage...any takers?

The old kitchen had lots of walls and built-ins that were confining the space.


Sooo...we took them out.

Before you can place anything new in a room, everything has to be torn out. So...that's what we did! A little scary huh...?

Kitchen- The Before

Before:
Here is the kitchen the day we moved in. The color scheme? Orange, Teal, and Brown. The entire house was redone in the 50s. No....really? I know you're shocked.

Okay, let's talk about the before:

Paneling. This woman, bless her heart, loved this stuff. Lots and lots of paneling. Paneling on the walls. Paneling on the ceilings.  There was even paneling on the fireplace. Really? On a fireplace? If you look closely, you can see the fireplace had small "windows" that they put-yep, you guessed it-paneling inside of.

 Then there was of course the fireplace itself. An entire wall of stone, an entire wall....of stone.

Okay, next, there was the fifties diner. Let me just tell you, though, before we start bashing it-this thing was solid and came in handy. I think the base of it was made out of solid steel. It took two people to move it at all times. And...it was helpful throughout the renovation because it provided a great spot to set tools on, etc.

 But...I just had to do it. Here is a shot from "Happy Days" and there's our diner! I guess they needed it to shoot this scene.

The kitchen itself was decked out with orange counter-tops and teal carpet. I know this used to be in style and some day I'm sure some young kid will give their opinion without being asked and and laugh at my style too, but really?! However, we were so blessed everything worked. I did get to cook a lovely lasagna meal for some friends that first week before demo started....

Here is another view....The cabinets were pretty much separating everything!