Catching a vision...

This is the floorplan to our house. We have lived in the same house for over 21 years. That is a LONG time to me. We started with one child and one on the way and grew to four children. Things were cozy, then. Now we are down to two still at home. There have been several remodels during the years. New kitchen cabinets and appliances, new flooring (several times), new deck, a few bathroom updates, lots and lots of painting, etc. We are known for redecorating every few years. We even moved out of our house for a few months one year. (right during Christmas, but that is a different story!)

The one thing about the house that we have hated and have never changed was the size of the kitchen. We refer to it as a one-butt kitchen and have always wanted at least a two-butt kitchen. We would occassionally daydream, but never went beyond that.

Then one day, Mike came to me and said, "Let's do something about that kitchen." We began the dream process all over again, but this time there was a slight difference. We were picking out cabinets for a purpose, choosing colors that mattered, paying attention to details like faucets and lighting. This might actually happen!

We started off trying to imagine how things could look. Do you know how hard that is for some people? (like ME) We made a plan on free software, we tweaked it and then tweaked some more. It wasn't really coming together until I suggested we just completely knock down the wall between the kitchen and the family room. Suddenly, we had a vision and it took off from there. We went to hardware stores, kitchen stores, lighting stores, tile stores, paint stores, lumber stores and whatever other stores there are. I have enough information to start a kitchen design center.

Things are now covered in dust and we're living in half the house. There is no kitchen sink, there is no kitchen anything for that matter, and I have to hook up a hose and run it out the window to do laundry. Yeah, it has been an experience! For some reason, just doing the kitchen and the family room wasn't enough. We are redoing the laundry room, painting our bedroom and getting new carpet in the bedroom, getting a new patio and new front sidewalk, and getting new flooring for almost the entire house. Oh, and we hope to redo at least one bathroom. I have boxes all over the place and nothing has a home. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? So much fun, I want to share it with you!! :)

Next up will be pictures of the before and the now. Ready?