almost there....

Whew, it's been a whirlwind, an adventure, an experience to never forget. We are almost there and the kitchen looks gorgeous. I will have a bunch of photos in the coming week. Right now we are working hard on unpacking boxes, looking for a couch, hanging things and finishing the little touches.


Here are a few pictures to keep you on the edge of your seat.... (remember you can click on any of them for a close up view)



Here are two knobs that we got for the sink base cabinet. Just a little finishing touch that we liked.




Here is a picture of the pulls we got for the drawer cabinets. For some reason we counted one less then we needed and that caused me a special trip. Oh well....




This is a picture above our back door. The roosters fit perfectly.




This little guy was bought on our Disney World trip in 2004. He has been hanging around since. He looks happy. :)




Hmmm, seems my camera washed out the true color of the wall. You will have to trust me on just how good this looks. I'll try to take another shot later this week.




This is hanging in our dining room, now. We bought the shadow box in North Carolina last October on our way home from Florida. The little boy figure is looking at a little turtle. We picked that up in Colorado in 1984. Kid #1 was just 6 months old, then. The green bottle on the top right is from Hungary. We got it from a family friend that came to the US from Hungary.



This is also hanging in our dining room. The colors came out different from the flash. I must work on my picture taking skills....seems I am terribly off tonight.



Just to further illustrate my photography failures tonight, here is a sign right above our kitchen door. (going into the kitchen) I have no clue why it is all blurry....but it is.

Anyway...that was just a tease. The counters are a mess, the table is covered in stuff, there is all sorts of disarray in my house. So, just trust me....it's almost there and looking gorgeous. I will share more, soon.....PROMISE!!

looks like a kitchen....

Well, the day I had been waiting for came and it was everything I had been dreaming. :) What day is that? The day for the counters to be installed, of course! What a difference hundreds of pounds of granite makes. Who knew? Wow, is about all I can say. I wish I could capture the blue that shines on the counter when the light hits it. It was more then I had hoped for and just made me smile all the more. It is so close to being done I can smell the food cooking!

We had the guy from the kitchen cabinet place come by and he was very impressed with what has been done and he said we have a great "entertaining kitchen". That is what I was going for....so I think I have accomplished my goal and I am itching to do the entertaining part. :)



Here is the shot from the side of the fridge. You can click on any of these pictures to get supersized ones and you can see a bit of the blue that was shining. :) I still have to clean the counters from some leftover smudges from the installers...but I am waiting for the supports on the bar side to be installed. (yeah, that's my story and I am sticking to it!!)




Here is a picture from the bar side of the counter. The wood supports are just temporary. We bought brackets that Mike painted black and they will go on soon.




Now, from inside the kitchen looking out. Still a lot of mess going on in the room....but it is looking so much better.






I think you can see some blue in this shot if you enlarge it. :)





And as of this afternoon we now have WATER!!!! WOOHOO!!!

Yes, faucet, garbage disposal, and dishwasher are in working order. Our fridge also has water running to it.

Here is a shot inside one of my favorite cabinets. All those little shelves are adjustable for spices. :)

IGNORE the streaky, dirty windows. We have been renovating, not cleaning! Hehe. I just couldn't wait to show you what I decided on for the spot above my window.

home stretch....

There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I am beginning to see it. It is appearing brighter each day and that is causing all kinds of smiling. :) Smiling at the dog, smiling at the rain, smiling at the dirty laundry.....ok, maybe not the laundry. However, I am smiling at the laundry room!! Pictures of that will come another day.

The counter was measured this past Wednesday by two different people from two different companies using two different methods. There was a mixup, but it seems to be good now and the counter will be installed this Wednesday. It will really look like a kitchen then.

Erich came by today and installed the new microwave. The electrician will take care of getting that baby some power later this week. I wonder if I will just spend a few days looking at my new kitchen when it is complete, but not cooking....you know, I won't want to mess it up any. Nah...I am so sick of fast food. Eating at my parent's has helped a great deal, but even that gets tiring. Having to make sure everything you need is in that kitchen and going over to actually prepare it. It's not the same as having it in your own home, especially if you want to maybe make some of it in advance. That just means more car trips now. Yes, I can see that light twinkling and can finally relax and say we are in the home stretch here.

There are TONS and TONS of little things to still do....but in two weeks the bulk of that will be done and we will have to work on furniture shopping, accessories, etc...and some of that may just have to wait. Wonder what at home job I can do while homeschooling....just thinking of earning some extra shopping money. Hmmmmm........I will have to think on that.

Anyway...want to see pictures? Well I have a few to share. What a co-inky-dink.






Here we are standing beside the fridge looking towards the old family room. The corner cabinet you see in the far corner is a lazy susan cabinet.








Now, we are on the other side of the kitchen looking into the room. Notice the new microwave hanging there. The stove you see will slide in under that once the counter is installed. The fridge is also not pushed into it's resting spot. That will be happen after the electrician finishes the outlet for it. We need to drop off three cabinet doors at the kitchen place. They will get glass put in them and deliver them back here. Exciting stuff! If you enlarge the picture and wonder about the blue pieces of tape...that is just marking the spot for the cabinet hardware. I can hardly wait to show you that!!









This is basically a similar shot, just standing further back so you can see the back of the cabinets. I think they look so pretty.

Now let's look outside for a minute.....







Here is our new patio furniture. It's a lovely wet day today...but it still makes me smile. I love this set, because it is big. Well, relatively big. If all my kids and their significant others are here, we cannot all sit here...unless we slide up a small stool and let kid#4 have a corner. It's a plan...we'll see how it works.







Here is a close-up of the back of the chair. Did I already mention that I love this set? :) Well, in case you missed it...I do love this set....in a weird sort of non-personal way.

It's a start....

It was nice coming home after running around all day and finding a start to the kitchen. It is a neat feeling to see your vision actually become real. So far, so good. Of course, being a shortie, I am going to need a good step ladder. I feel overwhelmed standing next to these cabinets as they reach the ceiling. All of the sudden 5'4" feels like 3'2". However, I'll get over that quickly. I can hardly wait to start cooking at home again. :)

It's a start....

And they are lined up.....

Today will be short and sweet. I am still worn out from the flu. It was a real kicker.

This afternoon Erich stopped by and worked on the layout of the kitchen. He did some measuring, marking the walls and some more measuring. He hunted through the boxes and found the first few cabinets that he will put up tomorrow! Yes, they are lined up on the floor just waiting to be lifted to their special spot. There is so much to show about the cabinets, but I will wait until they are in place and then I will give the run through of what features we picked out and why.



See that black hose at the bottom of the picture? It means I did laundry today. Boy, I can hardly wait for the day I can do laundry without sticking a hose out the back window. :)

A delivery...

Finally...the day arrived that I have been waiting a YEAR for. Our new cabinets came today. What a shock when they seemed to take up the whole family room. How in the world are they going to fit in the kitchen? I think tomorrow afternoon some of them are going to be pulled out of their boxes and I'll be able to get a good look. (and pictures!)



We are getting closer to having a kitchen. I can almost smell the food cooking.

floors...

It's amazing what new flooring can do to a room, especially compared to bare concrete floors!! ;o) The room went from looking like a construction zone to looking like part of a home. The new floor brings hope that the project will actually come to an end. It gives warmth in a place that looked cold and empty....even with the yellow walls. It's worth smiling about and we all know how important that is to me. So, I am a very happy momma right now. I wasn't quite so happy when it was going in, but that had nothing to do with the workers or the floor. No, the flu had us all down in the house. Kid #4 was still recovering, but Mike and I both had fevers and all the other crud that comes with influenza. We were pretty pathetic here for a while. So bad, that Kid #2 took off work to babysit us. He's a good kid!! :)

So, you want to see the floors?? You do? Well, you came at a good time, cuz I want to show you the floors!! See, I'm happy!



Here's a shot standing in the new doorway looking to the front corner of the family room.




This shot was taken standing in the laundry room door looking towards the kitchen. Don't those appliances look like they are ready to roll? No? Well, I am ready for them.

Tomorrow will be a busy day at this house. Our dining room, living room and hallway are going to get some real wood floors AND the cabinets are being delivered. Pictures to come. Tuesday will be an even busier day!!! Counting the days....

just a glimpse...

I just realized that I never posted any pictures of the room painted in yellow. Things are about to really start hopping around here. We are on the verge of putting it together and that will be so exciting! But for now, I'll give you just a glimpse of the color in the family room.



Now you have to imagine some here. Imagine trim around the door and windows and imagine that the room is clean! Yeah, I know that is a hard one to imagine after looking at all the piles of junk laying all over the place. However, if I look at the window below, close one eye and squint with the other and CONCENTRATE.....I can imagine the room all clean and the trim around the window. And that......makes me smile. :)

a quiet day....

Today is actually a quiet day. I don't think anyone is coming over to do anything to the house. Sure, I still need to get the closet together and Mike is still going to paint some more when he gets home....but no one is coming to the house. :o) I slept in this morning and how nice did that feel?!

For today, I will share the floor plans for the kitchen. It's just a little glimpse of the vision for around here. You can click on any image and get a rather close up view.




Here is the bird's eye view of the new kitchen layout. The x's are where the lights are going. We picked these pendants for the 3 lights hanging over the counter.







Now here is a view of what the kitchen will look like....sort of. ;o) Our new range doesn't look like that and our sink will be a little different....but it gives you the idea.

This is a photo of some of the materials we will be using to put this room together. The top piece is our Blue Pearl Granite for the counter top. Under that is the slate tiles we will be using for a back splash. Next is the duraceramic tile that will be going on the kitchen/family room and laundry room floors. The yellow is the color of the kitchen/family room. You won't actually see much of it in the kitchen, though.

Ok, it's time for me to get working on that closet. Gotta earn my keep around here.....

things are movin' along

The very next Monday, things started moving along. All the walls were stripped down in both the kitchen area and the family room. I was happy to see all of it go, because it meant I didn't have to waste one second on stripping wallpaper!! It was determined that we really needed to put in new insulation, too.

The electrician also came on Monday with his helper. They kept busy all day and half the next day. New recessed lighting was installed in the kitchen and in the dining room. We really needed the extra light in the dining area and I am so glad we had him add that to his to-do list. We also had a back light installed to light up our patio area. That is another thing I have wanted for years, but we never got around to putting in the light.

Before we knew it new walls were going up. The plumber also came by and ran a new gas line and ran some copper tubing for our fridge. It's making the dust worth living with. :)

Here are some construction pictures...

Sure doesn't look like much, yet. However, it's nice to have the hanging wires from the ceiling removed. Also, knowing that the insulation is new is reassuring. (makes me feel warmer)

Here is the old entrance into the kitchen. It's in the process of being walled up. Good-bye little doorway. Hello, grand entrance....








I'll leave you with one more looking into the kitchen/great room from the dining room table. Lots of dust and the walls aren't up in the picture. Oh and the dog looks dead, but he isn't. He's just catching some rays by the window.

the wall comes tumblin' down....

The big day finally arrived!! As if taking down the cabinets and pulling the appliances out to the curb wasn't enough, we were about to go that extra step. You know...the step where there really isn't any turning back and it would cost more to fix it back up then it would to proceed. Before the big day we were joking that we could just hang the new cabinets up and put in our new appliances and save a boatload of money. That certainly is NOT what we wanted...but we knew we could do that. By the end of this day, we were committed.

So, late Saturday morning our guy, Erich, shows up with a helper. We were just on our way out to pick up tile for the backsplash, so we left them to do their magic. They were gone before we got home! It is hard to explain what it was like walking into the kitchen area. It was a very strange feeling. You could see all of your stuff, but it didn't seem like it was your house. We had tried and tried to envision what it would look like, but nothing really came close to the real thing. Our big kids came by and they were also taken by surprise at how weird it felt. A good weird, but weird nonetheless.




Here are two shots from the kitchen. The top one is looking towards the back of the house. See the big sliding glass door? Well, that is coming out. (more on that later) You can also see into the laundry room in the top photo. There have been changes in that room since this was taken. The second photo is aiming towards the front of the house and you can see some of our new appliances just hanging out and waiting for their big debut.




Here are shots from the family room looking into our former kitchen area and eating area. Lovely wires hanging down, don't you think? You can also see that I still have my sink and my old fridge. They keep me sane.

preparing for demolition time...

The ripping out process has begun. Mike started taking down the cabinets and pulling the appliances. It wasn't hard to say goodbye to that stove, because it wasn't working. It decided on Christmas Eve that it was too tired to heat up! (the nerve!!) The wall with the cord coming out of it is the one that is coming down. :)



Ahhh, my precious sink. I was sure that just having it in would make everything right and I wouldn't go insane from the chaos! I begged to keep the sink for as long as possible. So, for now it stays.

This is where Mike ripped out a decorative overhang. It visually boxed in our little kitchen area and we were surprised that it made a huge difference just having it down.



Here is one last picture of "the wall". This is from inside the family room looking toward the kitchen eating area. See the mess there. This is what happens when you decide to work on 5 rooms at once.

Next up...the wall comes tumblin' down.

The before...

Before you have a during or an after, you must have a before. So, right now we are going to look at some before shots. You need to check the floor plan that I posted yesterday to get acclimated a bit to what is actually happening here. Things look way different around here and they are rolling along. I am so excited. Still choking on dust, but excited nonetheless.



Here is a picture of kid #4 in our dining room. The room behind her is the kitchen and the room beyond that is our family room. It looks kind of like a bowling alley and is something we wanted to change.

Here is another look from the edge of the dining room. You may notice we bought a new dining room table and put in a new light. It's actually the light from the kitchen eating area. You'll see more of that later. Anyhow, the white paper on the wall is where we want to make the new doorway into the kitchen. The original doorway is being walled up giving us more wall space in the kitchen.




Here is our lovely one-butt kitchen. There isn't much counter space and that is just awful for a family that likes to cook. If two of us try to cook at once, well....it ain't purty. The whole wall behind the stove and the pantry(big cabinet) that you see here is being torn down. We will extend the kitchen into the family room.



Now this is directly across from our stove. It is where our new dual fuel Frigidaire range will go. The gas line was just installed yesterday. Now there is one more picture. (still awake??)



This is our eat in area of the kitchen. The windows face our backyard and the wall to the left is the one being torn down. It is actually history and I have PICTURES!! Want to see them? Stay tuned.