Dishwasher Panel

We finally got our dishwasher panel on last night. It was kind of a pain. Mostly because the template they supplied was incorrect and off about 11/16". That seems like a small amount, but it caused a lot of delay and frustration. But, we got it adjusted and remounted and thankfully, it all worked out in the end.

We also got our hardware installed on the island cabinets a few days ago, which means I can finally start moving our stuff back in. Hooray! Today marks the 8 week mark since we ripped out the old kitchen. 2 months without a kitchen! Whoa. It actually went pretty fast and wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I think mostly for two reasons: 1) We had a kinda-sorta kitchen in the basement.
Yes, this fancy setup:

And 2) It has been amazing to see the kitchen that I've had in my mind for months, become a reality. It definitely has been stressful at times (I've mentioned a few of the reasons why in my last post), but for the most part I've been fascinated by the process.

Right now we are in the process of tweaking our back wall arrangement a bit. I've been mulling over a new option for a couple of days and I'm currently still in negotiations with Luke. :) I'll keep you posted on what we decide to do...

Island Cabinets

Whew, the island cabinets are all painted! I'm not going to lie, it wasn't an easy job, but it is SUCH an improvement.
I set up a spraying room in the basement (basically just taped up plastic on all the walls and the floor). Spraying definitely made the job easier, and I think the cabinets came out better. The sprayed finish is pretty much flawless.

We just have to install our hardware (that has been a saga and a story for another day...) and then we can move some of our kitchen stuff back upstairs. I can't wait! Running up and down the stairs for every little thing is getting quite annoying.

Oh, and our dishwasher won't look like that forever. We actually bought a dishwasher that is designed to have a cabinet front attached to it, so when it is installed, it looks like a cabinet instead of a dishwasher. I'm hoping we'll get to install that this week as well.

Countertops are in!

Whew, after over a month without real countertops, ours were finally installed this morning -- and I'd say, it was worth the wait! They look even better than I'd hoped.

It is interesting. I can pick out materials and items for clients all day long, but when it comes time to commit for my own house, I am the worst of the worst of clients. I changed my mind countless times, visited pretty much every stoneyard in the area and even after making the commitment, agonized over whether or not I had made the right decision.

See, I've had in my head my dream kitchen for years. If you look at my Pinterest Kitchen boards you'll see the one thing that most of them have in common: Carrara Marble. It is absolutely beautiful in person. White and gray with stunning veining and movement. It isn't over-powering, but it definitely demands attention.

But, I cook -- a lot. I have kids.
Marble does not like either of those scenarios. It stains, etches and can even chip.

So, I had to get over my "dream kitchen" in my head and switch gears a bit. When I saw this quartzite, I was immediately intrigued. It was still a little busier than I'm usually attracted to, but it had incredible movement and "veining" instead of the splotches that granite typically has.
It also had some great colors to work with. Instead of just white and a light gray, it also has dark grays, black, a little brown and tan and even a slight grayish-green tone in some of the veins.
Bonus for Luke: it was A LOT cheaper than the marble I had fallen in love with. ;)

Now that it is in, I can make some more decisions about cabinet colors, hardware and lighting. It really is the jumping-off point for the entire kitchen -- now everything else should be a little easier to commit to. (Or so I'd like to tell myself.) I really am the worst client.

New Window

Our new huge window is finally installed and it makes all the difference. I had no idea how much it would change the look and feel of the whole kitchen -- and actually the whole main floor! I haven't had to turn on any lights during the day since this was installed! I love it.
(excuse the photos, it was surprisingly hard to get a decent photo)

We are almost green-laminate free! We installed a piece of our old countertop and the old sink temporarily so we had a semi-working kitchen until our new counters were installed. It will be a happy day when it is finally gone for good!

The new counters are scheduled to be installed on Tuesday -- hopefully we can be ready by then...We still have quite a bit to do.

Kitchen Progress

We've got our cabinets mostly re-installed to the new configuration. We have two on the backside of the island that still need bases, but we're getting to those next. Ignore the old countertop and sink/faucet-- we decided it will be a few weeks before we have countertops, so something is better than nothing. I actually have a semi-functioning kitchen now! Although, the old faucet is leaking, so I'm trying to use it as little as possible. Thank goodness for a tiny bar sink downstairs! I'm going to try to never take for granted being able to wash dishes in a kitchen sink, or not having to run up and down the stairs for every little thing in order to cook a meal...
This is the latest on our layout:

Everything is still a total mess, but it is coming together bit-by-bit. We just got some quotes for a large window in the wall in front of the island. I can't wait for that! It will let in so much light! In my world, you can never have too many windows or too much light...

We're also trying to source some granite or quartzite for our island. I think we've narrowed it down to two options.

Luke is still going to have to get in the attic a couple more times to finish the electrical work, but for the most part, the utilities are finished. And as soon as we make a final choice for the stone, I can get started painting all the cabinets. I really like our cabinets, but with the floors that we are putting in, and the other finishes, the maple wood is turning very pinky-orange. Not going to work. So, I see weeks of painting in my future...Fun, fun...

Kitchen Demo

Yep, we did it. We tore into the one room that we really hadn't touched much during this renovation. The kitchen "makes or breaks" a house design in my opinion, so I really wanted to make sure it was right. After a lot of brainstorming and tweaking, I came up with a reconfiguration that would completely change the function and aesthetics of the kitchen, but we could use all of our existing cabinets -- major budget saver. It was a bit of a challenge to get Luke on-board, but he finally agreed that the new plan made a lot of sense. So, demo began!

This is our makeshift kitchen downstairs...yep, very classy.

Again, my brother-in-law was awesome and came to help us for the weekend. Between Luke and Brett, we were able to get all the plumbing moved and most of the electrical work finished. Because we are completely changing the configuration, we had to redesign the lighting plan. Good thing we are redoing the ceiling because currently, the ceiling looks like Wack-a-Mole with all the holes in it.

Yes, moving plumbing is a bit of a mess... Good thing the guys know what they are doing!

We're almost done reinstalling all the cabinets, so progress pictures are coming soon. The new layout is such a huge improvement!

Down comes the "Ghetto Wall"

The ceiling (at least in the living room and dining room is finished!)

After many (a ridiculous number) of coats of paint, we can finally put down our paint brushes. At least for a little while. Good thing too, because I don't think my neck could have handled another coat. One reason for so many was because we tried to use a "satin" finish paint, but once we got a couple of coats on, it looked horribly blotchy. Especially during the day when the sun was shining on it. So, we had to start all over with two more coats of flat paint. It finally looked pretty good, but two of the long boards needed some touchup, so I spent the better part of one morning painting them again. After it had been drying for about an hour, the wet, blotchy look wasn't going away.
Luke said, "I hate to say this, but you didn't happen to use the Satin paint, did you?"
No, no, no, no, no!!!! Ahhh!
So, I had to start all over and paint another two coats on top of what I had already "touched up."

Next up was floor prep. We had been living with what we had dubbed the "Ghetto Wall" for about 3 months.

It was a happy day to rip that thing out...

Next was the old railing, which came out pretty easily except for the post. It was in there to stay! Holy moly. The post was installed about a foot and a half below the sub-floor with two huge bolts and at least a couple handfuls of heavy duty screws. It took Luke and I at least 20-30 minutes to get it out.

After cleaning up the mess, we spent the next few days walking around like idiots, testing the floor, trying to find any squeaks so we could fix them. The next person who replaces the floor will see all of our "X marks the spot" areas...

And here is a sneak-peek of our floors. It kind of feels like the beginning-of-the-end to be finally laying down floors. Although, I know that we still have months of work left. Especially since we have just decided to completely reconfigure the kitchen... (I'm so excited!) More details on that coming soon...