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The Progression: The Kitchen Part 2

Okay, picking up where we left off from the progression of the kitchen. Once Jason’s parents left and our wood floors were in place, we only had two weeks to get everything else done before the cabinets arrived and my parents came to install them. We had to get busy! First up, painting.

There was lots of dark wood trim in the kitchen. I know some people really like that but I wanted it to feel light and bright. Even though I do a lot of it, painting isn’t really my favorite thing. Especially painting trim. But it needed to be done so I did it. Here is a picture in progress. Sorry it’s terrible but I took it at night:

Painting paned windows is a pain. But, it’s done! We also painted the walls but I don’t have any pictures so you will just have to wait and see them in the after photos. It’s really hard to pick this up in photos but we actually painted the walls one color and then we put a metallic glaze over top. It turned out really well and it gives the room a bit of sparkle. Surprisingly, that’s one color in our house that has been around for almost 5 years and I’m not tired of it yet. I’m pretty sure that’s a record and it’s gotta be because it’s a neutral color.

Finally, the cabinets arrived! Clark and Jason drove to Georgia where they were delivered by freight and rented a truck to drive them to our house where they unloaded them.

They sat in our living room and dining room for a week or two before my parents arrived to install them. Here they are, just waiting to be put in place. This view is in the dining room looking out into the living room.

It was amazing to have all of those cabinets delivered. They really just came in two containers. The huge pantry that was built held almost all of them, all sandwiched inside one another and then there was one other container with a few more. My Dad and brothers were amazing and packed them in like a puzzle. They also marked all over the back of some of them with notes to us. So if someone in the future ever takes these cabinets out, they will find the notes that my brothers left for us :)

Finally, my parents arrived! It was so exciting because by this time we had been without a kitchen for a month and a half. We had a refrigerator in the garage, a microwave in the basement and that’s it. No stove or anything else. We were pretty much existing on fast food and hot pockets. After this mess was all over I didn’t want to eat either of those things for a very long time :)

Moving the cabinets in place…

Most of them in place. It was fun to watch my Dad work. He’s a genius! While Jason and my Dad were hauling cabinets, my Mom and I got to work on the brick wall that was in the room. I liked the wall and I didn’t want to paint it white but it was a very bold color of brick, really red and orange and it didn’t quite fit with what I had in mind of light and bright. So my Mom suggested we do a white wash on the brick to tone it down. That way, we could still have the brick look but it wouldn’t be so bold. Here is a good example because it shows what it was to what we changed it too:

It was an easy process as well. We used a cheap white paint and mixed it with water. Then we dry brushed it on. Just in case you are wondering, dry brushing (at least how I define it) is when you dip your brush in the paint and then let most of the paint run out so it barely goes on. I think it only took the two of us about an hour to paint the whole wall. It’s funny but that is the thing I get the most questions about in the whole kitchen because everyone likes it so much. I like it too and the brick gives the room some character.

While my parents were here we worked a lot on the kitchen but we also had some fun times too. Then we had to say good bye as time kept moving forward and so did our kitchen remodel. Now we had cabinets but no countertop. I think we had to wait about another month before our countertops were put on and completed. We chose a solid surfacing material (like Corian) but I can’t remember which one nor can I remember what color but basically it’s a dark gray. We have been really happy with our choice and it’s served us well. Once our countertops were on, we could finally have a sink and stove. Our sink is a black granite undermount sink so we couldn’t put it in until the countertops were on and our stove sits on top of the countertops so of course, we had to wait on that as well. All in all we were without a completed kitchen for about 3 months. It felt like a long time! Here is Jason and Clark installing the stove. It was actually quite fun to watch :)

So now, we finally had pretty much everything in place. It was quite a journey! At this point we still didn’t have our island, table and chairs in the little breakfast nook, the light fixture that is now over the island, or the tile backsplash (the tile was another project my Dad did on a separate visit!). All of that came later. We just started adding piece by piece until it is what it is today. Even now we still have things to finish. Sometimes I wonder why we don’t just finish up the little odds and ends but you know how it is when you live with it, you just start to not notice it anymore. Until you write a blog post about it :) Anyway, here are the photos of how the kitchen looks today, after all of our (and our parents’ and Clark’s) hard work:

This is what you would see when you first walk into the room from the entryway. The chairs are from Pottery Barn and the table is from Sears. The small light fixture over the table is from Home Depot and the light fixture over the island is from Pottery Barn. This is where Jason and I eat every meal together when it’s just the two of us. I love our little breakfast nook!

This is what you would see if you were standing in front of the sink and looking slightly to the right.

Standing in front of the sink looking to the left.

Still standing in front of the sink but looking all the way right. This is our pantry, it’s right next to the doorway that leads to the entryway. Remember, there used to be a built in desk there. At the time we were planning the kitchen, we also thought about putting a double wall oven in that space but we chose the pantry so we could have more storage. I’m so glad we did or our drawers and cupboards would be very crowded. But instead, we have lots of space!

Here is a good look at the island. We actually bought it at Kmart and it was the perfect thing for this room. I was planning on painting it but I ended up liking how it looked so I just left it. It had a regular butcherblock countertop on it and we took it off and stained it dark so it would look nicer with our countertops and floors. I would still like to get rectangular baskets for the bottom shelf but I just never have. Also, the two drawers open from both sides so it’s really handy to use them regardless of which side of the island you are on. The towel bar is a vintage glass one that I picked up at an antique store a long time ago in Oregon before we ever moved here.

On one side of the fridge we have our microwave cabinet. I didn’t want the microwave sitting out on the counter but I also didn’t want it to be too low or too high. I don’t like when it is over my head and have to reach for hot things. Since I’m not very tall if it were over the stove then it would be above my head. I’m really glad we chose to put it here and the height of it works really well for us.

On the other side of the fridge you have our baking and coffee center. This is the area of the kitchen where the magic happens since coffee and baked goods are our favorite :) Also, every single one of the lower cupboards in the room have pullouts in them. I really love them and they make organizing a kitchen so much easier. Thanks for that Dad :)

This is what you would see if you were standing in front of the table. The doorway leads to the dining room. See how the top middle cabinet bumps up on both sides of the room? I love that. That was my parents’ idea.

Still standing in front of the table. When we bought the house, there wasn’t anything on this wall. That was the only rearranging we did; to move the stove to this wall. If you are doing a kitchen remodel it will save you lots of money to not move major things around. So that’s what we did :) But we had to move the stove to give us more countertop and cabinet space. Plus, originally, there was a huge island that covered the whole room and made it feel really awkward. So we just changed things around a bit and it helped a lot. And I really like the stove against the brick.

Standing in front of the back door. When we picked our appliances, I knew I wanted stainless steel. We went to Lowe’s and picked them all out and when we came back to our house we realized that the dishwasher that came with the house was the exact same brand and line as the rest of the appliances we chose so we didn’t have to replace it. It was the only new appliance in the whole kitchen before and it just happened to match. It was cool :)

This doorway leads to the entryway. I requested a plate rack and so my Dad made one standard size. When it got here we realized my plates were fat! So I can only put one in every other slot. My Dad offered to make a new one but I didn’t want to go to the fuss so I didn’t worry about it. I really like having open shelves for our plates and bowls. Especially since I like our set so much. And it brings a tiny bit of color to our otherwise very neutral kitchen. But hey, as we’ve already talked about, I like neutral!

One last look that you would see just as you are leaving the kitchen to go back to the entryway. And that completes our kitchen tour. What do you think? When I look around I see things that I still need to finish like crown molding and corner round molding on the toe kick and I really want something larger to put on the top shelf above the sink. But all those things will eventually get there, right?

Just curious, what do you think of this new series, The Progression? Would you like to see other rooms and how they have progressed as well? Also, is anyone interested in seeing how we organize the kitchen? I could open up those cabinets and give you a glimpse if it doesn’t sound too boring :) And, I know, I know, I really need to do a house tour. One of these days, I will!