Mother's Day - settling in

January 2013

 This weekend Alan had soil delivered to fill our new flower bed.

 He worked very hard, making many trips from the front yard to the back.

 The kids chipped in too.

The end result:

Notice the planter is in the shape of a J for Jonny.

We went to the Community Garden this afternoon and bought lots of plants. Squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, thyme, basil, peppers, zinnias and geraniums. After they were planted, Alan fired up the grill. We're finally settling in and enjoying our new space. Happy Mother's Day!

Kitchen before & after

When we bought our house in 2006, the kitchen cabinets were painted with garage floor paint.

 We painted the cabinets and made the best of the awkward layout and minuscule counter space, knowing that people have been cooking with far less since the beginning of time.

For over six years, I cooked in this kitchen almost every day.

I knew that SOME day, we would right all the wrongs in this sweet, old house.

I knew that SOME day, I would have a beautiful, functional space.

Beyond the kitchen was an old porch that had been closed in to make a laundry room.

Behind the wall (below) was the original pantry, which housed the water heater and electrical panel.

The renovation began on January 2nd. The water heater was moved under the house and we updated/moved the electrical panel, so the wall finally came down. Check out the light flooding in from the east side of the house. We only expanded the kitchen 5 feet and the laundry nook another 6.5 feet, but we tripled our counter space. We also added closets, a second bathroom, and a new den off the kitchen. The kids have a room of their own and they no longer have to share a closet and a dresser.

After 3 months of toaster oven cooking, the cabinets and lights were installed. 

A week later the countertops arrived. We choose rough honed, black pearl granite 

and for the baking station and bathroom vanity, Cherokee marble.

Our neighbor, Matt Donald, designed, built and installed our lovely range hood. 

Next the 3X6 American Olean tile (color: Biscuit) backsplash was installed.

On the opposite side of the kitchen is the pantry cabinet, fridge, window seat, baking station, and laundry area. I ordered the baking station and bathroom vanity unfinished. I had pine wood planks installed vertically above the baking station and had them primed and painted.

The baking station is painted Winter Flannel by Valspar. The color is discontinued, but I had it color matched at Sherwin Williams. 

I had trouble making decisions about paint, so I hired designer Shea Kelly to help choose the colors for our walls and baking station. It's so easy to mess up paint colors and I was frankly sick of making decisions at this point in the process, so it was well worth the $85. The wall color throughout the entire addition is Farrow and Ball Pale Powder (below) and the trim is Farrow and Ball White Tie.

 On Friday, our appliances were installed. I was so excited to have a working kitchen, I had trouble sleeping that night.

 I researched appliances for weeks and I finally settled on the GE Cafe dual fuel range, the Samsung french door fridge, and a Whirlpool Gold dishwasher. The range hood insert is a Broan. 

 Check out the light fixture above the open shelving. It's from Restoration Hardware. 

I purchased the other schoolhouse fixtures and the globe pendant (below), from Lucent Lampworks on etsy. 

One of my favorite things about our kitchen is the new sink. I choose this baby over a year ago and it's finally home :-)

Come by and see the kitchen. I'll cook for you!

Christ has risen, the Cardinals won, and the kitchen cabinet cabinets are here!!

Hallelujah!

We're one step closer to having a working kitchen.

The toaster oven is getting old, folks.

 The painters have been busy painting the exterior.

Alan has been planting blueberry bushes

 and grass.

I've been ordering light fixtures,

ceiling fans, and appliances

 Once the cabinets are installed, the countertop guy will measure.

Our neighbor, Matt, will build a custom range hood in the next week or so.

Then, the electricians and plumbers will install the lights, outlets, switches, and plumbing fixtures.

We're in the home stretch!

BE GONE, enormous return vent!

This return vent has bugged us since the day we bought this house.

 It was enormous, hideous, and hurt like hell when you stepped on it.

When we had the new ductwork installed, the HVAC guys installed a new, 

MUCH smaller return vent.

But we still had to step around this monster for a few weeks.

Until yesterday, when the flooring guys finally patched the floor!!!!

We replaced the old pine floors in our bedroom with white oak,

so they were able to re-use that wood to patch the hallway.

Eventually the hallway will get sanded too.

 Yesterday, they sanded the floors in the kitchen, den, master bedroom and bathroom,

then stained them and put the first coat of polyurethane down.

Last week, the custom shower pan was made.

Then, the shower tile went in. Here's a sneak peak. 

I'll show you the shower floor, which is marble hexagon, when I can get a good picture of it.

The grout I choose is Platinum and I couldn't be happier with it.

Not too dark, not too light. All the years I've spent on GardenWeb and Pinterest have come in handy.

 We're still handling living through the renovation pretty well, I think.

 Except when we're not :-)

Siding and drywall and dust, oh my!

When we left town, the red door was still there.

When we came back, it was gone.

 They also put up siding the day we left.

 They hung drywall while we were gone.

 Drywall is messy. People warned me, but I had no idea.

 Then they sanded. Oy vey!

Remember the monster return vent that took up the entire hallway?

It's going to be SO small now. The floors are being patched today and tomorrow.

 New floors are going in as well.

Remember our tiny, dark kitchen?

Remember the wall we were going to take down

and the laundry room/porch that was going to be demo'd?

TA DA!!!

Here's another shot of the future kitchen and den from the dining room.