hell's kitchen

So remember in that last post when I said most of my projects are 82% done, well the proof is in the pudding. Some of my walls are half painted. We still have paint color splotch tests up in the living room. I mean, it's really hard to find that perfect color, come on, don't judge. But the real doosie is the kitchen. I can barely say that word without shuddering. It is such a point of joy, but it is also a major stressor.  Even before we put an offer on the house, we were discussing what we would do with kitchen. It had this majorly awkward island and the counter-tops, cabinet doors, and cabinet color had to go. Let's not even go to the appliances -- i'm almost positive my grandpa had the exact same refrigerator in his house. It was circa 1990. Can you believe we didn't even notice there wasn't a dishwasher before we bought the house?!! I probably wasted at least 2 days of my life washing flipping dishes before we had one installed. I can't get those 2 days back. I could have painted so many walls with that time.

We lived in the house about a month with the original kitchen. We tried to be patient and get bids on a partial remodel, but we didn't like what we heard. Kitchens are expense-y! One day we are sitting in the kitchen talking about how much we hated it and Ian walks into the garage, grabs a hammer, and starts demo-ing the island. There was drywall flying everywhere! I said, "So, I guess we are doing this ourselves?" Well, there was no turning back once the island was hammered to oblivion, we had to move forward. The fun part about construction is all the safety hazards. Uh, just kidding. I had the stove plugged in across the kitchen, let's play limbo kids! We had to reconnect the gas hook-up every time I wanted to cook something. We had cardboard counter tops for a minute there -- Piper don't spill that, uh, never mind. When you take on a kitchen for your first DIY project, you learn things the hard way. You learn that you need to makes lists for the things you need, instead of going to Lowes every-single-day. I know almost every employee by name at this point. You learn you need to plan ahead! We could have avoided the whole cardboard counter tops if we would have ordered our counter tops earlier (that was more of a design issue than planning, and worked out to our benefit because we got them on major sale.)

I think the most important lesson we learned is to budget. I'm going to be completely honest here, we suck at budgeting. I mean, we are epic failures when it comes to this. We talk about it, and do well for a week or so, and then just end up in the same boat -- over and over again. We wanted the kitchen done so bad that we neglected to do it smart and with a sound budget. We put too much in and are now dealing with the consequences. I'm not a pro, but I think this is one of the most typical blunders of first-time home owners. I love the progress, but that is all it is. It's not finished, and it won't be until this portion is paid off. The funny thing is when I was discussing the kitchen changes with a friend, I joked and said, "Oh, I'm sure the cabinets will be done by December." Little did I know that would be more reality than a joke.  Do I think we will have a hard time paying it off -- no. Do I think it was the right decision -- yes and no. I am a firm believer that one needs to be comfortable in their own home. We spend a lot of time at our house and the majority is spent in our kitchen. Moving to a new town and purchasing our first home were big changes for us. We needed to feel good being at home. I mean, there is not a lot to do in this town. I can tell you the attractions on one hand; the "zoo", Chili's, walmart...and I'm out of ideas. At least we know when we walk in our door, we will have a place to relax and put our feet up...someday...and not on my quartz counter tops!

Here are some before/after pics (keep in mind this is progress...NOT finished). We still need to refinish cabinets and new cabinet faces (we are thinking distressed off-white/cream), re-install cabinet faces, add back-splash, add design elements to island base, new window treatments, new lighting, new seating, and the list goes on and on....Any and all advice, design ideas and constructive criticism welcome!

Before

Current

Storage or a dishwasher, that is the question! And I lost my treasured bread-box...I've ALWAYS wanted a bread-box!!!

we took out a shelf and one drawer to add a wall oven.

stages of the island

we went ahead and replaced the vanity tops in all of the bathrooms while we we did the kitchen.

Sorry for my crappy iphone pics. it was my only option!