Kitchen update

We spent most of the morning on Saturday tweaking our cabinet plan and here’s the final revisions. I can’t wait for the transformation to take place although I’m not looking forward to being without a kitchen. But we’ll make do just fine.

This picture is an example of what I was trying to explain in the last post. The cabinet to the left of the refrigerator will have shelves in the blind corner and will be where we house cleaning supplies, brooms, etc. The hutch, on the left, will be our coffee/toaster station along with storage for dry goods in mason jars with storage in the drawers for other small appliances. But what to do above the hutch? Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This view illustrates the changes happening to the area where we now have cabinets. We’re opening up the wall so we’re losing some countertop space to the right foo the stove but the window is moving down so we’re making up for the lost space to the left of the stove. And the picture isn’t right as we’ve decided to go for symmetry over function but you get the idea!

 

 

 

 

 

The fact that our cabinets will now go to the ceiling has me giddy inside. That’s an extra foot and a half of storage space. And I am really excited to have more windows in the space. More light always makes things feel more open and spacious. And moving our refrigerator to the other wall allowed for far more countertop space as well.

The opening from the kitchen to our living spaces was moved and opened up as seen in the pictures below. Our square footage on our main level is not small but not huge either and we like having some separation from the kitchen to the living spaces. We are not the norm but to our defense we drew up the kitchen with the walls down and don’t even get me started on how little storage I had then. It just wasn’t going to work.

Overall the changes to the kitchen wall will make a huge impact on how our main level functions. Right now Alex pulls a chair into the kitchen so we can interact while I’m making dinner and now with the opening larger he’ll be able to play with Elizabeth in the living room and still be able to interact with me. I can’t wait!

Last final decisions were also made on the styling side…

-Door in the kitchen will be painted a fun blue color and be full glass for even more light

-Going with a one bowl sink so I can have a bridge faucet. We installed one at our second flip house and I didn’t want to leave it there. I love bridge faucets!

-White subway tile with pale grey grout for the backsplash

-Hefty polished nickel drawer pulls – Hickory Hardware Studio II

-Last and final decision will be for a light above the kitchen sink. When I have a few to choose from I’ll definitely be polling for opinions.

Seeing white

Yesterday morning we started really planning our kitchen remodel. I have to keep reminding myself that until the cabinets come down this isn’t a reality and yet it’s really fun to start making all the final decisions. We’re 99% sure demolition is a month or two away and if it’s any reassurance to my heart, we do have our new microwave and range sitting quietly in the garage awaiting their new home.

Until then, I’m dreaming in white. A white kitchen has been my dream for as long as I can remember with accents of pale robin’s egg blue. Classic with touches of beachy-Nantucket flair. I’m still gathering my thoughts but after our first design meeting over coffee, we’re that much closer to bringing my vision to reality. I can’t wait to see in white. We briefly considered doing grey or navy cabinetry but at the end of the day we want to do this once, as we’re hoping to live here for the long haul and I know I would tire of anything but white after awhile.

So, this morning we hashed out the layout one last time to make sure everything was in place so the plan could be forwarded on to our cabinet maker. There’s still some tweaking to do but we’re that much closer.

6 months ago when we started dreaming of our white kitchen we were certain we would be buying the off-white Adel cabinets from IKEA. Seriously I love IKEA cabinets and all their inner components. I love how this kitchen came together…gorgeous! In fact, we chose the same exact pulls for our cabinets. Now that our plan has changed slightly I even asked Alex if he would install the drawer components from IKEA in our new cabinets. I was denied but seriously their cabinet innards seem indestructible…something that my clumsy ways would find assuring.

Our budget for the kitchen is definitely not big and IKEA cabinets fit the cabinet budget perfectly. But being the wise people we are we sought out some second opinions as well. We checked with Alex’s cabinet specialist at a local lumberyard/cabinetry shop, Home Depot/Lowes semi-custom cabinetry, and with a cabinetmaker in a city south of us. Believe it or not we will be doing our entire kitchen for the price of semi-custom from Home Depot/Lowes. We knew what we thought their pricing would be, given we’ve utilized their services often with clients, but oh.my.goodness, it was really expensive. Triple our cabinet allowance expensive. Money we don’t have to spend on just cabinetry.

But there was a silver lining to our cabinet debacle. Alex is in a Christian men’s business group with other entrepreneurs/self-employed men and one of them happens to partner with a local cabinet shop. They offered him their friends and family discount which ended up being amazing and after a visit to their shop we were sold. So now we are able, blessed really, to have custom cabinets for our kitchen for just a little tiny bit more than IKEA pricing. Seriously, still pinching myself.

So with our cabinets now custom there are a few fun things we are able to accomplish that we would not have been able to with IKEA. One area we just changed is alongside an empty wall in our current kitchen. I love the idea of a built-in hutch with plate rails above for my mason jars and thankfully with our revised plan we are able to make something like that work. Full detail still to be developed but I’m ecstatic that there will be a place to show off their beauty filled with dry goods!

I can’t find a picture to do the idea justice but you can imagine shelves on the upper portion with a plate rail, an open counter area at counter height for our coffee maker/toaster, and drawers below. And the entire thing will look more like built in cabinetry. When we have a screen shot I’ll share;) Our current kitchen is neither big nor small but it is definitely lacking in storage. This will help things considerably as will removing our soffits, taking the cabinets to the ceiling, and adding some much needed storage including a place for mops/cleaning supplies. While I’m excited on how things are progressing we hit upon a design dilemma.

Here’s the render view of our kitchen:

I tend to like things visually symmetrical and if we line our cabinets up the above wall symmetrically we lose the ability to have a hinged door for the corner cabinet. Without the hinged door the upper cabinets to the right and the left of the sink will be almost identical in size but if we keep the hinged door and eliminate a blind corner (which would be ideal since everything always gets lost in those) the cabinets to the right of the sink will be smaller throwing off the symmetry. The render above illustrates the size difference of the top cabinets which allows for the hinged corner doors.

So here are my questions for you:

Honor symmetry or go for function?

Anyone have ideas for the dreaded corners?

And on another note, one bowl kitchen sink or two?

enjoying the sunshine

Today has found a multitude of thoughts running through my head as we seek to savor this gorgeous day. Summer in our city has been slow coming, rain clouds blocking out the sun, and yet today we were blessed with a perfect day.

Elizabeth and I started out our day with a run/walk combo through the neighborhood, where we both are quiet and take in the sights. It’s a grand route, weaving up and down streets, greeting strangers. I feel incredibly blessed to live where we do; in a house that isn’t perfect, in an established neighborhood where the residents have all been here for at least a decade, and with incredibly kind neighbors. We didn’t know what would await us when we moved in but now we can’t even imagine leaving.

This morning on our walk as we passed split levels and story and a half’s, my childhood flashed through my mind. Our house was just like one on a neighboring street that we pass by often. And the grey house with the elderly man waving in the window reminds me of my grandparents and their white and green house with the meticulous lawn. You can usually tell where the older neighbors live by their lawn… Houses where memories were made. A childhood with laughter and joy in those houses. Thankful we live with reminders of beautiful memories surrounding us.

And then after morning naps we spent the early afternoon outdoors, pulling weeds, playing in water and just enjoying the heat of the sunshine on our backs. And this afternoon, if we are all rested maybe we’ll head to the pool or go straight back out to our yard and resume our morning play. Sometimes it’s the simplest of activities that bring great joy. The quiet, monotonous tasks, like weeding a bed, with the sounds of the neighborhood keeping you company. And as I worked, she played. Investigating rocks, finding a cozy spot under the front tree playing with cups, and aimlessly walking through the grass. Taking it all in.

But the overwhelming feeling in my heart today was gratitude and thankfulness for blessing upon blessing. A house that fits our needs and is incredibly convenient for our life. Not only that but a house that we can hopefully pay off in the next 10 years, in a neighborhood with kind neighbors, and a street that isn’t busy. A baby toddling about in the yard, curious eyes and heart taking in the surroundings, fulfilling prayers upon prayers. A baby whose life has brought us increasing joy and grew our hearts like nothing else imaginable. Almost one year with her seems incredibly kind. And we have each other, sunshine, blue skies, delicious food to eat, and hope for the morrow. Even with heartaches, struggles, and pain all around somehow the sunshine and a walk through the neighborhood had a way of making everything clearer.

There’s just one simple explanation.

You don’t need much to have joy.

Monday’s Musings

Did everyone have a great weekend?

Ours was one of the most interesting we’ve had in quite some time. No reason really, it’s just that interesting is about as well as I can describe it. Friday was spent recuperating from vacation; which really means Alex worked all day and night catching up and I unburied myself from 9 loads of laundry. In case you are wondering why there was so much…last week our washer broke and we had to wait a few days for the new one to arrive. We go through a lot of laundry.

And Saturday, well we wrote our own If you give a mouse a cookie book. If I wrote it the title would be If Alex gets an idea, then… We started out the morning staring at our 2 page long home to-do list wondering what on earth we could get done without having to step outside into the blustery 30 degree morning air. Top of our list, hang pictures. We’ve lived here almost a year and nary a picture is up. We have commitment issues.

Once we unearthed our photos, Alex realized we needed more. Not one to argue when he’s willing to spend some money decorating our house, I did what any good wife would. I encouraged him. And at 8:00 that night I wondered what I did; I encouraged a picture monster. Digging out our frames turned into hanging pictures. Hanging pictures turned into shopping for frames. Shopping for frames turned into a full day of Ikea, Home Goods, World Market and more. Thank goodness it was a good day for Elizabeth. She just crashed in the Ergo. Now we’re swimming in frames and have to figure out what to put in them (note: some of these below we owned and over half need to go back but we decided to buy and then sort.) I’m almost certain they will live on our walls art-less until we get it all figured out.

Call us crazy but to add to the mix we chose Saturday night to cut the swaddle cold turkey. Elizabeth has always been one to bust out of the swaddle but she has ninja reflexes and startles herself once her arms are out. That being said, the past few weeks she’s gotten out in the mornings and has stayed asleep for a few hours. So I figured “what the heck” and threw caution to the wind. Verdict: she did great and slept unswaddled from 7pm – 6am. Then we tried it again on Sunday for naps and she did great again. Looks like we’re saying goodbye to the swaddle!

Sunday. Tell me again why naps and church services are always simultaneous? Every Sunday we adapt. But this Sunday, everything was askew. Again, good thing she’s adaptable and rolled with it.  Her late nap had her waking at 6:30pm. Bedtime starts around 6:45. She was up until 9:00. I didn’t really notice that much though because I was shoving this deliciousness into my mouth which helped me forget the late bedtime and what might await us. I’m hoping next Sunday goes just as smoothly as its her dedication at the 9:00 service and our families will be here for it. Praying she doesn’t melt up front. I don’t think I have it in me to make more caramel corn to take the edge off:)

Seriously make this caramel corn. NOW. SO GOOD.

So there you have it, musings of our weekend. So was yours interesting?

The Second Half

I’m pretty certain our last tour ended with the dining room.  So here’s to the rest of the tour.  Before I get there, though, I do have to say, I really can’t believe we will be moving back into a house in 26 days!! It’s really a huge blessing, that I for one, was certain wouldn’t be happening for quite some time. 

When we chose our current apartment 2 1/2 years ago we were certain we would only be there for a year, tops.  But with the current market and some great self-control on my husband’s behalf, we’ve saved so much staying put and now all that hard work has paid off.  It feels really good and I’m pretty proud of my husband and his God-given abilities at saving, casting vision, and providing for our little family of two.  Seriously, if it were up to me, we would’ve bought right away, just because, and who knows what would have happened!  Working on self-control, that’s this year’s lesson:)

But back to the tour, because, let’s be honest, that’s what is exciting.  Next up, the kitchen.  It boasts original 1960’s cabinetry that for the most part is in excellent condition.  Just a little TLC to the interiors.  We plan in the future to remodel the kitchen and take down the wall separating it from the living room, but that’s a dream away! 

                                   seriously, who doesn’t love pretty lace curtains:)

Next up, the living room.  I’m excited for this space and the fun that will be had here for years to come. 

Colors will change, but it gives you an idea.  The sweet iron railing leads the way to the front door.  Not sure what to do there!


This is the spacious lower level where we envision football game watching (once a new couch is on the agenda) and playing with toys…hopefully!  The lower level also houses a large laundry/storage area, a 3/4 bathroom, and a bedroom.  The only picture I could get of the bedroom was off the mls, but yes, there is carpet all over the walls, as well as corkboard.  Taking you right back!

And here’s the upstairs floorplan in case you are like me and a visual will help you envision the home.  Seriously, I do not have that gift of seeing something from nothing.  That my friends, would be my husband’s area.