Kitchen Reno Stage 2: Appliances, Cabinets & Countertops

When it came to redoing our kitchen we did not have the budget to go the "custom" route with the cabinets and drawers, but we wanted something stylist, functional, and budget friendly.  Therefore, we chose to go with an IKEA cabinet system and buy our doors, drawers, hardware and panels from another company.  (More on that later...)  

So we left off the last kitchen post with it looking like this:  Floors finished, kitchen demoed completely, & 36 inches of the wall taken away!  We did use a general contractor to demo the kitchen and a floor company to install the hardwoods, but other than that we've pretty much done the work ourselves.  It's been 3 months and we've slowly been chipping away at this at night, on weekends, and during nap times, but it's come a long way!

After the floors were finished, the next step was to remove the wood paneling down to the studs.  After that our contractor ran electricity from the "old" location of the refrigerator to the "new" location, which you will see in a bit.  Joey then installed new insulation between the studs, put up backer board for the tile backsplash, and sheetrocked the back wall.

In the picture above, you can see that we were starting to assemble the cabinets.  You can also see the "new" location of our refrigerator.  We moved it from front-right to back-right to improve the flow.  After a couple days, we had all the cabinets assembled and could finally start putting them in their correct locations.  That was super exciting!  Finally starting to see the "kitchen" through the chaos.

We had our refrigerator and stove delivered but had to wait for the countertops before the dishwasher could be delivered.  These are our appliances and if you look closely you'll see that they aren't all the same brand.  We went with Samsung mostly, but bought a Bosch dishwasher.  I love that about stainless... the appliances don't have to be the same brand to look great together!

Refrigerator  //  Dishwasher //  Microwave  //  Range

 I had a gas stove at our last house and even though I loved the way it cooked, I couldn't stand for it to be dirty, (which was 95% of the time), but cleaning it was such a hassle so this time I definitely requested an electric glass top range!  

Well, hello MARBLE!  We ordered the countertops from Home Depot and then left for vacation!  When we got back home, I went to pick out our slab and I fell in love with this pegasus white marble.  It has such gorgeous movement throughout each segment.  It's a very sensitive stone with lots of upkeep but we wanted white/light countertops with texture to go with our cabinet color.  Plus white just looks clean!

We said at the beginning of this process that it was going to be well worth the effort and that is definitely true.  All the problems that arise can be stressful but you end up solving and moving pass them.  The one thing I've learned from all of this is that nothing, (well in most cases), is definite.  All things can be changed or corrected so take a deep breath, relax, & dive in!  Orrrrr... stop what you're doing, tell your daughter to hand over the xylophone mallet and have a jam out sesh instead!

Next kitchen post will be more countertops, the sink, the faucet, cabinet fronts and hardware.

Are any of you guys in the process of redoing a kitchen?  I'd love to hear!  

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Kitchen Reno Stage 1: Demo & Hardwoods Installed

This the beginning of our kitchen renovations.
It was a typical 1960s kitchen with white wooden cabinets and tile countertops.  

The grout was stained, the backsplash was peeling, the appliances didn't work, and the cabinets had wood rot.  The doors were falling off (below the sink), as well.  The kitchen layout also made the room feel so closed off from the rest of the house.  

This is during the demo-ing process.  After just a few minutes, it was already beginning to feel so much  bigger!  The removal of the upper cabinets and the wooden valance above the kitchen window was crucial to it feeling bigger.  The ceiling is stained from the age of the cabinets but after a can of KILZ that was fixed! 

After demoing the kitchen, we began ripping up the laminate floor to get ready to put down hardwoods.  The rest of the house has beautiful hardwood floors that are 1.5" redwood oak.  We wanted to continue that through the rest of the house as well, including the kitchen.  

The picture below shows the wall where the "old" refrigerator was incased. We took away the incasement which included two panels on each side of the fridge and two upper cabinets.  I also chose to take away 36 inches of this wall so as to open up the area for more natural sunlight and friendly conversation.  

Before:

After:

You can see all the way into the kitchen now and definitely feel more connected to the space.  Such a big improvement!  Now when I cook I will be able to see Juliet playing in the living room or have a conversation with someone in the next room.  

Hardwoods are now installed- all shiny and new!  The next steps are to removed paneling and hang backer board in it's place in preparation for a wall full of tile!  Yipp-eee! 

The next post will have more demo (waaaahhh!) plus the installment of new appliances, backer board, and kitchen cabinets with sources!  Stay tuned! 

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Let's Take This Party Outside

We "semi" finished the screened-in porch this past weekend!  Our kitchen is yet again at a stand-still, so I was very antsy to start on something else and focus my attention there... instead of over there.  That brings me to our outside patio.  Here's a before picture from when we moved in and as you can see it needed de-wind-chimed, decluttered, repainted, pressure washed, and that fan had definitely seen better days.  The only thing that stayed are those darn ceiling hooks.  We broke a few trying to remove them... So we just let them stay.  Sunday was the big day!  We moved out, cleaned out, painted, hung a new fan and then moved everything into place.  

Before

Progress

We bought this outdoor furniture 2 years ago at World Market.  When we bought it, the wood was a natural color but we stained them black last year.  They've held up very well... even better after we stained them!  We created a sitting space to the left of the back door and left room for a walking path from back door to screen door.  

The pillows are from West Elm, chair cushions from Target, and rug from IKEA.  We've had the rug for a long time and decided that it was time to retire it from inside to outside.  The fan is from Hunter and the other small decor pieces are mostly from Target and HomeGoods.  Juliet's crocheted hanging swing is from HamacArt on Etsy, (I'm not sure if they make them anymore).  

To the right of the back door, we plan to eventually create an eating area with a bar/table and tv.  That area is about 8 feet long x 12 inches wide with a half screen/half wooden wall.  I "doodled", (in every sense of the word),  my idea onto a notepad so it would help us make decisions based on how we want it to look.  We've decided on something like this...

Long, free-standing piece of wood for bar/table with two or three bar stools.  A TV on the wood part of the wall (right side), and hanging lights over the bar on the other.    

Back to some of the gross "before" stuff...
Here's a picture to show what a little pressure and water can do.   

In the words of Frank Barone... "Holy crap".

 Go ahead, call us crazy.  I see you shaking your head and thinking, "why in the world?"

And I'll be honest.  This door in the picture below almost broke the deal for me... As stupid as I knew it was and as "fixable" as I knew it would be; when I looked at this screen door I wanted to run screaming in the opposite direction.

But now we have a new door.  (Ahhhh.... pretty.)  It isn't painted yet, but it's not crooked and dirty and it doesn't look like a prop from Texas Chainsaw Massacre so that's a huge plus.  In the next outdoor post this door could possibly be white, black, peach mimosa, or banana leaf.  I can't decide.

(paint colors from the Behr's Home Decorators line at Home Depot)

 screen door:  Lowe's

Here's a few more after pictures of all the tiny details in the room.

Our "What's left to do" List:

Paint screen door

Paint brick inside porch white

Hang hanging plants

Fix outlet 

Build bar/table

TV & TV mount

Industrial ceiling bar with hanging lights

New screen

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Storytime at 1.5 years

I could easily wipe out our entire bank account at the book store in just a few seconds.  I always go through Barnes and Noble stacking books in my arms until I can't hold any more and then take them all to a table, lay them out and try to decide which "ONE" I'm going to buy.  Over the course of (almost) two years, we've been given or have bought some pretty cute books for Juliet and these are a few of MY favorites.  Now that she's old enough to sit in my lap and be still through an entire book, we've been buying her more storybooks instead of counting/word/color books.  

Gaston  /  Paris- Up, Up and Away  /  Cat's Night Out  /  Flora and the Flamingo  /  

Happy Hippo, Angry Duck

Gaston is the cutest story about finding your place in a strange world, plus it has the cutest puppy names that will make you smile when you read/hear them.  Jules' favorites are, "Fifi & Foo-Foo".  

Paris- Up, Up & Away is an amazing light and shadow book made of delicate silhouettes throughout Paris.  Some of the story takes place during the day and some at night.  No color; just black and white pictures.  It encourages a child's imagination by personifying the Eiffel Tower.  It begins by saying, "The Eiffel Tower is bored today.  Wouldn't it be nice to fly away?"  This isn't a book that I can leave on the shelf just yet, but I read it to her and tell her how gently we have to touch each page so that one day I can entrust her with it alone.  

It would be a beautiful gift or keepsake if you have been to Paris or plan to go.   

Cats' Night Out is so much fun!  We use to read it as a bedtime story but since I created a soundtrack to play as I read, it has become a fun "playtime" book!  Juliet goes around the room dancing as I read and show her the pictures.  Her favorite is the "Polka" page... shoot me now.  

The book has two main elements- One: It introduces all types of cultural music.  Two: It counts by "2s" in the book... since each cat dances with a partner!  It also prompts your child, by saying, "How many cats will dance tonight?" Then they can "guess" what number is next- counting by 2s.  

Here is the playlist you can follow on Spotify.  Feel free to use it while you're reading the book or   as inspiration to create your own, maybe even for another book you love!  

And lastly, Flora and the Flamingo.  This book is a wordless picture book and can be told through the perspective of the reader through the illustrations.  We basically just look at the beautiful drawings right now, but these books are great for older children as well.  I always used these types of books in my classroom to help the children make predictions based on the setting, characters, emotions, and use of color.  

Here's a link that shares more about wordless books; more book options and how to implement them into your storytime specifically for your child.  

Ten Twinkly Stars  /  Little Owl's Night  /  Cats' Night Out  /  Happy Hippo, Angry Duck  /  

Plant a Kiss

These are Juliet's picks and I know this because she brings them to me to read every. single. night.  I have read Happy Hippo, Angry Duck until the pages are starting to peel.  

Ten Twinkly Stars is a counting book starting at 10 and going to 1.  She loves counting each star, which they are all "2" right now because that's the only number we can say.  But it's a perfect bedtime story because it talks about the animals bedding down in their habitats.

I loved reading Juliet Plant a Kiss, when she was younger because it has one or two words per page.  This came in handy when she went through the stage of wanting to only turn the pages and NOT read.  It allowed me to actually read a storyline to her while she sifted the through the pages at lightening speed.  

And Little Owl's Night is another great night time story.  I think this is her favorite of favorites!  Which she "hoots" from start to finish, so "whoooo" knows if she's even hearing the story? HA... Sorry.    

Happy Hippo, Angry Duck is one of those I could read in my sleep.  "Hello friend, how are you today? Is your mood quite terrific or only ok?"  

What are some of your favorite reads?  We would love to hear!  

And please don't say it's, Fox in Socks.  

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*Month 20*

Only 4 months before we're singing "Happy Birthday" to her for the 2nd time... which also means that Fall is right around the corner and I'm pretty excited about both of those facts!  

Age: 20 months

Stats:  24 lbs YAY! She had lost a few from being sick so we were glad to see this number again.

Sleep:  She would love to sleep until 10 everyday, but I try to get her up so that she isn't grumpy for the rest of the day.  We're still waking up sometime before 12 with her but with a little bit of rocking and cuddles she goes back to sleep for the rest of the night.  She's always been a great sleeper but during teething months, she needs a little help.   

Clothing:  18-24 month but they're getting pretty snug around the tummy and tushy!  

Favorite Foods:  She's still very picky about what she eats nowadays unless it's a grain or fruit.  I have to sneak her protein in the form of peanut butter, dairy, and rotisserie chicken.  No veggies- typical kid.

Words:  Na-na-na-na-na (while shaking her head no).  We like to play, what does the kitty cat/puppy dog say, and we probably drive her crazy asking 1,000 times a day.    

Favorite Activities:  Swimming- if there is any body of water, she's going in... whether she's wearing a bathing suit or not.  

Funny Things I Do:  Gasping and covering her mouth with her hands.  It doesn't have to be anything particularly "shocking"... it could be as simple pulling laundry out of the dryer.  She also covers her eyes when she "fake" cries.  Even though I know it's fake I still want to squeeze her and give her anything she wants.  She'll also "shush" you if you need it.  

Other Milestones:  She's gotten 1 more tooth!  Her top left canine- and boy was it the devil.  Also, the fingernail clippers aren't hated anymore!  She sits so still and watches me clip them.

Highlights:

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