It's Coming to Life!!

Week Four...check out the progress!!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

The floor went in.  I was sitting in my office eavesdropping (ahem, working) while the contractor and his guy were discussing my reclaimed wood, and how best to install it.  Apparently reclaimed wood flooring is a pain in the ass to install.  If you're thinking of using it because it's cheaper, think again.  It's really not.  The initial cost may be (I paid $2.00 per sq. foot), but there's a lot of labor involved that brings the overall cost right back up.  The  benefits you get from reclaimed wood are that you keep it out of the landfill, and if you're putting it next to already aged flooring, you'll be able to get a better match for a consistent look.  Boards change color when they age- putting one stain color on new vs. old boards can look vastly different.  It's kind of like borrowing your best friend's  most prized red lipstick- the one that looks so glamorous and old Hollywood on her, but looks like a cheap trick in the making on you.  Get it?

We ran out of useable "old" wood slats and had to use a few square feet of "new" wood.
No worries, it's under the fridge, and once sanded and stained, you won't even notice it!

So what makes reclaimed wood a pain for those installing it?  For starters, some of the tongues are missing- they were either broken off or cut out when the planks were removed from their previous home.  They were also previously refinished, so there are small pieces of filler stuck to the sides, which can prevent the boards from being installed flush/tightly to each other.  This means extra work for the installers, and once installed, the floors still need to be sanded down and refinished again.  It's pretty labor intensive, so what you save on materials, you more than make up for in labor costs.  I've made my peace with it, though- I feel an obligation to this old house to treat her well.  (Are you kind of surprised I'm not married to an 80 year old man with how much I profess to love old things?  Dave is 353 days older than me...I think that counts, right?)

My original hardwoods run in two different directions: Dining room to the left,
and living room to the right.
The kitchen hardwoods have been installed, but haven't yet been sanded and stained in this picture.

(You may also be asking yourself, "Why didn't you just feather in the new flooring with the existing flooring so that you didn't have a threshold between the doorways"?  Well, friends, my hardwoods extend past the living room, though the hallway, and into two bedrooms as one continuous piece.  If I had feathered in the floors, I would have had to remove ALL OF MY FURNITURE from the first floor in order to sand and refinish EVERYTHING.  Not happening.  Also, we just refinished the hardwoods eight years ago when we moved in- they're in great shape!)

Refinished kitchen floors on top, existing living room floors on bottom.
Pretty damn close, right?!?

They turned out GREAT, didn't they??

Dave has caught me many times this weekend just standing in the doorway staring at the floors.
"You know they aren't going to change in front of your eyes," he says.
Yes, but they are JUST. SO. AMAZING.

The cabinets have also been installed...yay!!  My inspiration picture had simple shaker style cabinets, but I opted for an even simpler flat black cabinet panel.  I really love the juxtaposition of modern elements mixed with vintage, so I'm pairing a more modern, streamlined cabinet front with brass and wood.  I think the "older" elements will help to tone down the more modern cabinet shape.  Also, I've always got that dreaded term "resale value" stuck in the back of my head.  This is our first home, and although we love it, we know that it isn't our forever home.  While the design pros will always tell you that white cabinets are best for resale, I think that if someone doesn't love my taste, they can easily change out the countertops and cabinet hardware to create a completely different look.  Plus, since these cabinets are already painted and not stained, I don't think anyone would feel too badly if they just wanted to paint them again in a different color.  I've really thought this through and made the best of excuses to justify black cabinets, haven't I?!?

Not much to see here...YET.
Just a lonely little vacuum attachment trying to keep things in order around here.

This coming week, the countertops, tile, and finishing touches should go in...the end is in sight!!

Makin' Plans

Now that you've taken a tour of everything that I don't like about my kitchen, let's take a look at how it's going to be made a billion times better.  I wish I had some fancy 3-D graphics for you, but Lowe's didn't give me the e-version of my plans, only the paper print out ones.  I suppose I could go to the trouble of doing a mock up on a free planning program, but who has time for that when there's ACTUAL work to be done?

Here's the new layout of the kitchen.  

My brain needs to see cabinet balance,
so the dishwasher is getting a cabinet front, too.
Yesssss.

Apparently I have trouble taking straight pictures...these two are a little wonky.

General placement of the appliances hasn't changed, but I did add nine extra feet of cabinets along the window wall that opens up into the dining room.  These cabinets are only 12" deep, which will leave some extra elbow room in my walkable floor space- which is completely necessary so that the room doesn't feel too closed in.  With the addition of a dishwasher, and the removal of upper cabinets above the sink (to be replaced by open shelves), these extra cabinets probably won't result in a bunch of extra storage space, but it will make the kitchen 10x more functional for everyday use.

The window cutout into the dining room is also getting a shave down- it's going to be lowered to countertop height, which will give me 6 extra inches of countertop depth along this wall to use. 

Heyyyy sexy Buddha.

The refrigerator...oh the refrigerator.  In order to fit a fridge in the current space, I would have had to pay $6,000+ to special order a European style, cabinet depth piece that was only 33" wide. 

This has caused a lot of bruises.
It's tough for me to walk through doorways.

Why not just go with the standard 36" wide?  Because those three precious inches JUST DON"T FIT.  My options were:

1. Pay the ridiculous amount stated above to get what I REALLY wanted.
2. Buy a 36" counter depth fridge and have fully custom cabinets made to fit the space.
3. Buy a 33" regular depth fridge, buy standard width cabinets, and move the doorway 9" to accommodate the fridge.

Option 3 was the "most economical", and therefore the winner.  How ridiculous is it that it was cheaper to MOVE A WALL than to buy an appliance to fit the space? 

Alright, now on to the finishes.  If you follow me on Pinterest, you probably have a pretty good idea of my design plans... just check out my board, "Gut That Kitchen!".  If not, here's a look at my inspiration picture:



I love everything about this picture.  EVERYTHING.
source

Yessss.  So pretty, right?  I originally wanted to go with white cabinets and black countertops, but this picture sealed the deal for both Dave and I.  I was a little hesitant to present him with my idea of black cabinets, but once he saw this picture, he was all in.

It's kind of a modern vintage look, no?  Since we have black pieces of furniture in both the living room and dining room, accented by wood and brass, it made the decision very easy to switch up my white and black kitchen plan to a black and white plan...really went out on a limb there, didn't I?

Now it's guttin' time.