The Unveiling.

My apologies for waiting so long to post this, I've been a bit busy (story of our lives, right?)

BUT.......

I feel like the Target Lady!

Hooray!

Why? Because it's finally done!! 

I have a working kitchen!!

No more washing lettuce in the bathtub!!!

This happened.  More than once.

Soooo, I guess you want to see it?

Here it is!!

BAM.

Some cruddy i-phone panoramas for you.

I LOVE my kitchen.

I'll do some specific posts later about a few of my DIY projects, but here's a few photos to tide you over until then.

Oh hello, hidden microwave!

I had to spring for the brass faucet.  It was 100% necessary.
It also took Dave almost a month to realize there was a sprayer built in here.

Giving myself a pat on the back for this one- I made 2 pendant lamps for $66 total!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
I won this penny tile on ebay.
(It's in the side door hallway).

Side hallway.
Not much to see, except my new floor and light (which needs an Edison bulb, btw.)

This sink is almost 12 inches deep.  Sigh.

Handmade walnut shelves!
And no, nothing on here is "staged" for this post.
I have actually been able to keep things looking like this for over a month without any problems!

Walnut butcherblock countertops, finished by yours truly.

I searched for WEEKS online to find this rug.  Thanks Etsy!!!
It has the perfect color combination for my house to tie everything together!
Also, caaaaaan you spot the dishwasher?
It's there!

This is the glass globe from the original outside light above the side door.
I followed a tutorial on vintagerevivals.com, and made it into a planter!

Of course Margot needed updated bowls and a tray...she's gotta fit into my glamourous kitchen, too!

Can you spot Margot?

We've still got some work to do- a few things to wrap up in the side hallway, touchups on the organizer wall, and now a domino effect has taken place that means the dining room will end up getting a mini-makeover later this month (think new paint and curtains, as well as a new light).

I'm so excited to finally have a working kitchen, though- it's pretty glorious!! 

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.