Thursday, June 30, 2011

Home Improvement: The Kitchen

So, what did you do this week? Well, we were a bit busy. Someone turned 11 months old (see below in dire need of a haircut), I had a job interview (more coming soon, maybe), we did swim lessons at the local pool, we took Noah to his first movie (Cars 2), oh and we completely re-did our kitchen! It's been an exhausting experience, but now as we round the home stretch I think it was worth it. And I KNOW we could not have done it without the expertise of my cousin Dave and my uncle Lou. As well as some help from the wrecking crew of Philie & Sons (along with their sharing of tools and shop-vacs), my brother & tia bringing hot dogs and ice cream, and my parents for all the babysitting and child entertainment they've done lately...Here is our kitchen before the demo began. Note the white on off white on white look.
Also note the backsplash tile and dental molding up top. Two features we were happy to be rid of.
So first on Friday night my cousin Dave shows up claiming he's there just to "check things out" and see what tools he might need for Sunday's demo. Mike and I left a mostly intact kitchen and went to Cars with Noah. We came home 2.5 hours later to Dave with a blow torch and most of our kitchen gone. He saved us so much time and money with removing the sink, dishwasher, microwave, and range. Along with doing some plumbing, electrical, and gas work!
And he was happy to give Mike tips, particularly on how to remove that dang tile, "Just bang on it real good!"
On Sunday Dave returned with Pops (Uncle Lou). Dave and I took a quick trip to Home Depot and came home to open walls!
Let the drywall work begin! There is absolutely NO way that Mike and I would have had the bravery to pull this much out. But in the end, I think it's much cleaner looking (well after cleaning the entire house from all the dust!).
Pops had some assistance with drywall screwing. Of course Noah had to wear his Spiderman costume and Mickey crocs for this important job.
So then on Monday Mike and I got to painting. Mike picked out the color and got supplies, we primed the walls while the kids napped, and then hit the color in the afternoon. With some help!
Noah loved painting. We secretly painted his name and Sam's name on a section that will be covered by a cabinet. So to the next home owner who removes cabinets, have fun trying to figure out who Noah and Sam are!
And then yesterday, the professional installers came and put in the cabinets and microwave. Aren't they pretty! And by going with full sized cabinets we gain a ton of storage space! The stove is coming today and the counter tops probably in the next 2-3 weeks. We'll have to put the dishwasher back in and drop the new sink in once the counter tops get here and then add some crown molding.
Mike and I aren't sold on our color choice. Now with the cabinets in, we're concerned we have a bit of a mint chocolate chip ice cream look going on. So the big question is, do we care enough to go through the effort of repainting? It would be a lot more work, especially now that the cabinets are in. But overall we are VERY pleased!

2 comments:

Ryane said...

It looks great!!! I didn't realize you were gutting it like that! And I did not think mint chocolate chip until you mentioned it. I would leave it, maybe it will grow on you. You can always repaint in a year or whatever.

KEO said...

So exciting! Those cabinets are huge! The cool mint is growing on me -- I like the contrast with the dark cabinets!