First post about our recent home remodel….starting with my favorite spot – the kitchen!

With two little boys in our life, my husband and I were “cozy” in our first home just a few miles away. With the intention of moving eventually, my brother in law, a local realtor, suggested we look at a house in a great neighborhood as a possible remodel. We walked in, were disgusted, and left. I didn’t care how nice the neighborhood was, there was no way I would move into a house built in 1940 that look as if it had never been updated. Oh, and it smelled. Plus the fact that it wasn’t much bigger than our current twin home and my husband and I both wanted to expand our family. A definite no brainer for me – no WAY! Which is why it was so shocking to me that my husband suggested we place an offer that night as we were driving home. Was he kidding? Oh no, he had a “vision”. He saw the house as 4 walls and a roof – a space that could be completely manipulated into our dream home. Then the details become fuzzy. Within days, the owner had accepted our offer and this was what I had to work with:

(Note: The house was in such horrific condition that we subconsciously didn’t take many “before” pictures. Kicking ourselves for that now! This first shot shows the wall between the kitchen and dining room and second shot of that wall being ripped down)

So I did what any normal person would do these days and I didn’t peel my eyes from Pinterest and Houzz for days. Desperately seeking inspiration, a vision started to emerge. Ok so I have 4 walls and a roof and a blank slate inside. I might be able to live with this. Apparently only my husband and I could envision the potential. When we took my mom to see the house, she cried. I admit, it was almost embarrassing showing people this new home, but I knew that it had to be done in order for everyone to appreciate the “after”. And it was a long time after…. like almost a year. We purchased the house on December 28th, 2011 and as I write this I am listening to a nail gun pulsing into the floor below me as they put the finishing touches on our basement. This is a sound that has lulled my boys to sleep since we moved into the house in October. We spent hours working with an architect, a kitchen designer, visited lumber warehouses, tile shops, picked out shingle colors, floor colors, wall colors, door hinges, door knobs, door styles, sinks, faucets…. the number of decisions we needed to make seemed endless.  And slowly, our house began to transform.

Kitchen in Progress:

ripped out cabinetry,  knocked wall down between kitchen and dining area (kitchen was yellow room on the right and dining was room on left with a wall separating), made dining room window larger and closed off door way in kitchen to allow for more cabinet space, also knocked down wall where support beams are pictured – this wall separated kitchen and dining from living room:

Shows structural beam in place:

New cabinets installed and floors sanded (original kitchen area to the right is new hardwood to replace original linoleum):

Farmhouse sink installed (I had to fight for this one! Went with asymetrical lazy susan so it could fit… no sweat!)

Pendant lights and glass globe chandelier installed:

Floors stained (but dirty from construction traffic) and cabinetry complete:

Inside of island includes microwave and pullout trashcans. (Of course the kiddos love the microwave, but luckily there is a lock button!) Benefit to hiding microwave is the hood above range.

Glass, subway tile backsplash installed; Countertops and window seat bench are honed granite:

:

Kitchen After:

load bearing beam placed in ceiling and cased out in rough sewn wood (stained to look rustic), same wood was placed on back of island (awesome because kids can kick it all they want) and to help achieve a balance between farmhouse and modern decor… I am no designer, but I like both so I tried to blend them.  original floors sanded and stained color “Jaco Bean“, new all-wood white cabinetry installed, and backsplash tiled with glass subway tile in color “Ocean Mist” from The Tile Shop, pendant lights and chandelier installed (both from Rejuvenation)