So, I promised you the kitchen. Let me preface the post with this: the kitchen is still a work in progress. You will see what I mean. :) But, when we started working away in August this is what we were working with:
.JPG)
.JPG)
Notice, no appliances, ugly, red paint on the walls and some really, interesting hardware on the cabinets. First things first...Kevin had the idea to take out the cabinets that go across the island/bar counter area. I am the first to admit that my visual spatial skills are terrible. When Kevin voiced this thought I said, "Hell no!". All I could think of was losing my precious cabinet space (right ladies?!). Kevin kept bringing it up and told me, "If you don't like it, we can put them back up." I didn't realize at the time that this was Kevin's way of getting me to DO IT! Faster than I could say, "yes" Kevin pulled out those cabinets. Now, we DID NOT do the typical HGTV smash the cabinets with a sledgehammer...we both agree that that is one of the most frustrating and ridiculous aspects of those shows. Why ruin something that you could recycle or use for another project?! And that we did. A few of the cabinets had some doors that were damaged and we were lucky enough to use the doors from the cabinets that we took down to replace the damaged ones. Back to the cabinets...once they were gone, I saw the light! Boy, did I ever see it! Kevin was right. Removing those cabinets really opened up the space and connected the kitchen to the dining room, as well as the rest of the house. Props to my husband! He is definitely the one in this marriage who is always able to look past the surface and create innovative ideas. You'll notice that with the removal of those cabinets, we also had to remove the corner cabinet that was against the drywall. We are currently in the process of having an Amish cabinet maker make us an open cabinet for that space (thanks to Nancy for the suggestion!). Unfortunately, although the cabinets are beautiful, Kraftmaid cabinets they were too old for us to order something else to put there. But, all the better. The custom one will be something different and special. Don't worry, I'll be sure to show you when it's finished!
During that first month, Kevin had a bachelor party to attend (shout out to Erin and Jared...these two met at our wedding and got married last September!). We were trying to utilize every second we had that month. So, Kevin bequeathed me with the task of painting the drywall sections. I chose a taupe which turned out perfectly. What a pretty good job I did for my first time painting, if I don't say so myself! ;) Unfortunately, I did not remember to take pictures of it when I was finished...so you'll just have to imagine it! ;)
Next, it was time to move in the appliances! Shopping for appliances was fun! Of course, we first started our search locally. But, Kevin ended up finding a GREAT online provider that shipped for FREE and did not charge sales tax!! The only catch was that the items were shipping from a distributor in California and living in Cleveland it would take about a week to get here. But, that was okay with us. We decided to purchase all Samsung appliances that we had previously viewed in local stores. So, we knew exactly what we were getting but for much less money. God bless the internet and Warehouse Discount Center! I scheduled for the truck to arrive at out house one afternoon with our stove, refrigerator and dishwasher. And arrive it did. But, not without a hitch of course. I knew that it was important for me to visually inspect everything before the driver left, just in case. So I did. I cut open those boxes and did my job. Dishwasher...check, looking good. Stove...check! Refrigerator...s**t. Yep, you guessed it. A nice dent or two on the side of the brand new refrigerator. Ugh! I have to admit that it was very difficult for me to refuse the refrigerator. It was really a beautiful refrigerator (that's how you know you're not in college anymore...an appliance is beautiful, ha!), but I knew deep down that the dent was too big. Plus, we just purchased NEW appliances, not used. If there was going to be a dent in my new appliances, I wanted to be the one to put it there. Here are the oh, so sad dents.
With that, I refused the refrigerator and sent it back to California. Luckily, the people at Warehouse Discount Center were extremely helpful and had another refrigerator shipped and on it's way in no time. The refrigerator made its second appearance about a week later and was in pristine condition. Woo
hoo!
Off we went, installing our new appliances. No major issues with the stove. The fridge was a piece of cake...plug it in and go! It was the dishwasher's turn. Now come on, nothing is ever easy. Kevin worked extremely hard installing the dishwasher and spent a couple hours doing so. Kevin finished and we went to turn on the dishwasher just to make sure everything was kosher. Not so much...there was a PIN sized hole in the water line that came with the dishwasher. Looking at the hose, you could not even see it. Trust me, a lot of expletives were used that day. We eventually ended up solving this issue by finding the hose online and ordering it. It would have taken longer to have the Samsung contracted "repairman" order the part then for us to order it. Plus, this long month was coming to a close. Eventually, the dishwasher was installed, looking beautiful and more importantly NOT LEAKING!
 |
| Mid clean up...I was getting anxious to take pictures! |
But, wait! What about a microwave?! Well, do you remember the picture of the open space once all the cabinets were gone? Did you notice the *ahem* "beautiful" range hood?
Oh yes, you better believe that thing was on its way OUT! Remember above how I said that Kraftmaid does not manufacture our specific cabinet anymore? Well, I should have been more specific. They still manufacture a "hickory" cabinet, but they do not produce the specific door (with the pretty ornate corners) that we have on our cabinets. So, we were able to order a small cabinet for that space from Carter Lumber in Chardon. The only difference was the door shape...can you tell?
 |
| Before |
 |
| After! |
I think that Kevin and I notice because we know (and I guess now that the secret is out all of you will notice too!). But, most people don't notice. Either way, that wonderful Amish cabinet maker is also crafting some doors to coincide with our current cabinets. Hooray! All in all, it was a pretty great transformation. I was really impressed and proud of Kevin (and me too! I did hold the cabinet and microwave for a long, damn time!). :)
I know, this is never ending, huh? Three quick and easy things we did were to replace the overhead light, change out the faucet and Kevin made new, clean shelving for the ENORMOUS pantry. Ta-duh!
|
| Not my best picture, but notice the ugly, GlOwInG fluorescent light |
 |
| We went with some track lighting here. |
 |
| Now you can see it in its full glory! |
 |
| Faucet before...barely working (with no sprayer!) |
 |
| After! I really love this faucet. It's an American Standard faucet that we found at of course, Home Depot! The sprayer nozzle is the actual faucet head itself. |
 |
| Look at those poor sagging shelves! :( |
 |
| Nice new shelves! |
Last, but not least, the hardware. It really is amazing what a difference some hardware can make. We decided that we wanted something with clean lines, similar to the handles on the appliances. Off to Home Depot we went (I really would like to know exactly how much Home Depot has made off of us in the past year! Ha!). We searched and searched and just did not see anything that was appealing to us. I checked Lowes too, with no success. I knew my search was destined to be another online search. By the way, I knew hardware was pricey, but did not expect knobs to be the price that they were! Luckily, I stumbled across a site, Knobs4Less, that had exactly what we were looking for and at a decent price. We did end up splurging a little on the hardware, but that's okay. We chose an Amerock stainless steel hardware. What do you think?
 |
| Before |
 |
| Pulls after |
 |
| Knobs after |
Phew! I think that's it for the kitchen. At least for now, anyway! What did we learn from this adventure? Here's my list:
- Painting is not so bad! You can do it!
- Shop appliances online for better deals...but, make sure to check them out when they arrive!
- Always keep extra paper towels handy...you never know when a leak might spring!
- Hardware is damn expensive, period.
Another day, another lesson. :) Thanks for joining us in the kitchen! I promise some scrumptious cupcakes when you visit our kitchen next.
 |
| Gluten free, dairy free peanut butter cup |
P.S. Rambo likes the kitchen a lot...can you tell?
