Kitchen Part 1

When we bought the house, we knew the kitchen was in need of A LOT of work. This is what it looked like the day we moved in..

The original list of things we wanted to do in the kitchen included: 
- Remove wallpaper
- Paint cabinets white
- Paint walls
- Paint ceiling
- Paint trim 
- Change light fixtures
- New cabinet hardware
- Install over the range microwave (we scored a display model at Best Buy for only $60!!) 
- Install garbage disposal
- Replace sink faucet

But we ran into some issues once we got working that added more HUGE items to the list:
- Replace refrigerator
- Replace stove (and convert from electric to gas since we both prefer gas)
- Install new counter tops

This kitchen is getting a pretty big makeover. Here is the progress so far.

First, we removed this moldy piece of wood from above the dishwasher (I think I mentioned this before).

 Then Jason got to work ripping out the old counter tops.

Cabinet doors off and ready to be primed and painted.

Shelves lined up with primer. Our basement worked really well for getting all of this spread out for painting.

 

Bedroom doors were also primed and painted white.

We ran into this about halfway through. We found half an inch of flood mud from 1972 behind one of the kitchen cabinets. Luckily, we were able to vacuum most of it up.

Hinges being spray painted satin black.

Counter tops awaiting installation in the garage. We got them in stock at Lowe's and are very happy with them.

And just like that.. COLOR! We love the way this color came out on the walls, it is just what we expected. The contrast between the white cabinets and darker, bright walls is exactly what we wanted when we were deciding on a color.

We started putting the cabinet doors back on tonight and it has made a big difference. Stay tuned for part 2!

Bedrooms - Check!

The bedrooms are done. Completely done. We had carpets installed by a local company for all 3 bedrooms and the hallway and we LOVE them. They are so soft and worlds above the old shag carpet that was originally in the house.

Jason's Aunt Loralee came down one night to take some wide angle photos of all the bedrooms and they came out really great.

White bedroom (the smallest of the 3).

 Grey bedroom.

Master bedroom.

There is now furniture in the grey bedroom and the master bedroom so I am going to take pics of that later today to post. The kitchen is almost done too. Now all that is left is unpacking the piles of boxes we have!

Catching Up

I took a few days off last week to spend in Virginia with my cousin Jessica, her husband Justin, and their two sons, Ezra (22 months) and Micah (2 weeks). It was a nice break and we had a lot of fun tailgating (Go Hokies!), shopping, going out to eat, and a lot of play time with both boys!

Micah in his cute hat that Grandma made.

Ezra's thinking face. We worked on adding the finger to his mouth while I was there.

Now it is back to work. We have made a ton of progress on the house and are actually staying here now! The kitchen is not completely done and there is always something to be worked on but now that our stuff is here it feels much more like home.

Floor Plan

Architect I am not. And it is pretty evident. I have created a VERY simple floor plan to help give an idea of where everything is in the house.

The black rectangles are inside doors and red rectangles are outside doors. I did not include every little detail (windows, closets, basement stairs, etc). Maybe on the next one.

Happy Fall!

It is officially fall here in New York. It is dropping into the 30's at night and the leaves are changing! We also have a continuous layer of leaves on the back deck from the trees. There is a rake in the near future.

This weekend we also discovered we will be buying a new stove. As we (Jason) unhooked the stove to move it for painting he discovered a dead mouse on the back of it as well as a pretty nasty smell. That was the final straw and outside it went. We were off the Lowe's to pick out a new stove! I'm excited because this means we will make the switch from an electric to gas range.

There have been some big changes in the last week and couple of days. Today was like Christmas, we got new carpets installed and paint in the kitchen and I LOVE the color. I will get photos taken soon and post them.

My fall decorations!

The walkway got a haircut.

 

The back deck. The sliding doors go into the dining room and the other door (on the right) goes into the garage.

Most of these pictures show color in the hallways and bedrooms.

White Bedroom:

Grey Bedroom:

Master Bedroom:

Half Bathroom (primer):

Dining Room:

A new refrigerator!.. Kind of. This is temporarily placed in the dining room to be out of the way. And we actually decided to return this one for one that is slightly bigger and matches the new stove.

Pantry Shelving:

Once we got going we also decided to tear out the counter tops. They were not in great shape and we were pleasantly surprised with the pricing for new laminate counter tops.

This piece of wood over the dishwasher really needed to go too. The dirt, mold, and grime in there was disgusting!

Wallpaper-less kitchen wall:

We have also replaced all the doorknobs and added deadbolts to the outside doors.

Here is the basement. It has been transformed into painting center. We are turning everything white. Including the louver doors. Big mistake.

Jason installed this motion light above the garage too!

These pictures were taken about a week ago so a lot has been done since.. I am on my way to catching up!