Racing to the Finish Line

Remodeling a kitchen is all consuming.  It is pretty much all I think, talk and worry about.  Our remodel has probably taken the "normal" amount of time but it seems like it's moved at a snail's pace.  Some of the foot dragging was my fault.  Spending large amounts of money makes my head spin.  Finding the best deals takes extra time.  I had to do some research to get the most for our money.

With that being said, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  It's getting to the end and I am so pleased with the results.

I am a big fan of the blog www.younghouselove.com.  I wish I could DIY the way they do.  I've relied on sub-contractors for most of this project.  I did some drywall work and I painted but the rest has been left to the hand's of experts.  Mr. Handsome did bust out his tools yesterday and attached all of the cabinet pulls.  He fashioned a template and did an amazing job.  Not only did it save us some money but it gave us both a sense of accomplishment.

We do realize that some this work could be done by us.  We are smart individuals, we just lack a little confidence.  In the future, we have decided that tackling some the work ourselves will be step one of any project.


From here:

To here:

And from here:

To here:

Today the appliances go in.  Seeing the finish line........ MUST PUSH FORWARD!!!

When Pinterest and Real Life Collide....that's supposed to happen right?

I hang around Pinterest.  Not too obsessed but when I can't sleep it's a great joint.  And I don't mean "joint" in a "doob" kind of way more of a "library" kind of way.    I find some interesting stuff there.  Food, nail polish, hot guys in a creepy kind of hot guy way (not my fav), some religious stuff I could do without but what the hell, it's there and I can skip over it and I see some GREAT ideas that suit my current sitch (as Kim Possible would say.)

So today,  I took one of those "sitches" and am making it my own.   I am re-using my pantry door in a new spot.  It's a door with a glass front.  Back story, we live in a "model" home  (oh how far I could take that nonsense.)   As a model, having the pantry door with clear glass obviously opens the space.  In real life, a clear glass pantry door drives one crazy.

With the remodel, the entrance to the pantry is in a new place.  Awesome.  Because we are counting our pennies, we are using the old pantry door.  I don't want it to be see through anymore.  I'm taking care of that.  Thank you Pinterest.

Door, covered in black contact paper with lines and math and lines and stuff.

Door from another angle.  And yes,  it is currently the door to HELL which sadly is so appropriate and inappropriate at the same time.

Praying to Hades that my door way to HELL turns out.  I meeeaaannn, here's hoping that step one leads to a great step two and that when you come to my house you always, always feel welcome.

Progress people.  Progress.

Please add Kim Possible Theme Song to my Life Soundtrack.  Beep Me. Anytime you need me.


 

Fifty Shades of Gray..... my review.

Wait, what?

 There's a book?

 A book about WHAT?!

So not what I'm talking about.  Wow!  I'm talking Gray.  Not Grey.  There's a difference.

I think I have officially looked at 50 shades of gray.  At least.  There are so many variations in gray and I have had a hard time nailing one down.  The cabinets in the new kitchen are gray.  A very light shade of gray, it's very hard to see.  When you hold something white up to them,  it becomes more obvious. While it is subtle, in a weird way it's a very obvious part of the kitchen.  With that said, making a color choice for the walls has been challenging.  Those who know me (all 22 of you) understand that this is something I can lose sleep over.  Have lost, might still lose, and subsequently losing.

Initially I headed in a blue gray direction.  But we are not really blue people.  We like blue but living with blue is not something we do.  We head more in a warmer direction.  If you can possibly imagine, there are grays out there that have golds and reds and umbers in them.  Who knew!

After throwing some paint on the walls, we think we've come to a decision.

Which color would you choose?  Let us know.
To vote, go like this
A.
B.  C.
     D. E.
F.

Go ahead, tell us.


I am SO NOT a professional blogger!

One Step Closer to Being the Home of the Worldest Largest Refrigerator

I've been hiding.


Hiding from the dust, the filth, the financial impact.


 I've been hiding from the kitchen remodel.


 Let's face it.  It's ugly.  It's messier than you expect, it takes longer than you expect and it ALWAYS costs more than you expect.

I know, this is not new information.  But we all jump into these ideas with pictures pulled from magazines, a Pinterest board overflowing with loveliness and full on blind ambition.  It's so fun to be naive and childlike until you get a big fat smack in the face by a piece of crown molding that cost you more than your 14 year olds braces.

Okay not really, Mr. Handsome put the kibosh on the solid gold crown molding.... he felt it might, oddly enough "cheapen" the space.

But because all 22 of you are dying to know what the hell is going on here at the hive.... I will pleasure you with some pictures (I figured going with an "adult" metaphor I might pick up a few comments or followers.)


So for your viewing pleasure (to make the experience even more exciting see the post before this to get the full effect, kind of like a flip book from the olden days)

WAS:

IS:

WAS:

IS:

WAS:

IS:

I realize my photography skills are not ideal.  I would have mapped it out if I were a professional blogger.  I would have put an X on the floor and shot from the same spot.  But wait, oh that's right ...

1. I am not a professional blogger.
2. I am currently not living in the space and wait for it......
3. I have 3 children that are so busy it's mind blowing!  Okay, I'm good.

It looks lovely.  We are thrilled with what is happening.

For those of you curious about sources or how we are doing this on a TIGHT budget, ask away.   I am happy to share what I am learning, what I am sacrificing and how I think you can do this without spending what the professionals tell you to spend.  It certainly isn't DIY.  Sadly, we just don't have the time for that but someday I could see Mr. Handsome and myself taking on a few projects by our little ol' selves.


Party on people.  Next time you see me perhaps there will be countertops.  If you are good, I might do a dance on them for you (totally not meant to be an adult metaphor.)

C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G Song, it just might help if you sing along.

There was a time when Mr. Handsome and I were going to become avid campers.  We were going to tackle the challenge of becoming experts in the field of camping or camping in a field.  A pop-up camper or even a larger "hard-walled" camper was an investment we considered.  The Utah, The Matterhorn, The Cascade.... the options are endless.  We had dreams of camping with the kids, finding that perfect campsite next to a bubbling brook.  Campfires, smores, our own "glam"ping menus that we planned out ahead of time.  We could come up with great meals, perhaps author a cookbook of gourmet food that people could make while camping.   Well, it's not happening.  Not happening AT ALL.  We would be terrible campers.  We would like it for about 36 hours and then we would be ready to turn that "investment" right around and head home.

Instead of the great outdoors,  we are camping out in Mr. Handsome's parent's house.  It's kinda like a little vacation.  Funny how just a change of scenery can change your point of view.

The kitchen reno is underway.  Slowly but surely.  Slowly by design.  It's SSSSOOOO expensive and I do not do well handing out money left and right.  Also, because it's pricey, we are being extremely thoughtful with our choices.  It's out of nece$$ity.  Plus, who doesn't love to get the most out of their money?

I promised myself I would document the progress.  So as I promised..... here you go.  I sold our old cabinets on our local classified website.  The new owners of our old cabinets came and removed them.  And did it quite expertly..... thank goodness.  The granite came out in whole pieces.  Hallelulijah.  We will either attempt to use the pieces in bathrooms or will put them up for sale as well.

BEFORE:

CURRENT:

BEFORE:

CURRENT:

BEFORE:

CURRENT:

Next step?  Well, the new cabinetry is scheduled to be delivered.  The island (see it up there, in the corner of that picture, right there?)  needs to be removed and the refrigerator needs to find it's new home in the garage.  We have some tile to pick out for our backsplash and some appliances to order.  That heinous(!) wallpaper that was expertly painted over with textured paint,  needs to be removed.

After typing that last sentence, might I add......

1. Be careful where you choose to put wallpaper people.
2.  If you don't like existing wallpaper, take time to remove it properly.
3.  Seriously, textured paint?  Sorry Ralph Lauren, it was a bad idea.  BAD RALPH! VERY,VERY BAD!

In the meantime, we have a comfortable place to stay that doesn't involve pooping in the woods or washing our clothes in a bubbling brook.  We made microwave s'mores last night and I have to admit they were pretty good.  All in all, this investment is a much better choice for this crowd.

Just to prove that we aren't complete home bodies..... here are the kids enjoying some time in the great wide open.  We love nature.  It's just nice to come home to a snuggly bed.

Add "The Campfire Song" to my Life Soundtrack.

Remodel Step One. The hardest part of any journey is taking the first step.

Step One.  Or "the first financial decision" we must make.

Here's what we are looking out of currently.  French doors one side opens, the other is a fixed panel.  It opens directly into our kitchen table.  That's annoying.  To make it even MORE annoying, the wood blinds clank incessentantly.  No one can break into our house because of those damn blinds.  WAIT..... Call off the reno!

The window, oh the window.  It's seal has blown.  My running joke is that we have a pet pterydactol.  It seriously looks like a pre-historic bird took an enormous (which goes without saying I guess, those old birds were big) shit on my window.  It's been a fun joke, but at this point I'm just ashamed.  Ashamed.

We have over thought so many options here.  New window, sliding door?  Two sliding doors?  A terrace door and a slider?  Let's blow the whole thing out and put in a greenhouse (never really an option.)  Who knew you could talk about doors so much?  Who knew you could fall asleep and still talk about doors?

We believe we will go with a 12 foot slider.  It requires a little more engineering ($.)  But we are trying to make smart decisions for our current situation and then when we plan to sell, which might be tomorrow considering the number of children in my driveway today.  I've become that adult.  I just have.


So.... step one.  You've been warned.