Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Home Transformations ~ Kitchen Reveal!

Home Transformations

Good morning and happy Wednesday everybody! Today we're in the kitchen, and I'm kind of cheating. Since I've already posted about the kitchen, and my camera is still not clicking, I'm going to do a . . . re-post :S

Our Kitchen!

The way that the kitchen turned out completely exceeded my expectations! Not that I did not have every confidence in Austin & Bryce's ability to make it fabulous, but the odds were definitely not in our favor. You see, we had measured for new cabinets and purchased them (on an amazing sale at Menard's) when there was no drywall on the walls, and we had just the most basic of ideas about what we wanted the kitchen to look like. As often happens with remodelling projects, every step takes much longer than you expect it to, so once the cabinets arrived, they had to live in the garage for just shy of a year while we finished framing and leveling and repairing termite damage (another LOOOOONG story for another time) and having drywall installed, taped, textured, and finished. Needless to say this is not the manufacturer-recommended process for installing kitchen cabinets and having them actually fit the way you had envisioned. Old homes are also not known of their plumb and level lines and surfaces.



This is what the kitchen (well, the spot where we ended up putting the kitchen) looked like before we started:



Remember, this house was divided into 5 apartments when we purchased it, so this space was being used as a child's bedroom/hallway between a family room and the dining room. The walls were covered in chalkboard paint (all 4 of them), and the carpet was really as red as it looks!


Behind this door (above) was the main floor furnace. There was also a furnace on the second floor. And this corner (right) is where our kitchen sink now sits.





Even with ALL of this craziness, and the odds stacked against them, my wonderful husband and father-in-law gave me the kitchen of my dreams! Come with me and we'll take the tour :)

This (above) is looking into the kitchen from the dining room. There used to be a wall between these two rooms, and the main floor furnace used to sit directly to the left of the exposed chimney. (This is the rear view of the 2nd before photo. The chimney was inside the wall, and we decided that it looked nice exposed. We still need to clean it up and seal it.) Every surface in this kitchen is perfectly level, and we could have a party inside the top cabinets without them even coming loose!

This is the corner in the third before picture.







There you have it! I am truly spoiled :)



Thanks for reading!



11 comments:

  1. How wonderful for the make over, the hubby and the father n law.
    This has got to me so exciting for you. I'm impressed.
    blossom

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am as amazed now as I was the first time I read this. Such a good job your guys did! It is so beautiful! Now if I can just get MY guy to do just a little bitty re-do on MY kitchen! : )

    ReplyDelete
  3. Absolutely amazing! It doesn't even seem like that could possibly be the same space! You are not spoiled, just blessed! My husband does his best, but when it comes to home improvements, we generally call for help. He is a wonderful light bulb changer, though...

    ReplyDelete
  4. holy moly!!! that is quite a transformation! such a beautiful kitchen!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Again.. it's beautiful!!!

    You have great taste too.

    I have the same fridge and dishwasher..LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm sure this has crossed your mind many times .. but Holy Schnikes, what were the previous owners thinking?

    You guys did a fabulous job .. that kitchen is gorgeous =-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, that's gorgeous! I would never have known those were the same spaces! What a fantastic job, I think you already have an MHR Friday topic! Congrats on your beautiful new kitchen (and house!)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love remodeling projects!!

    Your guys did a FANTASTIC job! It's amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. How beautiful! It's so nice to see when hard work does finally pay off!

    What a blessing! =]

    ReplyDelete
  10. Awesome Kitchen Start-Over!!! LOL!!!

    ReplyDelete

Always great to hear from you! I ALWAYS read your comments, and they make my day!

Thank you!