My New Kitchen

The week before Memorial Day I was fortunate enough to have my kitchen updated. I have been wanting a new kitchen since we moved into our house 3 years ago. I really don't know why it took so long. Actually, I do. I was either pregnant or just had a baby and could not think about not having a kitchen for a week or so.

I finally decided that it was time to update it when 2 things happened. #1, I placed a HUGE bottle of Kirkland detergent on the washer and I guess it shimmied off while the washer was on the spin cycle. It went everywhere including under the washer. It took forever to clean up. We didn't clean under the washer because it is a front loader and it is on a pedestal and it is one heavy machine to move. I became so paranoid about things growing under the washer and in the detergent. That is when I told Mr. Man that it was time to take action.

#2, Daddy Warbucks bought himself a Porsche Boxster. I was fine with this because he NEVER asks for anything. Plus, he's a great husband and father and I felt like he has truly earned it. I mostly let him have it so that I could use it as leverage! For example, I asked for a new kitchen. He said no. I said "PORSCHE!" He said "done." Two weeks later, I had a new kitchen. Like I said, leverage!

Home Depot and some other company wanted to charge us $14,000 to reface the cabinets. We quickly dismissed their proposals and opted to have the cabinets sanded and painted instead. I am so glad I did! Our favorite contractor Nacho did the work for us. I remembered to take "before" zoomed out pictures after J took the cabinet doors off.

After literally trying to decide between 14 different shades of white, I went with colonial white. I was trying to go for an antique white and I am so pleased! The kitchen is much brighter and feels so good!

Before.

After.



Part of the process was saying goodbye to the outdated hardware.

J and I decided that oil rubbed bronze hardware and hinges were the way to go.

Mr. Man wanted to save money by removing the linoleum himself. He only made it around the edges. It wasn't worth his time so we let Nacho pull it up.

New tile and trim. It's so pretty! It's so loud, too. Whenever we would scoot the chairs to and from the table, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. We ended up putting felt pads underneath each leg of all the chairs. It's much quieter.

Before.

After. Oh yeah, we didn't replace the countertops. They're still in good shape but J said he would replace them before the end of the year. If it happens, great. If not, I'm okay with that, too.

Goodbye linoleum.

Hello tile!

I use to have a ton of storage under the double oven...

...then I had to say goodbye to it so that the new double oven would fit. Now, there is just enough room for the non-stick pots and pans.

Before.

After.

Goodbye range hood and old school oven.

Ahhh! Hello new school!

Scarlett was excited about the cabinets, too!

This was the best part. Halfway through the project J called me from work and said "how would you feel if we replaced the oven?" I didn't even have to ask for it! He did the same thing with the over the range microwave, too. He's such a great guy :o)

This was the worst part. We took this clock off of the kitchen wall and leaned it against the kitchen table that we had to move into the living room. Unfortunately, J bumped into the clock and when it fell, the glass broke. Not to worry, I had a new piece of glass cut and installed in less than 48 hours.

Hodge Podge Pics

As usual, I'm quite behind in blogging. I've decided to do a hodge podge post to document some our recent happenings.

One day after Scarlett woke up from her nap, I heard her screaming bloody murder. When I went to check on her, she was in the process of climbing out of her crib. She's made it out of her crib several times before. I don't know why she got stuck or scared. Maybe she never looked down and on this day she did and freaked out.

I love how she says bye bye at the end and went back to playing. BTW, the commentary you hear in the background is me on the phone with my mom.

Savannah sat up by herself for the 1st time about a month ago, yay!

Then Jeremiah showed up and she never looked my way again! Oh well.

J was in the floor playing with the girls one Saturday afternoon. I think Liz was at a friends house or something. Anyway, he decided to make one body out of Scarlett's and Savannah's bodies. Savannah was the top half and Scarlett was the bottom half. It kind of freaked me out a little to tell you the truth. I have no idea where he gets his ideas. The more the girls laugh, the less they cry and that is alright with me!

This is after J cut Savannah's nails. Love their blue eyes!

Everybody hates bedtime! Both of them were screaming and crying at the same time and it was loud!

Ah! I saved the best for last. In early May I was preparing eggs and biscuits for breakfast. In the middle of scrabbling eggs, Savannah woke up. I finished the eggs and went to get her. After changing her diaper, I called for Scarlett. She never answered me and there was this deafening silence throughout the house. As I was coming off the hall into the living room, I saw this...

...cracked eggs on the coffee table AND the floor!

I guess she saw mommy cracking eggs and she wanted to crack eggs, too. Jeremiah said he wondered if she thought they were balls. Maybe she did. The way that the eggs cracked looked as if she threw them down instead of cracking them. After I cleaned up the mess she made, I had noticed 2 or 3 cracked eggs in front of the back door...30 mins after we ate breakfast, yuck. I guess I got distracted with Savannah's crying because I don't remember putting the eggs back in the refridgerator. However, I do remember pushing them WAY back onto the counter so that she couldn't get to them. I can only assume that Scarlett is growing and her reach is getting longer.