December 3, 2014

Starting to feel like home

Our kitchen is not quite finished.  We need to install more cabinets on the wall by the oven.  We need to paint a few of those cabinets still.  We need to order a few custom-made cabinet doors.  We will eventually get a new dishwasher (though this one works so well that I see no rush there).  We need to paint the walls and we still haven't decided on a color.  We also need to finish the trim around the bar and paint it.

But it is 100% functional as a kitchen and dining area.  And for the first time, it feels like it belongs to Kristin and Scott.  For the first few months we were here, it was just a demolition zone (see pictures at the end of this post).  We've now been in this house for 6 months and now that the heavy duty work is out of the way (eh, most of it), I don't have to curl up in the corner with my glass of moscato and just wait for it to be over.  





That's a swamp cooler on the wall, by the way.  I meant to do a separate post on that back in June when we installed it.  It's like an air conditioner for the desert climate.  Keeps that house at 70 degrees or cooler during the summer, using evaporated water in an energy-efficient way.  We realized we needed it when we were ripping up carpet and it was 90 degrees inside and that's not a motivating temperature.  Without this $500 investment (installed by Scott), we'd have not gotten very far on this place.  I have no idea how the previous owner got by without it.  

In case you've forgotten….June 2014.




And here's the in-between phase…which has been most of the last six months.  
These are in no particular order.  Just a sampling.



Oh, you'd do it too if you had a puppy and hole in the countertop. 






I desperately tried to keep up normalcy by crock-potting dinner.




Progress is progress, right?  Goal for December:  paint the kitchen walls and cabinets that are left.  



15 comments:

  1. Hooray!! You guys have accomplished a lot in there, it's really looking great!

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  2. I love love love it. I especially love the expansion of the island and the teal pantry doors.

    What are your paint color options?

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  3. Your kitchen is gorgeous! We've been in our house 15 months and it still doesn't look like it belongs to us. Mostly that has to do with us being lazy.

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  4. Wow, it really looks great. I especially love that two tier island - so functional! You're doing so well!

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  5. It all looks amazing, you guys have done great work!

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  6. Love it! You guys did such a great job and I know how much of a relief it is to have a working kitchen! We're still not done with ours, which means it'll have to be torn apart again, and I'm already dreading it even though we don't have an official start date, haha.

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  7. your kitchen is gorgeous! even at the start you could tell it had great bones. wish i had an island, including the pup inside haha

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  8. Looking good!!! I LOVE those floors!!!! And those colored doors are beautiful! And the doggie helper is adorable, as always.

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  9. Ooo the before and after pics are looking great! I can't wait to see it 100% finished!

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  10. I am SO IN LOVE with your kitchen friend!! Totally worth all the time and effort you put into it!

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  11. Kristin it looks really nice! Much better then from when I saw it last (which was the bottom pictures!)

    <3 Chelsea

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  12. Hooray for the progress of the renovation! I can only imagine the stress you felt during the process, but each and every fuss is totally worth it, right? Anyway, I hope you’ll be able to pick the color that suits your personality, as well as the aura that you want to develop in your kitchen. Keep us updated!

    Gordon Fox @ Prince And Sons

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