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July 26, 2006

What's Cookin'

When I started the kitchen I had a couple of things in mind.

1. Never rip out more than can be replaced in the same day.

2. Tackle the largest job (cabinets) first.

3. Do not spend a fortune.

I think we have done well and kept to these guidelines.

My dream kitchen causes me to salivate when I wishfully think about it. It also comes with a $92k price tag. This kitchen is not my dream kitchen. I am skittish and my chest begins to hurt when I come to the point of writing a check for the dream kitchen. The current kitchen is an updated kitchen that has eye appeal, is functional and adds to the value of my house.

The kitchen as it appeared when we first came to look at the house before making an offer. The cabinets had been painted with barn red enamel paint.

We have done the work ourselves and used the budget that would have gone to a contractor to purchase Steve new tools. So this is a two fold success story. I get a lovely new kitchen and Steve has reason to buy many tools. It has made us both happy.

I do not like to live in mess. That has been the major consideration in the makeover project. When I began reworking the cabinets I did the repairs first. I began a method to the madness. I worked on one cabinet at a time and only one cabinet. Starting at one end the cabinet was empty, primed ( 2- 3 coats), painted, allowed to dry over night, the contents put back, then doors primed and painted, hardware replaced and felt tabs put in the corners to protect the new paint.

Steve has LOVED getting to make a mess in my house!

It is a system that has worked extremely well. With a baby to tend one cabinet is a not too much to accomplish in the passing of the day and often times I would be able to work on two cabinets. It was the drawers and doors that are more time consuming that any other project.

I have never in my heart dreamed of a white kitchen but the only way to undo the barn red disaster of the previous owner was to paint them white. So I did. I like them white better than I thought I would.

At the end of the work day I cleaned everything up and put things back on the counters to keep from having piles of stuff and boxes strown through the house.

I searched the internet for new cabinet hardware determined NOT to pay $6 for one drawer pull. Seriously who in their right mind would pay 4 times that for one drawer pull? Whomever it is has far more money than sense.

I really like this sink. It is 91/2" deep. The goosenecked faucet also allows for filling deep stock pots.

When the wall paper was stripped it was obvious that the former owners had no true love for this house. The wallpaper was put up on the wallboard that had never been primed or skimcoated. As the wallpaper pulled away so did did pieces of the paper on the drywall. It was such a horrendous mess with chunks of caulking and mess at the countertop level. There was no way I was cutting out all of that drywall and replacing it so instead we repaired what was damaged and used a beadboard panel for the backsplash. I chose beadboard to keep the time frame of the house. It is coated and is washable. (My dream kitchen would have tin ceiling tiles.)

We raised the cabinet to be able to install my microwave.

The countertops are laborador granite. I did not purchase expensive countertops. These sort of just fell into my lap. They were damaged and sold to me at a big discount. Lucky for me the countertop was more than we needed and the damaged pieces at the end of the lengths were not used. We took our time, followed MUCH expert advise and were able to install the countertops ourselves. It took the better part of an entire weekend but we did it.

Today I have a pediatrician appointment for Steven who will be getting his next round of vaccinations. I also will be choosing crown moldings. :-)

I will up date again very soon with all the other changes and updates we have done since the last photo.

I am so very sorry I have neglected you all for so long. Steve is on vacation and I am trying to get this finished while he is here to help do the really big stuff. I have learned how to do so many things! I have even wired and installed my own undercabinet lighting!

Posted by Angie at July 26, 2006 08:47 AM

Comments

Posted by: kate at July 26, 2006 09:43 AM

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