Kitchen Remodel

Today is...ehm...a birthday.  Yes, my birthday.  Or maybe I'll call it my un-birthday, as are birthdays really that exciting with 30+ years?  Well, I am one who doesn't care about gifts, much to my husband's relief.  My husband believes one should do anything of their preference on their birthday, which is fine with me.  I believe the birthday boy/girl gets their favorite cake.  Cake is very important, isn't it?

How does all this birthday talk relate to a kitchen remodel?  Well, two years ago, my husband was following through on his tradition of the birthday girl calling the shots.  We had a fantastic day, out to lunch, a bit of shopping, great conversation.  At 6pm, he said "It's still your birthday, what are we doing tonight?"  He was really asking "What movie would you like to watch?", but that's not what he said.  I replied with "Remember that picture I showed you from the magazine?  The one where they removed the cabinets, moved them higher and then painted the cabinets?"  His face fell as he said, "We're going to do that this year?".  Of course, I say "It's still my birthday now, why not start tonight".  I don't think I've ever seen a more disgruntled husband in all our marriage.  But we did it!  We started gutting the kitchen on my birthday at 6pm at night.  17 days of chaos as I worked and worked and worked.  I only required him to help me with moving the cabinets.  

He looked at me today and said with a bit of a sigh, "What renovations are we having to do today".  He'll be quite happy that we won't be gutting anything today.  But...it is my birthday...I wonder if I can concoct some sort of crafty project I can sign him up for.  I mean there's only one day a year he volunteers to help me with my projects, might as well take advantage, right?!

Okay, back to the kitchen remodel.  Here's what the kitchen looked like right after we moved in:

And here's the after....and can you believe they're the same cabinets?!




What we did:
-removed top cabinets, moved to the ceiling, added trim
-sanded, primed and painted the cabinets
-added new knobs and handles
-removed the old hood fan, added a new one and a shelf
-left off one cabinet and put up open shelves
-replaced the sink with a single huge basin (BEST DECISION EVER!)
-added a new faucet 
-wainscoting backsplash (my brother did this)
-added butcher block wooden countertops (LOVE THEM!)
-added an island table and chairs for free (must blog about how I did this....quite the project!)

The only thing we didn't do was install the countertops and sink.  All else was us.  Add some homemade cinnamon raisin bread (must blog) and a coconut cream cake and you've got a cozy kitchen.  Someday, we'd like to add matching appliances and slate floor.  But not an emergency.

Cost breakdown:
$1350 for all supplies (including countertops, hood fan, knobs and handles, paint/paint supplies, wainscoting, trim, shelving, faucet and sink)
$300 for labor to install the countertops and sink

We are SUPER happy with how much brighter it is.  It is so much more "us".  Well worth the effort.

1 comment:

  1. WOW! Jackie - this is awesome! Nice job! If you're for hire, let me know. I'm hoping 2013 is our kitchen remodel :-)

    ReplyDelete

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