apron rack

Once again I am way behind on posting... I actually finished this project in October but just now loaded all the pictures onto the computer!  Anyway - I needed a place to hang all our aprons in the kitchen and have been loving the old yard stick coat racks I've been seeing around the web.  I didn't have any old yard sticks and I was not about to pay the $8 per yardstick I was seeing online.  Instead I found wooden rules on clearance at Office Max (I think I payed about $0.50/ruler), some scrap wood in the shed, and hooks to match my knobs and drawer pulls at Walmart.  After I cut everything to the right size       I used wood glue to attach the rulers to the wood and then rubbed the whole thing with Americana Decor deep brown Creme Wax (from Michaels) to make it look vintage.

Don't look too closely, some of the hooks are a little crooked!

Such a happy little corner in the kitchen now!

And the keepin' it real, unedited photo :)

kitchen reveal!

The contractors put the finishing touches on the kitchen on Monday.  I still have not unpacked any boxes, but I was able to get things cleaned up enough tonight to take some picture for you.  So, without further ado, here is our new kitchen!

Looking in from the living/dining room (remember when there was a wall there?  I can hardly even remember the house that way!) 

We are loving having this huge counter and all the extra seating too!  It's hard to tell size from the pictures, but the peninsula measures 9.5' long and 4' wide.  There are standard sized cabinets on the kitchen side, and 12" deep cabinets on the other side, so lots of storage space :)

Things you might like to know...

The cabinets came from Conestoga Wood Cabinet Makers Choice and the doors and drawer fronts are the from the Shaker Collection.

Our counters are Dallas White granite, which is kind of an off white with charcoal grey and egglpant purple specks in it.

The floors are a wide plank, carbonized bamboo and they are throughout the whole house (yay for no more painted sub-floor!!!!!)

The back splash is this tile from Lowes with pewter grout.

Wall color is Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue.

Pendant lights came from here.

Did I miss anything?

And just in case you've forgotten what the kitchen used to look like, you can see it here :)

just a peek at the progress...

Floors go in this weekend!  I think I'll wait until everything is done before I post more pictures.

almost there!

Counters are in and all the cabinets are hung!  Tomorrow all the doors and drawers get installed and tile work begins :)  Here are some pictures from this afternoon...

kitchen update

I took pictures a few days ago to share, but things have been a little crazy around here the past week (that is a story for another post) and I never got those pictures up.  So, this is where we are at as of this afternoon...

All but one of the base cabinets are installed plus most of the wall cabinets.  My oven and microwave are hooked up and ready for use (yay!)  There was a problem with the fridge cabinet, so we are waiting for 3 new pieces to be shipped before they are installed.  That blue tape of the floor is roughly where the counter will come out to. 

The cabinets behind the dishwasher and shop vac are my "hutch" piece.  The top cabinets will actually sit on the granite, so they won't be installed until the granite goes in next week.

The view into the living/dining room.  The cabinet on the left will be my trash pull outs, then sink, dishwasher and a small cabinet.

And here is the view from the great room.  There are a total of 4 cabinets on this side of the peninsula, the one in the corner (left) still needs to be build.

Things are coming along quite nicely, and pretty quickly too.  I love watching our new space take shape!  Back with more pictures soon :)  And I am happy to answer any questions in the comment section.

happy birthday emmy! (and more kitchen pictures)

Emmy turned two today!  She started the day opening her one present (because what on earth could a two year old with 5 older siblings possibly want or need that they don't already have?)

She was pretty excited about her Minnie Mouse and has taken her along everywhere we've gone today.  I love how easy it is to please a two year old :)

She wasn't so sure about blowing out the candles on the cake, but she sure did like eating it.

Happy Birthday, Emmy!  You truly are a light and a joy to our family and everyone who knows you!

And here is what the kitchen looks like tonight - wall down, beam installed and electrical and drywall work begun :)

So far we are loving the open space and how much brighter the house is!  They are scheduled to template for the counters on Monday so the lower cabinets should be in before the weekend is over!

And if you are wondering what the kids do while all this work is going on... they've taken over my bedroom where the computer and TV are temporarily residing.  Actually, we've been out every morning this week, so it's just been afternoons spent like this:

demolition day

The demo crew showed up this morning a little before 9am.  We were here for the first hour, but then had to run out.  By the time we got home the guys were out to lunch and this is what the kitchen looked like.  From this angle things still looked pretty normal...

except for that small hole in the middle of the drywall.

But when we came around the corner...

my kitchen was gone!

I miss my sink and my water filter already!

And by the time they left this afternoon, this is what it looked like!

This is the view from the kitchen into the great-room!

Tomorrow they will move the electrical wires and start building temporary support walls in order to remove the framing and install a new beam where the load bearing wall is.

we have too much stuff

Except for a short vacation with the hubby's family, the past two weeks have been filled with packing up every shelf and cabinet in our kitchen and great room.  I am forever grateful to my mom, who came down with my dad two weeks ago and spent 3 full days packing boxes and moving furniture!  I don't know how I could have gotten all this stuff packed without her!  Thanks Mom (and Dad too for replacing faucets and pulling up baseboards)!

Demo is scheduled to start tomorrow, so here is one last look at the (messy) kitchen as it is now.  The first thing they will be doing (after tearing out the current cabinets) will be taking down that wall on the left if this picture.  That will open the kitchen up to the great room.

The range is switching places with the sink and dishwasher and where the wall is being removed I will then have a 9.5' x 4' peninsula.

Since we are gaining room to sit at the peninsula we are downsizing our kitchen table and will be putting a small counter height table in front of the windows.

The wall where the dresser is now will be getting 6 feet of cabinets that are designed to look like a hutch.  I am not sure yet whether or not I will be able to keep my board and batten... I hope so!  Oh, and that patch of blue/green on the wall beside the window is my new wall color, Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue.

Here are just some of the boxes filled with my sewing/crafting supplies... then there are all the kitchen boxes and the nick-nacks and books and...  too much stuff!

Remember how my mom came a few month ago and helped me put those new craft shelves together and organize all my stuff?  Well, lucky her, she got to pack all that stuff up and this is what it looks like now.

That's my temporary kitchen there on the right.

And that is my new floor piled behind the futon, 1000 square feet of carbonized bamboo :)

More pictures soon!

no more painted sub flooring!

It's official!  We are at the very least getting new floors in the Little White Schoolhouse! I placed my deposit on enough bamboo to floor the entire house! 

We are still awaiting bids on kitchen stuff, but I hope we will have come to a decision by this time next week!