Kitchen Renovation

One of the things we thought we loved about our house when we moved in was the kitchen. In reality, we were just blinded by those giant appliances! No, really we didn't have a problem with it until we had kids. And for the past 5 years, I've felt like I was in a tiny box. A world away from everyone else in the house. Completely closed off.  And, I know this is quite petty, but I really hated bringing the highchair back and forth to feed the baby while I cooked or cleaned or made cookies or whatever (because he constantly eats!)  It would completely block off the doorway.  I stayed in that room more than any other because I normally cook/clean up after at least 2 meals a day, usually 3.  So, while our situation was by no means "BAD", it just could've  use a little improvement to make it work even better for us. I've been wanting to knock out the wall for years but it wasn't really something Leon could undertake himself. So, the weekend of Ben's baptism, Leon's dad was up and we decided to go for it. We didn't really even have a plan. So unlike me! The plan was to get rid of the wall and open it up as best we could. And, we just hoped the entire second floor didn't come crashing down on us when we took it out. We had decided to replace the floor with raw wood and try to match to our existing hardwood. We (LEON) wasn't really up for refinishing hardwood floors, but nothing matched perfectly and we couldn't spend that much money and still have to redo, so we went with raw. Our house is  over 80 years old and the basement in just under the kitchen which made tile not an option in my opinion. It had tile before but it was cracked in at least 3 or 4 places and it hadn't been there too long before we moved. I wanted something that would actually last. And it stayed cold and dirty looking. Whoever did did the tile work didn't seal it well and no amount of scrubbing would help it look clean. No harsh chemicals, no "DIY grout cleaner", no vinegar, no bleach. I tried it all. So, I was completely game with new floors and wall gone. SO, without further ado…

Here is the before. No clue why the color in the picture is so terrible. I guess it adds to the "before" effect. 

Nothing "unlivable" or anything. It was fine before. The mixer is on the DR table because I was making cookies. Always making cookies :) I really should have taken up close and personal pictures of the counters and floor though, it looked much worse than it appears in these pictures. 

Here we go….no turning back now!!

Even though you can't tell much in this picture, I already knew it was a good decision. I already felt like I could breath in there!

The morning of Ben's baptism party…AT MY HOUSE

Like I said, this wasn't a well thought out DIY project. None of ours are really. We just go for it. 

I'm not going to lie. Much more living like this, and I might have moved out for a while!

I don't have any pictures of them taking the tile up, but it was a TOUGH job for them! I wouldn't recommend it just for fun or anything!

And, I'm pretty sure neither would be willing to move that refrigerator or stove anytime soon!

The sander was so easy to use, even I could do it. Much different than the one we used  upstairs. That one would chew a hole in the floor and make clouds of dust everywhere. There was even a little bag that held all of the dust on this little guy!

We had decided to use raw wood, sand everything down and use the floor polyurethane (oil based polyurethane) to make everything flow so you wouldn't be able to tell that we had "new" floor.  When everything was sanded, it matched perfectly. I actually could not tell the difference AT ALL in old wood and new. It was amazing. We just admired it. 

It isn't completely sanded in this picture but you could not tell what is old/new, except for what still had finish on it, obviously.

Then, down went the poly.

Looking good

UNTIL….

The polyurethane darkened the old wood and it was very obvious where the two met!! It almost made the old wood RED. 

So after some googling and a trip to sherwin williams, we found a solution that worked…it's not perfect but MUUUUCH better. And apparently I don't have a picture of the finished part? 

Cutie helper!

The biggest part (most important part) of the renovation was taking the wall out and installing new floors. We couldn't figure a way to incorporate the existing counters so we decided to go ahead and get new. At one time, I had thought of adding a "bar" out of something different like old wood or marble even. But, we decided it wasn't really a good idea. Besides, we may have had the worst granite on the planet. It was out of remnants and was very poorly laid. It was chipped, the glue was GREEN and flaking off. It was just bad. I know it was just a counter and it really didn't bother me THAT much, but while we had everything torn apart, we just went with it.  And since this was the only chance to change anything else major, we went ahead with a farmhouse sink too. I have always loved them and they seem so much more of what we needed. It is big enough for baby/toddler baths and big enough for high chair tops and cookie tins.  The whole renovation was a slippery slope but honestly one of our best decisions in our house. 

Our sink was just the right size for a little bathtub for this guy

I had SO much help picking out these barstools. Seriously, Ben is the worst baby to bring in a store in history of babies. The kid HATES being strapped in anything! Between him screaming and letting Bishop in charge of one of the buggies with the barstools, I'm sure TJMaxx was almost willing to GIVE me the barstools if I would just leave ;) Oh, and it was POURING out. Go figure. 

I honestly wanted to jump up and down this day. Picking countertops was just awful. I had read and read and READ on different kinds….granite, quartz, quartzite, silestone, caesarstone, marble, butcher block, etc.  I searched high and low in the 100 degree heat with 2 kiddos in every granite shop within 2 hours from here and I just couldn't find what I wanted. Everything I thought I wanted was considered "exotic" and just way too expensive or I couldn't even find it or it was sold. Everything I seem to pick out in the slab shops were marble. It was always marble that my eye went to. I had so many people say NOT to do marble and read so many reasons why NOT to do marble that I was just convinced it wasn't even an option. It stains, it etches, yada yada yada. I came across a few articles that made me finally decide that maybe it was something I wanted to try. I always tend to go the opposite of what everyone says I should do anyway :) And one of the guys laughed at me for always picking marble and said he himself wished he had gone with it and had stained his granite with his coffee pot after like a month or so. So, we decided to just do it. No looking back. Like every other decision we have ever made! We've had the kitchen for months now, and I do not regret it in the least. Sure, there are signs we live in our kitchen and if you get really close you can see imperfections. But, I'm ok with that. One day I may change my mind, but for now we love it.  

And we couldn't have a new kitchen without a new backsplash, right? Leon is really a jack of all trades! Aside from around the outlets, I think it was a pretty simple job for him. I mean, after all the other jobs at least!

We also repainted the cabinets (still white), installed open shelves, put in under cabinet lighting and put butcher block on one of the sections of counter. I debated doing it all butcher block because I do like the look and it was a much cheaper option but I felt it just wouldn't work for us. Plus I thought maybe too much wood with the floors? Anyway, I have no picture of any of that. The day I picked up the butcher block Bishop and I got the stomach bug and Leon got it a few days later and the last thing on my mind was taking pictures. Sometimes we are in survival mode. Oh, and we got a new dishwasher. Because of course, ours decided to kick the the bucket when we were done spending money in there. Naturally. 

Up next, the finished project!