Remodel: My Kitchen, Part III

I'm so sorry I left you all hanging!  I went to Cabo San Lucas on vacation last weekend, and had full intentions of getting a post in prior to leaving.  Well, sorry, I waited until the last minute to pack, so I wasn't able to get the last of my kitchen remodel up!

 

Well, today I am going to reveal the final product.  If you want to know more about the remodel, take a look at my first Kitchen Remodel Post (here), or my 2nd one (here)!

 

I think I left you guys with my uncle and me installing Subway tile all the way to the ceiling over the oven. 

Tiling the entire wall was painful, but my Uncle Extraordinaire got the job done. 

 

So, after the tile set and dried, my uncle grouted it with a grey color I picked out.  He then installed the vent hood and vent hood housing. 

 

Are you ready to see the final product?  Take a looks-y!

 

The finished wall.  I'm glad I decided to tile to the ceiling!



View from the living room. 

 

Can you see my Ghost acrylic stools in the picture above (from CB2)?  What about the picture below?  I love them because they blend right in with the kitchen and don't distract!  Plus, they are super comfy!  

 



 

 

When I was working with the cabinet man, I made sure that there would be a spot for the microwave.  I didn't want it siting on the counter!  I'm so glad the island turned out the way it did!

 



 

I actually don't mind standing at my sink doing dishes any more!  I love the faucet and the apron sink!  

 

 

 

 

 

Looking into the kitchen from the garage entrance!

So, a quick look at the before and after!



Before

After

I can't say enough how happy I am with the new kitchen.  Even though it was quite stressful planning it out, I'd say it was worth it.  I think the most stressful part was worrying if my husband would like it or not.  Guess what!  He loves it!  He even says I'm a much better cook now! 

 

This just goes to show that anyone can do a remodel (with lots of research and careful planning.)  I'm not naturally a creative person (hello, I work in Mergers & Acquisitions at 7-Eleven), but I put in a lot of time and effort, and the end result was worth it!

What do you think of my new kitchen?  Anyone ready to hire me to redo theirs yet?

JIMMY JIMMY CHOO(se) Me

It’s been a while since I’ve done a shoe post…what’s wrong with me?  Welp, the wait is over, because this morning, I got a sweet little email from Saks Fifth Avenue telling me all about Jimmy’s Fall Collection.  (That’s right, I’m on a first name with Jimmy Choo…)

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites that I’m adding to my wish list.  Ohhh HONEY, hint hint, wink wink. 

1. Metallic Glitter-Coated LeatherIngrid Sandals

2. Leather Ankle Boots

3. Vamp Glitter-Coated Leather & Metallic Leather Platform Sandals

4. Taffy Patent Leather Pumps

5. Archer Flannel and PatentLeather Pumps

6. Double-Band Patent Sandal

I promise they are worth it!  Every cent!  Really, they aren’t that expensive if you take into account the number of times I’ll wear them…..and plus, every woman deserves to have good shoes in her closet and on her feet!

PS- My first choice would be the Double-Band Patent Sandal (for work) and the Vamp Glitter-Coated Leather & Metallic Sandals (for my brother's wedding Black Tie events...).

Which pair is YOUR favorite?

Remodel: My Kitchen, Part II

So, bright and early on a Monday morning, my Uncle showed up to being putting our kitchen back together.  He moved the electrical around, added new can lighting, sealed unnecessary gas lines, and re-plumbed.  Let me just say, I was so happy with his work!

After the 1st day, I came home to this!  Drywall was up!!

Once the drywall was up, my uncle positioned the base pots & pans cabinets to ensure everything was centered!

So, after 4 days of hard work, a painter came in a textured and painted the walls.  That took all weekend.

My uncle came back the following Monday, and got right to work hanging cabinets.  My husband was going to help him do some heavy lifting, but when we came home from work, my uncle had all the cabinets on the wall!  I was soooooooooooooo happy to see this!

Once my uncle got the cabinets in place, he began working on the island and adding the crown molding.  That week, we also had granite installed. 

We went round and round looking for the perfect stone.  I found a fabulous Marble, but P told me that I couldn't have it in the kitchen.  He told me that I'd be devastated if  I accidently knocked my red wine over on the counter.  Eventually, I agreed with him....but only after he promised me I could put marble counter tops in the Master Bath. 

We then set out to find the PERFECT granite, which was quite challenging.  We went to several different stone yards, but could never find something we both liked.  (We like movement of the lines, and decided we didn't want a granite that had several spots (like polka dots) in it.  As my husband was telling his mom about how much trouble we were having finding a granite piece, she reminded him that we both love the granite they have in their weekend home.  Holy heck- she's right!  We love the granite in that house.  She told us the name, Lady Dream, and luckily, our granite man had 1 slab of it.  The Hubs drove out to his shop, gave it a once over, and the deal was done.  I was so happy to come home and see how great it looks with our cabinets.

You can't really see how pretty the granite is here, but I have better pictures coming!  We also
took down the plastic divider that served to keep all the construction dust out of the rest of our house.

Oh, can you see the aweome hardwood floor?  We were able to match the wood to the hardwood we have in the rest of the house.  I think it makes the spaces flow perfectly! 

So, in the 3rd week of the remodel, my uncle began putting the finishing touches on.  I decided I wanted subway tile to run all the way up the wall over the oven, so I helped my uncle lay all the tiles.  Boy, let me tell you how difficult it was to make sure all the lines were lining up correctly!  But, I think we got faster and better as we added the rows.  I'm glad I got to help my uncle with this though, because I always wanted to know how to lay tile! 

Oh, do you see my farmhouse sink below the window?  It's my favorite thing ever.  It's enormous, and I can't wait to bathe my babies in it!

Okay, enough teasing....I'll reveal our new kitchen in the next post!  What do you think so far?

Remodeling: My Kitchen

So, I think I mentioned a while ago that we were remodeling our kitchen.  Didn't I?  Well, it's done!

Complete!  Finished!  And I LOVE IT!  My husband says I'm a much better cook now.  Go figure.

We took our kitchen down to the studs and started over.  Paul and I demoed, and my uncle did the installation for us.  I can't wait to show you our new, awesome kitchen.

But first, here are some before pictures:



View of the Kitchen from the Living Room.  See the fur downs?

Oh, that gate in the above picture is to keep the dogs restricted to the kitchen.  I have white furniture....and I like to keep it that way.

Our Kitchen had a peninsula that jutted out awkwardly.
Oh, please note the faux wood laminate floors.

Standing where the fridge used to be, looking back toward the Living Room

These were taken the day before my Uncle began putting our kitchen back together again:

We didn't want to rip out the sink without my Uncle there to guide us!

During the demolition, we made sure to knock out the fur downs.  In the picture below, you can see where we removed the fur down over the peninsula.  As soon as we knocked that one down, my husband and I were shocked to see how much larger our space looked once the fur downs were gone!  People had warned us that there might be venting and electrical work in the fur downs, but luckily, there was nothing except empty space!

Looking back toward the Living Room.

That's it for today.  I can't wait to show you more pictures of the remodel process and then, the final product!