Evolution of Our Kitchen: The 4 Year Plan Because Life Happens!

When we moved into our house in 2007

we knew we were in for some BIG TIME DIY projects.
It was going to be a labor of love.

I loved the overall charm of the property.

It was a quaint, cute fixer-upper, 

and had major potential, with a little TLC.

Famous last words...little TLC.

Winter 2007, days after we moved in

The House was built in the 1940's
and had NEVER changed hands until we purchased it.

So when I say it was outdated I mean it in the most drastic of ways. 

One of these days I will pull out the old photos of the day we signed papers.

BEFORE we did any work.

Scary. 

No, I take that back. 

Terrifying.

Mint green walls in EVERY room. 

Old, tired turquoise carpets covering what once was beautiful hardwood.

Ply-wood cabinet doors stained that 70's orange color.

Oh, and the best part - Pepto Bismol pink bathrooms - from floor to ceiling.

Bad picture, its from the original sale listing.
But I bet you get the pink idea.

And even better than Pepto pink? 

The bathrooms were painted in exterior oil based paint.

Do you have ANY idea how hard it was to attempt to cover that??? 

The happy dance WILL be done the day the sheet rock in those rooms is ripped out.

The outdated decor was the scariest for me.

To the hubs...

It was the well in the basement.

Yup, a legit well, with water in it. 

30+ feet deep.

Without a cover.

Just a little freaky.

He SWORE the little girl from The Ring

was going to crawl out at him.

{I'm pretty sure he still has nightmares, but don't tell him I told you that!}

Needless to say we didn't move right in.

It took 2 weeks of cleaning, ripping out carpets, 

tearing out toilets and sinks, 

and priming every room before we felt comfortable sleeping there.

It was bland, but clean and live-able.

Then it was on to our first MAJOR task - The Kitchen...

Wish I had kept that light, I kinda miss it - NOT!

I couldn't stand the dark knotty pine paneling. 

It was old, sticky and just plain old gloomy.

It was the first to go, or to get disguised.

The old back splash being ripped out after we painted.

In the process of "disguising" the old wood.

After sanding and priming (3 coats!) I decided on a 

cheery yellow/beige to tide me over until the walls were knocked out.

We SWORE we'd start ripping it all out that coming winter.

Then I got pregnant.

Dada-to-be just slightly excited!

My 6 month preggo belly.

That halted all work on the kitchen for the next 1.5 years.

We turned our attention to remodeling Punkin's room which is a whole other post!

But, here is a sneak peak from right before we finished....

The Punkin's room almost done.

Sweetest picture ever, right? xoxo

I think she was afraid to come home and see the kitchen :)

After our brief vacation to have a baby
and thoroughly enjoy her for 6 months

we got back to the kitchen.

Ready for demo

Then came the real demo.

Walls, insulation, all of it - G O N E.

Out with the old and in with the new.

And then there was dust.

I have never seen so much plaster dust.

Skim coating is for the birds.

And we still have 5 more rooms to eventually do.

UGH.
At least it looks good when its done!

Well, little by little over the past 7 months

the kitchen has started coming together.

New windows, new sink,

new counter (made from scratch!)

new recessed and pendant lighting,

new back splash, new breakfast nook.

After 4 years of dealing with nothing but the basics

and lots and lots of blood, sweat, tears and frustration,

I am FINALLY seeing the start of something beautiful.

Don't mind the lack of cabinet doors and trim we aren't quite finished yet.

In the end we are going to be able to say:

WE DID THIS!

All on our own.

True weekend warrior style.

And I'm going to love it.

Will I ever remodel another kitchen DIY style?
Sure, just not any time in the near future.
And it WILL be completed in under 2 months.
4 years is torture.
This was exhausting!

Now, lets get cracking on those hardwood floors!

Anyone wanna help???
I can't wait to show you all the pictures when everything is finished.
Hopefully it won't take another 4 years :)

What is the longest it has ever taken you to complete a major project?

Rain is such an inspiration!

As much as I usually don't like when it rains all day, today I'm perfectly fine with the idea.

Over the weekend I limed and fertilized our lawn (what we hope to eventually be a lawn) and have been patiently waiting for the rain to water it in. Well, today I got my wish. 'April showers bring May flowers' - right? Too bad I only have one flower garden planted!

The rain is most welcomed for other reasons today too. It's giving me a chance to sit down and figure out my vegetable garden situation for this year, what to plant, how many garden boxes I'm going to need the Hubs to make (hint, hint honey - get on that!), and some time to wander around the house coming up with decorating ideas.

We have been back and forth on color ideas for the kitchen since we started the project. Darker or lighter, barely there colors or bright? I just cant make up my mind. I keep going back to the light and airy seaside and rainy day colors though. The kitchen only gets morning sun which makes it a little more dreary in the afternoon so we wanted to brighten it up a bit. We chose to do the cabinets in a shade of white, and the back splash is on its way to being subway tiled - white as well. The counter is tones of deep browns and a hint of black which grounds all the white. But, for the walls???? I'm so indecisive.

Then this morning, with the rain and grey clouds I noticed how beautiful my basil plant looked. There's just something about the way a nice green plant pops out against all the white, and our cherry and black dining room table looks great with the contrast of those subtle colors. Those are my two inspirations. My little basil plant sitting on the windowsill with the rainy grey and white sky as its backdrop is gorgeous to me. If I could bottle those colors my entire house would wear them! So, I guess I know where I'm leaning color-wise - light and airy. Funny how writing it down makes decisions a little easier to make. Maybe its time to bite the bullet and choose a color. Easier said than done - now do I go with greys, blues, taupes or greens? Can someone do this part for me? I dwell too much on it - and each day the decision gets harder.

Thats it - I think I'm going to set a goal for next week to get the kitchen painted.  After all it is April Vacation next week. And I plan on keeping my wonderful Hubby as busy as I can!  I think many trips to Gourmet Donuts for Snickers ice coffee will be in order - gotta keep him happy somehow!

Ok, my goal has been set, now lets see if we can get it done.

Wish me luck....