Thursday, February 5, 2009

The "new" almost done kitchen!




We found these cabinets on Craigslist. They were up in Longmont (almost a 3 hour drive from here). VERY good deal. Some guy had hired a guy to build him cutom cabinets and then the cabinet builder just left and took off 3/4 of the way through the job...sad for the guy who hired him...very happy for us who got such a steal!! Added to that huge blessing is the fact that our home teacher/friend from church is a custom cabinet maker!! He has very graciously helped us to install the cabinets and help us along the way. We still need to stain and seal the cabinet doors and build and then stain and seal the drawer fronts. We also have to refinish the floor (we had to patch in new hardwood floor where the old island was) and remove the popcorn ceiling (since it is only on half of the ceiling now...the old dining room had it but the kitchen did not) and refinish the ceiling. And then there will be a bunch of other smaller finishing touch type of stuff...like cabinet hardware and putting up tile behind the stove and the sink. But we are so happy with it all already! We've almost tripled the amount of cabinet space we had and doubled teh counter space! Opening up the kitchen has made the whole living room/kitchen area feel so much lighter and brighter and more open and welcoming...and so much funner to cook in!! And we have really enjoyed actually being able to sit together at the table for meals (before the kids sat at teh counter and we sat at the table without the leaf...there was no room for the leaf). :)

7 comments:

  1. oh wow, that is awesome you guys. I love remodeling pictures.

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  2. you guys are just too good at doing your own thing! i'm glad, cause it's rubbed off on me over the years-thus my own redo on our home going on right now. you WILL be coming to see it soon. you'll love the room you'll be staying in. i like this brown and leafy background-and the fact that you change it often. seb and elijah do look quite official cooking together. omelets, breakfast-what else do they cook? will they do most of the cooking while i'm there in march? and will you and i be putting our feet up a lot? tell the boys thanks and i'm looking forward to it. i'm excited to see the 'finished' kitchen. it already looks 200% better than the last time i was there. keep it up...i'll be your cheerleader any time you need me.

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  3. H, i think we are worse at keeping in touch! congrats on your new bouncing baby boy!

    No fair on the new kitchen stuff-cool!

    I'd have to say i ask my deep q? so i can feel normal. I love what you wrote. I feel for, kinda, strangers we have too much in common.
    I love that im not alone in the hardest things in life. Holy smokes, you are AMAZING if you are home schooling. I have a hard time helping with home work. (any tips are appreciated) hint hint ;0)

    I too am grateful for blogging. Its bad to say but if i didnt have a blog there are awsome friendships i would miss out on. I think it was made for stay at home moms that never get out. so we dont go mad from being in the house with kids all day. (well all the time)

    It is so nice to see all your darling children. Crazy too!

    Hows my bro? Does he like his new job? How are you liking it?

    Lets keep bloggin!

    c u soon-cute blog btw

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  4. Thanks for the comments!!! :)

    As for homework suggestions ....UGH!! :) Our kids go to a homeschool cottage school program at a local charter school. They attend classes two half days a week. The classes are grammar and pe and art and spanish and music. They bring home grammar homework and I just need to say "ugh" again...UGH!! :) I am all about bribery! :) And just keeping the atmosphere light and fun and encouraging. The other day I felt like both Fiona and I were going to end up in a heap on the floor in tears...I was stuck until I thought of chocolate chips. :) Well, in this case they were peanut butter and white chocolate chips....but they worked. She was all slumped over and bummed until I put a little pile of chips at the top of her worksheet. She perked right up and got to work, no encouragement needed. I told her sometimes kids need special "vitamins" to help their memories along. I've also made special muffins or other special "treats" (almost all of which are made with fresh ground 100% whole wheat..but my kids hardly get white flour so they still think it's a treat!) that they munch on while they do their work. Music sometimes helps. 10 minutes on the trampoline helps. Hot cocoa helps. Back rubs, scalp massage, etc. I so am not the best at helping to get their stuff done, but on the good days, these tricks work great! :) Do you have any to pass on?

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  5. Thanks for posting some pictures! The new kitchen IS so much brighter! I love it! I bet you love being in there a whole lot more now, huh?
    So great you guys do so much of your remodeling. You'll have to take a vacation here to help us when we get around to do doing ours! lol

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  6. Oh my, it is so much nicer to be in!! :)

    I wish we could come and help you guys with remodelling!! I think it's like cleaning...it's sometimes funner to do it at someone else's house. :)

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  7. that looks nice :)
    making it your own by doing so much work is really neat, too. (I think, but I don't have to live in it while it's being redone.)

    that's so fun to see the photos :)

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