Monday, September 27, 2010

The Kitchen Beginnings

The kitchen is coming along!!!  And I was quickly reminded why I'm not a "projects person".  BUT, before we get into that, let's see some more before photos of this "rigged" kitchen.

During my path of destruction around the kitchen, I also noticed this horrible molding hanging from the cabinets.  Other than holding grime and dirt, it's only function was to hide the under-cabinet florescent lighting.  Which was "rigged" and cords were hanging all over the place.

(Why this didn't bother me before now is completely shocking to me.  The only reason I could come up with would be that when we moved in I was pregnant (with Lillian) and wasn't all there, and then I guess I just got used to looking at it for so long I didn't "see" it anymore!)




Here's another place the previous owners "rigged" some lighting.  There are cords hanging all over the place above the cabinets.

So, we will be figuring out new lighting.  Especially under the cabinets.  But it'll probably be florescent lighting that doesn't need to be hidden.  Decorative florescent lighting, if you will.




Here's the opposite wall of the kitchen.  Hello, welcome to my world.  Yes, I put random things on top of shelves...we're pressed for room in this house!  I keep telling you I'm not perfect! Ha!




Saturday morning, I started taking cabinets off the hinges and hardware.  Yes, all 20 doors and 7 drawer faces.  (But we only have 5 drawers...I told you we're pressed for space!

And this was how we ate breakfast! Watching Robert staple gun things back into place.  Oh, and I threw away that toaster up top.  I guess if I haven't used it in a year or so, I probably won't use it again!  And maybe I can score a new toaster oven out of this project.  We'll see!



THEN, Robert gets all crazy and construction-man-like and decides to rip out the windows in the kitchen too.  Yeah..that wasn't in my plan, but something that NEEDED to be done!

The kitchen is in shambles at this point.  Not fun when there are 4 kids running around pulling things out of shelves!  AHHHH!!  Add in chainsaws and it's TOTAL CHAOS!




The cabinet doors and the bases were primed only on Saturday.  BUT, 2 windows were completely torn out! :-)


So day one was, how shall I say it, not the most "marriage building" of days, but we got through it unscathed.  :-)



Onto the fun part...PAINTING.  {insert Robert groaning}

We actually DID work as a team on this.  And he didn't get onto me too much about my bad painting.




Landon was actually a HUGE help.  And wanted to help.  Loved seeing his servant's heart come out!




Rhodes was toddling around while we were getting set up and he started walking with a leaf on his (left) foot.








So he tried to wave it off.  It was kinda funny.  He stood up and went back down twice to try and get it off.  Then just pulled it off with his hands.








The boys played around in the rain for a minute.  The girls stayed dry in the playroom watching "Annie". 




See....I'm painting!  I'm really doing it!




Unfortunately, it was SUPER humid so the cabinets took long to dry.  Hopefully, only one more day with a cabinet-less kitchen!





On the paint choice.  Let's just say I was more told, than got to choose.  Robert likes this Dove White Semi Gloss paint.  It's like $60 a gallon ($60.19 to be exact), and it's super tough.

Since we were basically working with "fake wood" that was underneath the vinyl-ish stuff, there weren't too many options for paint.  We just needed it all to STICK to the cabinets.  Plus, we can't go too crazy in the kitchen because in this area and home prices, etc....we would not get our money back if we went all out.  So we are doing the best we can with the house and area we are in.

But it doesn't rule out glazes.  We may or may not experiment with them.  We need to see how these cabinets turn out first.  There's absolutely no doubt that a fresh coat of paint in the kitchen will do it wonders.

We are also wanting to change out the lighting to two matching lights.  But one step at a time.  So far we've spent less than $100 (primer was $25), but we have so much leftovers, it's sure to go to more projects.  For Robert's business at least!

Another good thing about ripping off all the cabinets in your kitchen is it kinda forces you to go through your cabinets.  You see things and realize they're expired, or you have a better place for it which then frees up more space for other things!

Now, am I going to color code and line up cups smallest to biggest in my cabinets?

NO.  I'm not that OCD.  But it was nice to throw some stuff out!

Hopefully I can post "afters" soon!!!

7 comments:

  1. Don't you love being able to throw things out?! With 3 kids (almost 4) I feel like I'm only bringing stuff in! I love being able to organize things...we are pressed for space too! You will feel so much better after your kitchen project is done. Glad to see we're not the only people who redo rooms with kids all running around. We just redid all the kids room and had furniture, clothes, and toys EVERYWHERE!

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  2. I am SO excited for y'all!!!! Way to go! That is scary - but so rewarding. I can't wait to see the finished kitchen!

    You probably already have done this, but since you're re-organizing - a while back I moved all the children's plastic cups, plates, and bowls to a base cabinet and put them all in a basket so the kids can get their own cup and root through to find just what they want and if it's left a chaotic mess, it's fine. It has made life SO MUCH EASIER! Just a thought. :)

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  3. Looks like fun! I know it is a pain, but it will be so nice when it is done! See you at Target this week (or the mall)! :)

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  4. i love it!!!! way to go on getting that done this weekend. i'm proud of you! and i'm glad i'm not the only one with random things stuck on top of cabinets and the fridge. i'm like you, i get so used to seeing an eye sore that eventually i forget about it. i just feel bad for those who come over and think i put it there b/c i liked it. i may not be a decorator, i just don't care with the kids being the age they are. it's most likely there so they will leave it alone or were fighting over it.

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  5. Can't wait to see how it looks!

    Sweet baby trying to get that leaf off his foot...so cute!

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  6. Can't wait to see the final results! You're making ME want to take all my cabinet doors off and repaint! And reorganize, too.

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  7. I'm ready to see the finished product! Get on it woman...it's not like you have 4 kids or something :)
    CAN.NOT.WAIT to see you in 4 weeks!!!

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