[stacylu]

Our kitchen on inspection day (before move-in)







and our goal...

[stacylu]

In process...



After weekend one progress - and this weekend we had major wind storms and were without power for about 9 hrs on Saturday. Side note, when I bought the house I was single and bought an over-the-stove microwave thinking I'd swindle my then-boyfriend to install it... Although the cabinets were much too low to install them. So for 2.5 years, my over-the-stove microwave set on the counter propped up on styrofoam. I am still in shock at the fact that it's actually installed now!

[dede4wd]

LOL Stacy!

I know what you mean about the microwave! I'm still scared to take the "protective film" off my appliances now that cabs are installed! I've spent a year replacing appliances one at a time, so I haven't removed the packaging film.

Looks GREAT so far, is that Adel Med Brown? You guys measured PERFECTLY for the trim up top! I'm still fighting that, I may have to plane a little bit! What are you doing for counters/paint colors? Backsplash? SO excited to see what you accomplish NEXT weekend!

[stacylu]

Thanks Dede! DH installed the upper cabinets between the window and the sliding glass door for Valentines day for me My favorite kind of present... better than flowers any day

We were out of town last weekend, currently are out of town and DH had lasik today which means all home improvement projects are on hold for at least 2 weeks so his eyes can heal properly...

Anyway, yes, they're Adel Medium Brown and at this point we have all handles and trim finished on what's installed. DH is a bit obsessive about his cuts so his work is beyond precise. I'm patient with it because I know the results will be fabulous.

The paint is all a beige (Behr Haze) as a lot of the walls will be tiled but we really can't decide on flooring and counter/backsplash. We have 2 labs so we need durable floors and I want it to continue from the kitchen all through the family room so I'd like hardwood/laminate but have yet to find one that hides enough dirt, is durable and not too dark. I'm busy researching counters and have really fallen forSilestone and I have no idea on backspashes. I really love neutrals, mainly because there was so much color in the house when I moved in that we've slowly changed (and are still changing) back to neutral. Paint is cheap and I love colored walls...but I prefer beige with lots of accents

We're currently also remodeling our guest bathroom and once his eyes have healed we're going to focus on finishing that up before continuing with the kitchen. So it's going to be a long few months but the current status is livable and I'm thrilled with how much space we have!

[dede4wd]

Wow, you guys should find a few more things to do with your time because you don't sound really busy! I love Silestone too, but budget can't afford it! I did find a couple of hunks of granite I can afford, but I have to save up for an installer (and plywood, and...)

[stacylu]

I'm not sure that our budget can afford silestone unless I get a few big bonuses... But I really love it... So here's what we have done as of Valentine's day.



Trim and handles installed on the original stuff we installed





And the new section, between the window and sliding glass door.




That's all the cabinets we've bought so far - and now we're doing eye recovery, then the guest bath... we bought our under cabinet lighting last weekend and are trying to figure out the best way to wire that in...

[dede4wd]

Looks amazing Stacy! I LOVE the handles, they look so nice! Trim looks great! What kind of under cabinet lights did you get? I haven't decided what to use and how to do it, so make sure you document it! I have 3 different areas on 2 walls that need under cabinet lighting, so I don't know what to do! Tell DH I hope his eyes get better!

DeDe

[GardenOfDarwin]

Stacy -- how did I miss this before??? You and your DH have done a fabulous job! It really looks great. Hope he recovers well!

Susan

[stacylu]

We bought the hockey puck shaped lights from Lowes over the weekend... kind of a spur of the moment thing. Since theback wall is still openedup on the other side till we put the shower walls up, we can easily wire in the lights now. Each has 3 lights on it... we have 4 sections on 3 walls plus a glass cabinet. The furthest apart the lights will be is 18" in the 54" runs of cabinets (2 of those plus inside the glass span) The others will be 12" apart (the 36" cabinet) and 16" for the 48" cabinet span. We're still debating if we'll have them all on one switch with a dimmer or have individual controls on each. We're also thinking of moving all the outlets up and under the cabinets and using plugmold... which would let us not have to break up the backsplash - whatever that ends up being



Dede and Susan - Thank you for your nice words. I couldn't be more pleased and DH is having a lot of fun with the project. It's going to be a long road but it's already so worth the pain...

[dede4wd]

Stacy,

Love the flower!

Sounds like you got some nice lights. I'm in the same boat, should I go "fishing" again and wire all 3 sets of my wall cabinet lights together, or individually. I can't help you with the plugmold thing because I'm not too bright and have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm sure it will turn up pretty with your great ideas and how fastidious you husband is!

After you pick a backsplash, pick mine! I'm boring and going for stainless!

Good luck!

DeDe