October 14, 2016

Our Kitchen Remodel

Remember this kitchen? If you don't, I don't blame you, because I barely remember it. 
This is how our kitchen looked right before we moved into our house, three years ago. 
We always hated the floors and got them replaced about a year after moving in, which not only took forever, but it was also extremely dusty and inconvenient, since we weren't able to use our kitchen for two months. On the bright side, back then, Fox was only six months old and it was easy to feed him in the playroom and our bedroom (the two rooms we were confined in for those two months). 

ANYWAY, Katie always talked about remodeling the kitchen, but like many great ideas we talk about, I didn't think it would ever happen. I actually liked our kitchen a lot, it was one of the main selling points when we bought the house. Katie on the other hand, hated it and thought it was too small (which I agree). And on top of that, it was falling apart.
So one day in the Spring, we sat down with the contractor who had done our floors to discuss kitchen plans. He also is one of our clients at work and we know that he does great work (he was voted Contractor of the Year two years in a row) and that we could trust him. 

I wasn't too thrilled about not having a kitchen for several months and although our contractor told us, it would be done in 5 weeks, I was very skeptical, because he went over the timeline with our last project as well and I guess that's just what happens with every remodeling project. 

Anyone who ever comes to our house and comments on our style, I always have to give all credit to Katie and this project was no different. While I had my own opinions and ideas, I was so glad to have Katie on my side to make the decisions I couldn't make and while we are very different, we mostly always have the same style when it comes to our house and are great at compromising. 
Katie can envision what I can't see and she can also make bold choices (hello backsplash) when I'm too scared to get out of my comfort zone. 

Our project started on June 28th and I took one last "Before" picture before the crew came in to demolish our lovely IKEA kitchen. 

Day 1 - not much progress

Day 2

Day 3...walls are coming down!
Day 5 - All we had to show for the day was a big hole (future home of our down draft). Katie had the idea for all of us to draw our hands into the concrete so that we would always be a part of this house. She was very specific that it be where the future cooktop would be since that is the area where she is the most. She sat there that night with a black sharpie and her and Fox traced their hands into the floors, they even included Cosie's paw print. 

I posted this picture on Facebook, on July 18th, with the following comment:
Day 14 (those are considered working days) and it still looks a lot like week 1. All the walls are back up and the electrical has been finished. As of today, we also don't have a giant hole in the ground anymore. Can't wait to get cabinets tomorrow...we are only two weeks behind so far!
I remember being very concerned about the timeline and that after three weeks, we were already two weeks behind.  They kept reassuring us that they would finish by the deadline (End of July/Beginning of August), but I was very skeptical.
We had set up a make shift kitchen in our guest room, with Fox's little table and chairs, a microwave and toaster oven. We also had an extra fridge in the garage. It was hard, you guys. Feeding this picky eater of ours was hard enough as it is, but not having a stove made it even worse. Combine this with his newly discovered allergies and it turned into a nightmare. I needed to get this kitchen done, but it didn't look like there was an end at sight. 

And here is my picture and update a day later:
Day 15: Good news - we have some cabinets! Bad news - most of them came damaged and need to be replaced!

After we received the cabinets, not much was happening for weeks.
I can't even recall all the problems we encountered during our remodel, it seemed like every day, there was another roadblock. The wrong backsplash was ordered, the countertop didn't fit and we had to order 2 side cabinets to make the countertop fit, our fridge didn't fit and had to be returned. The new fridge still didn't fit and the cabinet space had to be adjusted. Cabinets were delivered scratched or damaged. Workers didn't show up for days on end. 

I don't want to bore you with all the details and frustrations of these weeks, so let's fast forward to Week 10, which was five weeks after the promised finish date. 
We had a countertop...wohoo! Still no stove, but hey...we took it!


Sometime in between, the interior got painted. We went from 2 shades of grey to another two shades of grey. What can I say? We like grey, if you haven't noticed yet. 

So here we are, mid October, and the kitchen is FINALLY done, only 2.5 months past deadline. Say what?
So, let's remember this little gem for one more moment, shall we?

And here is the Masterpiece! 
The island seats six people and we actually have chairs as well, but the photographer that our contractor hired for these pictures, didn't want them in the pictures. Our contractor had these pictures taken for his submission for the Contractor of the Year Award and we hope he wins again!


He also took off pretty much everything that was on the counters, we have it decorated for Fall/Halloween, so totally understandable that the pumpkins had to go (at least for the picture).


The chandelier is my absolute favorite of the kitchen!


I'm also in love with the sink, although doing dishes hasn't become any more fun...ha!

Built in Microwave

Double Ovens, we shall see how many times a year we actually need two ovens. :)


Love the backsplash

They also took some pictures of our hallway and entry way, since they did the wainscoting two years ago when we had the floors done and they never took pictures of it. 


This is also from the remodel two years ago, but again, they didn't take a picture back then.

Another one of my favorites, a window seat. 

I really love how the kitchen turned out and while we had some issues and roadblocks along the way, we know that our contractor did a fantastic job and will fix any issues down the road should they arise (we had some scratches on our two year old wainscoting and a damaged baseboard and he fixed it for free).

I can't believe the transformation this room has made in the last two years. This is our forever home and we are so excited that we were able to make it perfect for our family. 

4 comments:

  1. WOW!!! I don't think I have any other words than that.
    Your kitchen(and house in general) is beautiful.

    Our apartment is probably the size of your kitchen alone ;-)

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  2. Holy Sh*t - your kitchen looks magnificent!!!! Who cares about a deadline when in the end you get this?! Congratulations!

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  3. I know it can take several weeks or months to remodel a kitchen, but it was worth the wait because your kitchen looks amazing. You would never know the before and after pictures are the same kitchen. I think grey is a great choice because you can pair it with several colors. The chandelier definitely adds an elegant touch to your kitchen.

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  4. I think your contractor did a great job on remodeling your kitchen. I do not blame you for being skeptical about the timeline, but falling behind seems to be the trend with most remodeling projects. We fell behind when remodeling our bathroom, but the new look was definitely worth the wait. Your new kitchen looks amazing. I would never know it was the same house from the before and after pictures.

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