Ok, so putting this out there for the universe: I am officially dedicating 1 hour each day to working on this blog. This is like one of those support groups where you SAY it, and then because you've actually told people, you'll follow through. Right?!?
If you follow me on Instagram, you've noticed that we've been renovating our Kitchen for quite some time. Not to sound like one of those crime shows, but imagine a "dun dun" and then THIS IS THE STORY OF OUR KITCHEN.
4 years ago we bought this house. Scroll back through to this post and see how truly disgusting it was when we bought it. I mean... YUCK. But it had good bones!!! lol..
Because we were on a major time crunch with renovation, I was planning on reusing some of those existing cabinets and just painting them to get by until I could spend some time designing the kitchen of my dreams. On day 5 of the renovation, my father in law was removing those old cabinets from the kitchen only to find out that they were not salvageable. They were water logged from burst pipes, and the person who installed them did so with about 30,000 brad nails.
On that day, I walked in from a Home Depot trip when my lovely husband looked at me and said "We need a kitchen in 3 weeks. Go down to the Kitchen Design Center right now and pick out a new kitchen." I took the dimensions and walked my stunned butt down to the Center.
4 hours later I had ordered an entirely new kitchen.
Let me clue you into this: All of this happened BEFORE Pinterest was a thing. And so I did what any good woman would do and I picked out a cookie cutter kitchen of cream cabinets and a dark island and called it a day. 3 weeks later, my cabinets were delivered and installed and I was left with this:
Pretty, right?
It's a classic kitchen for a family of 4. I loved that there was seating around that Island, the backsplash was TO DIE FOR, and I loved the storage options.
In theory.
We lived in this gorgeous kitchen for 4 years. I will admit that it's lovely. A showstopper. But somehow, it just wasn't jiving with me.
It was on about year 3 where I noticed a few things:
1.. I had empty cabinets. What, you say? Empty cabinets. I am not a hoarder. I do not own multiple copies of any one thing, and so I had empty cabinets.
If you follow me on Instagram, you've noticed that we've been renovating our Kitchen for quite some time. Not to sound like one of those crime shows, but imagine a "dun dun" and then THIS IS THE STORY OF OUR KITCHEN.
4 years ago we bought this house. Scroll back through to this post and see how truly disgusting it was when we bought it. I mean... YUCK. But it had good bones!!! lol..
Because we were on a major time crunch with renovation, I was planning on reusing some of those existing cabinets and just painting them to get by until I could spend some time designing the kitchen of my dreams. On day 5 of the renovation, my father in law was removing those old cabinets from the kitchen only to find out that they were not salvageable. They were water logged from burst pipes, and the person who installed them did so with about 30,000 brad nails.
On that day, I walked in from a Home Depot trip when my lovely husband looked at me and said "We need a kitchen in 3 weeks. Go down to the Kitchen Design Center right now and pick out a new kitchen." I took the dimensions and walked my stunned butt down to the Center.
4 hours later I had ordered an entirely new kitchen.
Let me clue you into this: All of this happened BEFORE Pinterest was a thing. And so I did what any good woman would do and I picked out a cookie cutter kitchen of cream cabinets and a dark island and called it a day. 3 weeks later, my cabinets were delivered and installed and I was left with this:
Pretty, right?
It's a classic kitchen for a family of 4. I loved that there was seating around that Island, the backsplash was TO DIE FOR, and I loved the storage options.
In theory.
We lived in this gorgeous kitchen for 4 years. I will admit that it's lovely. A showstopper. But somehow, it just wasn't jiving with me.
It was on about year 3 where I noticed a few things:
1.. I had empty cabinets. What, you say? Empty cabinets. I am not a hoarder. I do not own multiple copies of any one thing, and so I had empty cabinets.
2. No one ever used our dining room. Like, EVER. Everyone always crammed around this island with it's 4 little seats. Did I mention that my husband is one of 4 kids? Sunday dinners usually end up to be about 15 people. Minimum. 15 Polish people gathered around this island while I was trying to navigate the oven. Good times.
3. I literally never ever EVER used that Island to prepare food. I have a thing about preparing food on the same surface on which I am going to eat it. That big granite island was a gorgeous spot for buffet style dining and wrapping gifts.
4. The island was too big. In theory, ON PAPER, this island was perfect. Any woman would love that, right? But, sadly, NO. In this space, it needed to be a smidge smaller to accommodate people in the kitchen at the same time. If someone was sitting in that black stool, you couldn't get in to the refrigerator. It became frustrating for me.
5. The ceilings in our kitchen are just a little over 6.5 feet tall. You read that correctly. Short ceilings in the 200 year old house. The upper cabinetry always made it feel more like a coffin to me.
So, upon percolating and really evaluating our family and our needs, I decided - much to my husbands chagrin - that I would renovate a portion of our newly renovated kitchen. The plan was to remove the upper cabinets and free up the visual space. Most of them were empty anyway, so it really wasn't much of a hassle. Then, the island would be removed and replaced with - GASP - a longer, skinnier kitchen table that could accommodate our enormous extended family at a moment's notice.
That was the plan.
We removed the uppers in a morning and after a day and a half, and one almost divorce later, we were left with this:
We left the backsplash as is and simply planked the remaining walls with 1/4" underlayment that we ripped down to 6" planks. The worst part of this project was painting it! At this point, I knew I was on the right track with this kitchen. It instantly felt more open and bigger.
The first project I wanted to complete before I tackled that Island was a little bit of open storage. I didn't want to cram a ton of open shelves into my newly breathable space, so I opted to fill one corner with shelving. This shelving was super simple to assemble using basic wood pieces and 5/8" all thread. I will have to create another post on how awesome and durable all thread is for shelving. Also - it's ridiculously cheap!
So, with all of that in the past, I was left with the Island removal. Honestly, this is the part of the project that received the most angst and disagreement from my better half. He was nervous about the removal of the island, how we would move it, and if we would regret the decision in the end. Many heated discussions and some Photoshopping later, I was fortunate enough to find (on Craigslist) a family who was building a home and needed a new island. They hired their own movers and after about 90 minutes of work, I was left with no Kitchen Island. It was a win-win for us because my husband didn't have to do it, and I was left with a little bit of cash to pay for the new fixtures I wanted for my renovation! Yay!!
So that is the story! The after pics are all that's left. :)
Just to give a little comparison from the day we purchased the house to today:
Pretty great, right?
So after all of this beautiful work, I'm left with a solution to all of the problems listed first. Instead of empty cabinets, I have gorgeous artwork and useful shelving. We have only the things that we use, and the best part is that all of those things are pretty! Our kitchen no longer feels like a coffin to me - the ceiling feels a million feet higher. We eliminated our dining room altogether and opted for this beautiful table that can extend to a glorious 108" to accommodate our family. It's also skinnier and so there is a lot more breathing room in this kitchen.
When I walk into my home, I want to breathe a huge sigh of "love this house". And now, when I come home each day into this kitchen, I do.
I hope you'll stay with me as I make the rest of our home match this room. ;)
~~Jessica
COMMENTS:
I have commenting turned off for this blog, but I would love for you to venture into my Instagram (@polishthenest) to catch up with and chat with me there!! XOXO
COMMENTS:
I have commenting turned off for this blog, but I would love for you to venture into my Instagram (@polishthenest) to catch up with and chat with me there!! XOXO
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