If you follow me on Instagram you already know we’re in the middle of BIG changes in our home. This year we decided it was time to do some of the major up-keep items. The top priority was the roof and siding, which had taken quite a beating from our snowy and rainy seasons. To our delight, there was a bit of the budget leftover that opened up the door to remodeling our very 70’s-style kitchen! I’ve been sharing our adventurous DIY undertaking at #operationnewkitchen.
I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I love serving nourishing, delicious dishes to my family and friends, and I love entertaining, but our existing kitchen was just not very conducive to either. I lovingly called it my little box, because it was pretty closed off to the rest of our home. The chance to do a custom remodel is a huge deal. We’d finally get rid of the awful ORANGE counter tops!
We’ve spent the past 11 years doing everything we could to use our space effectively and make modest changes to the style as the budget allowed. We reached the limit of it’s ability to serve us a little while back.
We took advantage of IKEA‘s 20% off sale this past fall to transform our kitchen to something that was not only functional, but enjoyable to use and look at. I kid you not, we had around 25 updates to our design before we headed to the store to make our purchase. An artist and an engineer make for interesting remodeling plans.
Our new kitchen arrived in many half a garage full of, very flat boxes. Oh IKEA, how I adore a hex-wrench. /sarcasm
We planned to start the work in the new year so that Vince could tie up loose ends for work before diving in to the kitchen. Thanks to a very generous offer of an extra set of hands, we were able to begin on December 26th. Well, actually the first wall got started as I was cooking Christmas dinner! No, we are not patient people.
Step one was demolition. The first to go was my old pantry. It was big and inefficient. So much space, but only a third of it was actually useable.
It was clear that the children and I needed to NOT be in the house. I scrambled and got the kids packed up to head to NJ while Vince and his step-dad got down to business. In a matter of days they had opened up a pass-through facing the front of the house and widened the doorway into the dining room and brought the remaining wall down to a half wall. It was an amazing difference.
By the time I returned with the kids a week later the new walls were built and the first corner of ‘new’ was in! It was beautiful.
We used Sherwin-Williams for our paint choices. Their website made it easy for us to browse the available colors and check for coordinates before we stepped foot in the store. That saved us a lot of time and made the trip into the store with six children much more enjoyable. We choose Tanager (red) for inside the kitchen and Bittersweet Stem (tan/khaki) for the wall that faces the dining room (which is blue).
This was the first time we invested in quality paint instead of buying from Walmart, Lowe’s, or Home Depot. What a difference. The Bittersweet Stem paint was so thick and creamy that we almost thought we’d only use one coat and the red darkened perfectly, without a hint of orange.
Having all the children and I in the house proved to be a deterrent for getting any real work done, so I packed up the younger four and headed back up to NJ while Vince and the older boys stayed behind to get the last of the major work knocked out, including turning off the water. They got to enjoy a week and a half of bachelor meals, aka ‘take-out’, while I got to spend some quality time with my sister and explore some recipes for THM together (chicken cheesesteaks, buffalo lettuce wraps, cannoli cream, to name a few).
This time when I returned home the new floor had been laid, all of the new cabinets were installed, and the counter tops and new sink were in!
Now my task is to move back in. I’m busy trying to find a good place to put everything away. Everything is so clean, bright, and uncluttered and I don’t want to ruin it!
We’re not quite done. The back splash is being installed and the lighting will be run soon. I’ll share the rest in the next update post!
It must be such a blast to do your own remodeling. It’s so much more fun than just hiring a construction company to do it, but then again some people are too lazy to do what you and your family are doing. God bless you and your family.
Wow! What a difference! My husband and I are trying to buy a house that was foreclosed upon – if (and that’s a major if) we get it for a good price, we’re going to have a lot of DIYing to do! Your result makes me really excited., I looove that red colour, too!
looks great! so looking forward to the day where i have a home of my own and i can renovate it to my liking. for now, its linoleum floors and beige walls of a rental!
So exciting! I love a remodel and because budget hasn’t really allowed it lately, when we moved into our home now, I tackled most surfaces with paint because that’s all we could afford. It still makes quite an impact BUT oh, how I dream of a real remodel. And I’m such a dork that those flat IKEA boxes make me giddy. I love a puzzle and they’re just fun for me…of course, I’ve never had to build a kitchen 😉
I love white cabinets with dark counters! And those red walls!! Nice! I love remodeling and find it gives me a wonderful feeling. It’s empowering to tear a wall down in order to create a better way, space and feel. I think kitchen remodels are my favorite room but demo is my favorite! !! 😉
~Honey
#BB100
Looks great! I cannot wait to try some new color in our kitchen. It is so hard to decide on a color sometimes.
Going red was bold for us, but I LOVE it. Sherwin Williams was great to work with, too.