While We Were Out

We bought a fifty year old house about seven years ago in what was once a small valley town. The town has grown and so has our house! One of the last projects that needed to be accomplished was the kitchen. So, for the past couple of months we have been working along side our neighbor who also happens to be a good friend and our contractor.
I thought I would share with you some of the before and after pics.
While we were in LA, our contractor put in the floor and the appliances and finished up the painting so that we came home to a kitchen ready to move into.
Moving everything out of my room and back into the kitchen is this weeks job!

The picture above shows the wall into the living room. That wall came partially down.

This is our dining area right off of the kitchen.

This is the view from the other side of the kitchen along the wall that will be open to the living room. The first picture is missing the refrig, in case you are wondering.

A closer view. We had cut out a cabinet to put in a dishwasher but the dishwasher did not fit underneath the counter and we had gaping holes on either side of it. We did have doors on the cabinets...this picture was taken right before destruction time.



So...here is what it looks like now!

We opened up the wall into the living room and put in a bar.
Notice that the dishwasher actually fits into it's spot.
Because we lost that wall we had to reorganize things a bit. The refrig found a new home over in the far corner. And, we are all thrilled that our icemaker and water spout actually work....it really is the simple things in life!

This is the newly remodeled dining area. We put a bench across the back wall to give us more room. The floor is slate...most of the house is either slate or original wood.
The trim still needs to be painted.

Here is the view from the doorway on the other side of the kitchen.

The countertops are concrete and made by our contractor. His wife, who is one of those close friends in my life, helped me pick out the colors and found the glass tile for the backsplash. I never thought I could have had something so fun but the Lord worked out many details for us and helped us find some real bargins. One family even donated the slate for the flooring. Everything came together so well and now the fun begins...organizing the cabinets!

We did a "move that bus" moment when we got home Sunday night. I can't tell you how amazed and overwhelmed I was by how beautiful the kitchen looked. A part of me was sad that Eric was not there to enjoy this moment. But, another part of me was proud of my accomplishment. This was a kitchen that I designed and that I was able to see to completion. There were a lot of decisions to make and a lot of chores I took upon myself to do.
The finished product has been worth the effort.

I will always be grateful to Eric for providing this kitchen for me. I also have a few other people that must be mentioned....Don, my "second" dad who is helping me with my financial stuff. Kendra who took many a night away from her family to paint my cabinets. Dustin and Michelle, my next door neighbors who also happen to be my contractor and close friend...Dustin has done more than what is in the contract and Michelle has been ever so helpful in putting it all together. Thank you just does not seem to be enough. But, they all know that there is a delicious meal awaiting them in the future created in our new kitchen!
~Heather