Before pictures - finally

So KimboSue has been nagging me about before pictures of my kitchen. So, I finally took a few this weekend. As mentioned in a prior post, my house was built in 1996, which is very obvious when you see the color scheme! We are keeping the cabinets because they are solid oak, custom built on site for my house.


The one other thing that doesn't have to be replaced is my cooktop. We replaced it with a bigger, stainless steel one about 18 months ago.

This is the bar that we have extended with new cabinets built by my dad. The barstools are gone - as is the water dispenser since our new fridge will have water/ice in the door.

Don't you love the wallpaper and diamond tiles? I HATE it but they were stylish in 1996!

We started trying to peel off the wallpaper and it didn't go so well. It was put directly on the sheetrock before so it is stuck REALLY well. We decided to just primer over it and paint it. So, next week had to sand the areaswhere we'd pulled it off. This is how it looked after our attempt at removing.

My dear hubby working on removing backsplash.

Can you believe that big hole? We didn't create it. When we removed the backsplash we saw it near the electrical outlet. Guess the builder missed their mark and left a big hole they just covered with tile!

This is how my kitchen looks right now. The backsplash didn't come off very easily because the builder used sheetrock instead of cement board. We have to do some sheetrock repair this week/weekend before we get the call for the countertops to be installed!

Moving along

We went to Home.Depot last night to finalize payment on our countertops since we've had the official measurement done. While there, I told that they'd only given us $300 off instead of the full 10%, which should have been $420. So, she made an adjustment but she left the $300 discount too! So, we got another $720 off in addition to the free sink and edging. I'm loving this.

We then went through the stressful decision of picking a backsplash. We changed on our mind on what we originally wanted because I was worried with the pourusness (is that even a word) of the stone. I was afraid it would stain in the kitchen. So, we ended up going with a slate/travertine combination. I love it because it has all the colors of our countertops. Before we adhere it to the wall, we will wait until the countertops are installed and just prop them up to make sure we still like it. Here is what we picked:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100669860

We spent almost 2 hours at Home.Depot - way too long for me. The whole time Ethan kept saying "we should go to Low.es"! We bought our new stainless vent hood and new knobs for the cabinets.

We've decided now to put shutters in the breakfast room because I've been wanting that forever. So, now I need to schedule an appoinment for that! It is getting crazy! But, I'm sure the end result is going to be worth it.

Kitchen Remodel to Begin

After putting it off for about 2 years, Charles and I have decided to take the plunge and remodel our kitchen. The house was built in 1996 and it just "screams" that year with the white corian countertops! I've known all along that I wanted to do Sile.stone countertops and a new french door refrigerator. That was about the extent of the decisions. About a year and a half ago, we had to replace our cooktop and went with stainless at that time in preparation for if we ever did the redo.

This past weekend, we bought the new fridge - although it won't be delivered until 7/20!! I want it now!! We ended up getting the titanium instead of stainless because of the cleaning issue. It looks just the same, but hopefully with less fingerprints. And, we got a fantastic deal - all the better!! Here's a link to our new fridge: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_04680066000P?vName=Appliances&cName=Refrigerators&sName=Bottom+Freezers

We also picked out our Sile.stone and made our initial payment. We are SO excited! The color is called "Mountain Mist" and it will look great with our oak cabinets. We aren't changing the cabinets because they are solid oak and were custome made for the house when I built it 13 years ago. The picture doesn't really show it's true colors, but here's a link: http://www.allcountertopsla.com/web---Mountain-Mist.gif

We've decided to take out all the countertops ourself to save a bit of money. Luckily, they are VERY easy to get out. We already tried with the island to see how big a task it would be. It popped right off, which is actually a little scary.

We'll be doing new backsplash and ripping out all the wallpaper to paint. The wallpaper will have to be taken down from the kitche, breakfast room and the little hall to the garage. I think that is going to be the biggest job of all! I will try to take before, progress, and final pictures as we go through the process.