Monday, January 13, 2014

Kitchen Reno & Inspiration

As you may or may not know, we are in the process of remodeling the kitchen in our 1820's home. I love a lot of what the kitchen offers.. like the original pantry and lots of natural light.. but because of the choppy lay out there isn't a lot of storage and counter space. That's about to change!


The kitchen was probably my least favorite room in the house when we moved in. The walls were an awful yellow and I think that's what did me in. I couldn't wait to paint over it. There were these totally yuck tiles on the wall behind the sink and they weren't even symmetrical? I don't get what whoever was thinking with these??



 Stefan snapped a picture of me making garlic bread one day.. clearly I got those tiles down pretty quickly. Well.. all but one. It had to stay a bit longer because I may or may not have accidently pulled a chunk of wall out with it!

There was a huge jut-out in the wall above the stove which made the room feel even smaller and the back door was red. All of these things were very minor.. but it just wasn't exactly inviting me to cook dinner seven nights a week. lol!


We've been making small changes to the kitchen in the four months we've been here (can you believe it's been that long already?!) but we are just now starting the major kitchen project.


Here's the things we've done so far:

-Took the tiles off the wall

-Painted the room Steamed Milk by Sherwin Williams

-Hung a wall cabinet by the sink for cups

-Painted the back door White and Contended by Sherwin Williams


-Hung my chalkboard (she'll be moving soon though)

-Hung my "In Christ Alone" sign


-Hung a new chandelier (50 dollars at Goodwill.. brand new!!)


-Removed the jut-out above the stove (old non-working chimney)

-Started to remove the stairway in the kitchen




The last thing was just yesterday. Basically, there's a stairway to the basement in the kitchen. Stefan and his dad built a new stairway in the front of the house so that we can remove the one in the kitchen and gain more kitchen space. I'm so lucky to have such handy men around! The stairs are gone as well as all of the old plaster walls and the wood planks that go behind them. Lol. Next step will be actually removing the wall from the kitchen. My chalkboard is currently on this wall so I'm deciding where it's new home will be.




Since our home is pretty old and we both are very old souls.. we want our kitchen to have a farmhouse feel. Some things I 
know will be included are: farmhouse (apron front) sink, ladder, booth seat, white cabinets, and wood counter tops. Here's the plan I drew up of what  our kitchen and dining room will look like. It is to scale, except we'll have to make minor adjustments after realizing the back wall in the stairwell was not flush with the back wall of the kitchen. We also realized that it may be possible to have an exposed beam. Eeek! That made me pretty happy. I included both rooms because the entry to the kitchen off of the dining will be changing. Right now, you walk in where the booth seat will be.




These pictures have been my inspiration



















Hope you all enjoyed the start of this project with me. I can't wait to share once it's all finished!





6 comments:

  1. I love the style you're going for! I really enjoy reading your blog because I feel like I can relate to you as a teacher to be myself :) It's nice to see another girl being careful about the way she spends her money. I'm also saving money to afford a house in a couple of years and I feel like it's so rare for people my age haha

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    1. Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoy it. That's so exciting that you're kind of doing the same things as me right now! I feel like it is kind of uncommon but if you know what you want and work for it.. you can make it happen! Wishing you the best of luck with school and saving for a house!! :)

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    2. Thanks! I will start subbing next year and I would love to know what it's like from your experience! Like how many hours a week you end up working, how many schools you work for and all that jazz. :)

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  2. Love this! I swear we are so similar in styles! I cannot wait to have my own house to decorate :) Thanks for sharing your remodels with us!

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  3. You live in an 1820’s house? That’s awesome! And it’s a wise move to renovate it to update some of its feature. This will not only solve the problem you’re facing, but also strengthen its structure. How is it now anyway? I hope it’s all done or getting close to being finished.

    David

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  4. I totally get where you're coming from, Hailee. Seeing the photos of the kitchen that inspired your renovation, those yellow walls definitely stray away from your style. I'm glad you took the matter in your own hands and decided to paint over them. I hope you had a lot of fun remodeling your kitchen. Keep us posted with updates. All the best to you! :)

    Essie Reed @ Valley Home Improvement, Inc.

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