Kitchen Reveal Finally!!!

I really never thought this day would come, but I can finally say we are finished with the kitchen.  It has been a long journey (8 months) and we still have lots of work to do in the rest of the house.  But let's focus on what is finished, ok?

I know my before photos are not the best, but my wide angle lens was broken at the time.  Plus it was so dark in there it was hard to get a decent shot.  I hardly even remember my kitchen looking like this.  Can't say I miss it.

Before:

This is what I get to enjoy now.

After:

 

 

Budget:
I know I have never mentioned our budget for the kitchen remodel.  To be honest we had a number in our heads that we didn't want to go over ($10,000), but we really wanted to keep it as low as we could.  I think we might have been a tad bit optimistic. : ) Since the project was spread out over a long period of time (8 months),  it was easier for us to pay for things as we went along too. We have been saving for this remodel for several years now though.  We didn't borrow any money or create any debt doing the remodel.  Here's a breakdown of what we spent on the major stuff:

Contractor: $3786 (We had him for 2 weeks)
Caesarstone Countertops: $2100
Butcherblock Countertop: $320
Backsplash: $675
Oven, Dishwasher, and Microwave: $1798.20
Hood and Cabinet Hardware: $560.90
Flooring: $1700 (We bought enough for the kitchen and adjoining room)
Sink and Faucet: $546.91
Coffee Maker and Toaster Oven: $160
Track Lighting: $236

Total:  $11,883.01

As you can see we went over budget and this list isn't even including all of those little things that add up really quickly like wood, paint, and waterlox.   So we probably spent more like $13,000 total if I had to guess.  Considering we completely gutted our kitchen, I don't think that is too bad. 

Wondering where we got something?  See my source list below.

Source List:
Countertops:  Caesarstone in Pebble honed (We used Granite Direct in Nashville)
Butcherblock Countertop: Cabinets To Go
Marble Tile Backsplash:  The Tile Shop
36 inch Range Hood: Overstock
Frigidaire 30" Wall Oven: AJ Madison
Frigidaire Microwave: AJ Madison
Frigidaire Dishwasher: AJ Madison
Swiftlock Flooring in Chestnut Hickory: Lowes
Cup Cabinet Pulls : Overstock
Cabinet Knobs: Overstock
Kraus 30 inch Farmhouse Apron Sink: Amazon 
Kraus Single Lever Faucet:  Amazon
Red Cuisinart Coffee Maker: Amazon
Cuisinart Toaster Oven: Amazon
Utensil Holder, Fruit Bowl, Rugs and Dishtowels: Target
Track Lighting: Lowes
Wall Paint- Behr's Jamaica Bay: Home Depot
Cabinet and Trim Paint- Alabaster :Sherwin Williams

Ceiling tile mirror: Made by my dad.

Island: My husband made the island based on Ana White's plans.  The top is a salvaged piece of mahagony from my grandparent's house.  He did not stain it at all, so that is the natural color of the wood.  I love how it turned out.

Bar stools:  We already had the bar stools. I plan on recovering them using this fabric.  I used the same type of fabric when I recovered my chairs and they have held up great.

Refrigerator:  We kept our existing fridge. 
Cooktop:  We kept our existing cooktop.  We hope to replace it at some point.

Cabinets:  My husband built all the cabinets along the refrigerator wall.  We were able to keep our existing pantry and the drawers underneath.  Our contractor built all the cabinets on the sink side of the kitchen.  He also made all of the doors.  My husband made all the drawer fronts and installed all the hardware.  I don't have an exact amount, but I would say that we spent around $3000 for all of the cabinets.  So we saved lots of money making them ourselves. 

I just want to say thank you to everyone that provided me with moral support over the last several months.  Your sweet comments really kept me sane on many, many occasions. 

You can find all of my kitchen posts here.

Now we can move on to the next room.

Kitchen Update- So, So Close

I am SO close to being able to post an official kitchen reveal.  I still need to put some pictures on the wall and cover the cushions on the bar stools, but I thought I would show you a few things that are finally finished.

The butcherblock countertop is sealed and installed.  Mitch sealed it with waterlox, so he had to wait for the temperature and humidity to be just right.  He ran into some problems, so of course it took much longer than we thought it would.

He also put new faces on the existing drawers so that they matched everything else.

He also built us an island after we determined that there really was not enough space for a table and 4 chairs in this space.  He used an old piece of mahogany for the top that my dad salvaged from my grandparents house.  It is a beautiful piece of wood and I was excited that we could put it to good use. Thanks Dad!!  He spent more time sanding the piece wood than he did building the entire island, but I think it was worth the hard work.

I am hoping to show you everything next week even if it isn't quite perfect.  I also need to show you a picture of the room we are tackling next.  Ugh.  

Kitchen Update- Bells & Whistles

We were gone a good portion of the week last week, so no major progress on the kitchen.  We are checking off little items though.  Mitch has all the cabinets door and hardware installed on this side of the room.

We had to do some touch up painting on the top doors, so there is no hardware yet.  The bottom doors and drawers are finished.  You can see we pulled out the butcherblock so that we can stain and seal it. You can also kind of see if you look in the right hand corner that Mitch installed the quarter round around the baseboards and under the cabinets.  So the floor looks more finished now.

I wanted to show some of the fun organizational stuff that Mitch has installed.  We have a pullout trash can and recycle bin.

A place for our pots and pans underneath the stove top.

More pull out storage under the oven.

One final pull out drawer to fit random appliances.  I still haven't completely organized everything. I need to do that.  I guess I can add that to my list. 

Here's the butcherblock with 2 coats of stain.  We decided to go with a more natural color since the floors are so dark. I love being able to see all the varying colors of wood.

Mitch stained the ledge for the opening the same color, but it didn't look right.  So he sanded it down and restained it.  I need to get a photo of it with the new stain.  We went with a darker color for this piece.

We still need to touch up wall and ceiling paint, install the trim,  seal and install the ledge and butcherblock.  Then paint all the trim and caulk around the countertop.  Oh, and install the remaining hardware.  I am SO ready to be done with the kitchen.  Then we get to move on to the living rooms.  Woohoo!!! 

We Have a Hood

Our contractor wasn't able to make it out last week to install the hood and put up the trim.

Mitch spent most of the weekend installing the hood.  There were so many little things that had to be done to get it all ready that it took him longer than expected.  I guess that's just the way it always works.  The fireplace was cleaned and sealed.  Mitch got most of the doors installed and has been working on putting on pulls and knobs.  I was hoping to have more accomplished after this weekend, but what do you do? The installation of the hood was the last major thing that needed to happen in the kitchen.   So at least we don't have anything else big to do.  I will be excited once the trim and ledge on the opening are finished and everything is caulked.  It will finally look finished. 

Kitchen Update- Tile and Paint

We had a busy weekend working on the kitchen, but made some pretty good progress.  I say that every week don't I?

I primed and put a couple of coats on one side of all the cabinet doors.  I also put another 2 coats of paint on the base cabinets.

We sanded the drywall, then primed.   Mitch painted the ceiling.   Then we painted the walls.  You can see the crazy color that we finally choose.  It is a little out of my comfort zone, but it is growing on me.  We also installed 2 light fixtures, which gives us so much more light.  I forgot to take a photo,  but I will post some next time I do a kitchen update.

Then Sunday was spent tiling the backsplash.  I tried to help, but this was really a one man job.

 

 

Here it is all finished.  Well, mostly finished. We still need to grout. 

 

 

 

It's marble and I love it.

 

The hood will cover this space once it is installed.

I have walked into my kitchen at least 50 times just to stare at it.  Harper walked in this morning and said, "This is not our kitchen."   I take that as a good sign. 

Hopefully we will get the tile grouted this week.  Mitch needs to decide if he is going to install the hood or have our contractor come back.  Then we need to put up trim and quarter round, stain and seal the butcherblock, and install a piece of wood for the pass through.   Oh, and finish painting the other side of all the cabinet doors.  Then we can tackle the other room.  We have a mason coming this week to take down the brick facade, so I am sure I will have more photos to share.

A Functioning Sink

Mitch installed the faucet Monday night, but we had to wait 24 hours before we could use it.  I washed my first batch of dishes in it last night.  It works much better than washing dishes in the bathtub. 

 

The dishwasher still needs to be properly hooked up.  It is leaking where the discharge pipe connects with the garbage disposal.  Mitch should have time to fix it this weekend.

I really want to get rid of the drying rack.  I don't want the countertop cluttered with stuff,  but function might win this battle.  I am intrigued by the over the sink collapsible drying racks.  Anyone have a drying rack they love?

We Have Countertops

The countertops were installed today.  In case you missed it, we chose Caesarstone in Pebble. I was so nervous that something was going to go wrong or that they would not turn out the way I envisioned them, but they are perfect.  

We have to wait 24 hours before the faucet can be hooked up so I still don't have a sink or dishwasher, but at least I have countertops!!

There is way too much gray and silver in the room so we are definitely going to have to pick a different wall color.  I am thinking robin's egg blue.  I am still trying to convince Mitch. What do you think?

I keep walking into the kitchen so that I can stare at my countertops.

We are one step closer to a functioning kitchen.

Painting and Drywalling

Last week was a very productive week.  I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  We still have lots of work to do, but the countertops are going in today.  So hopefully (fingers crossed) I will have a useable kitchen by the end of the day.  I will share photos of my new countertop tomorrow.

Here's some progress photos from the week.

The paneling was removed from the room adjoining the kitchen.

 

 

The next day Mitch and our contractor drywalled the room.   Ahhh, much better.

 

 

When Mitch took the molding off around the fireplace, we discovered that the fireplace is pulling away from the wall.  Nice, huh?  We have a mason coming out on Friday to look at it and tell us what he thinks we should do.  More than likely it is going to have to come down.

 

 

Our contractor made all the doors for our cabinets last week.  Mitch sanded them and I put a coat of primer on them . 

 

It's starting to look like a real kitchen.

 

I primed and put one coat of paint on these cabinets.  Our contractor installed the dishwasher and sink, so the faucet is all ready to be hooked up once the countertops are installed.

 

 

The plan is to tile the backsplash next weekend.  We also need to sand all the drywall and prime the ceiling and walls.  Then paint all the cabinets doors, plus all kinds of little things.  Once the tile is up, the contractor will come back to install the hood and put up the trim around the room.  We are slowly but surely getting there.