our house

I don't have time to do an extensive tour of our new home, but will show you the kitchen for now. There is still some work we want to do [tile the countertop and extend one section out for a barstool area], but we are very proud of our progress so far. We have gotten A LOT done since we got the keys June 11th. We have had a ton of help and are so thankful. We have one bedroom left, and then we'll focus on our mudroom and landscaping.

So for now...here is our kitchen before and after:

This was taken day one or two. That is kitchen carpet folks. And wallpaper [no offense, Kelly :)]

Please note the built in desk and shelving on the left [that will soon be gone]

Grandma and I had the idea to tear out these cabinets that separated the kitchen area from the dining area; you couldn't even see someone if they were standing in the kitchen and you were on the other side. So Grandpa and Uncle Kirby went to work and....

I can't believe how much BIGGER the kitchen feels! By July we had the cabinets down, the walls painted, and Grandpa m.e.t.i.c.u.l.o.u.s.l.y. patched the ceiling and wall where the existing cabinets had been
Then we hired a lot of help to paint the cabinets. Oh my goodness this is a process! Here is Hawkins :) Our parents helped a TON as well
And Grandpa [see a pattern? Grandpa has put more hours into this house than anyone! He's incredible...and talented] closed the cabinet back up and it looks as if there was never a gaping hole! :)

Once the cabinets were painted this beautiful turquoise [my favorite color in the whole house!], and all the ugly, sixties, bronze hardware was changed, and we hung the cabinet doors back up [which was a NIGHTMARE because the 1/10th of an inch of paint on the edges made them not want to close...Grandpa to the rescue... after a day and a half we had all the doors hung back up], it was time to start on the floor. We started by tearing up the nasty carpet, and were left with this linoleum.

Brent and Beck went to work...

And by the end of the day...
[and yes folks, that is GREEN carpet!]

We had a beautiful laminate floor laid that resembles slate. We LOVE it.

And now we have a fantastic kitchen [counter tops coming soon], and are happy with the way it all turned out. Brent trusted my color palate, and allowed me to test some pretty bold colors!

Notice something different on the left?! This is the FANTASTIC pantry that my Uncle Kirby [with the help of my Grandpa] built for us. We tore out the existing desk, which opened up the kitchen even more, and decided to build a pantry. Kirby went to work and in a day and half...poof! A custom built, fantastic pantry and additional storage [I have SO much storage in this house!!]. When we tile the countertops we will also tile the buffet on the pantry.

Eventually I have a vision to tear out the windows here and put in french doors that lead out into our wonderful backyard. But...that will take a little time. We also have our eye on some different lighting, but will wait a little while for that as well.

And there you have it folks. It has taken many hours and a lot of help, but that is a peek into our kitchen, the first room of many we have been working on.