New Year ~ New House (Part Four)

The hubby and I used to tour model homes for fun. You know when the kids were little and they used to enter the doorway of the model, and scream "STAIRS!!!" Then we'd hear the stomping - I mean, pitter patter - of small feet above us, and realize we were so smart in buying a ranch style home while the kiddos were small. Seldom did I walk into one of those model home kitchens and NOT imagine myself there. After all, much of my adult life has taken place in a kitchen. Think about all the meal planning, cooking, cleaning - wait, don't think about that. Think about your dream kitchen (and while you're at it, someone else doing all the work for you) - what does it look like? Dark cabinets, light cabinets, sink in the island, sink overlooking a beautiful garden?  Some of my recent favorites have been ......

So, my goal became creating a space where I didn't feel the need to run away FAST. A kitchen that I could enjoy. And much to dear hubby's dismay, that involved yet another project. He was cringing at the thought. I saw the beads of perspiration forming on his hairline. Of course, what did I say, "Don't worry, I got this!" Oh, when will I ever learn?

One of the things I've discovered is that I'm not really good at remembering to take "before" pictures. Maybe in the future (should another project EVER be allowed to happen in the house again), I will be sure to take before shots. For now, here's one - you can see the dark cabinets.

Before we had the dark floors, the dark cabinetry did not bother me. Now, with dark floors, dark granite and dark cabinets, I began to feel as though I was in a cave. Not to mention we have the awful can lighting (that's next to go - as soon as I figure out how to do that). I began with finishing one door, just to see if it was going to be as fabulous as I anticipated. I instantly hated it. Yes, I know that's a strong word, but I did. It was ugly. I obviously made a bad choice. Thank goodness I started with the inside of the door.

Back to the drawing board I went. Scouring my favorite blogs, hanging out with my coffee cup at Home Depot and Lowe's - hoping that some color would strike me as "The One." As I broke the news to dear husband, he lamented over losing the dark cabinetry, but in the end, I'd like to think, trusted my opinion, and my overall design sense. We looked at so many swatches, they all started to look the same. Finally, we decided on two that looked right - at night! You see, one must see the color at night AND during the day, because of the wall of windows and french doors letting in the morning sun. The color we liked at night turned out to be too peach, almost bordering on pink - GOD forbid! In a house where the female gender is the minority, this would be a complete disaster. Thus our color was decided - Manchester Tan, by Benjamin Moore.

I quickly changed into my "work clothes" and began the ever so fun process of sanding everything down. Did I mention that only a few short months ago, my house was COVERED in dust? And yet, here I was again, creating more dust. Turns out, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

After a day or two of sanding and several days of refinishing the cabinet bases and cabinet doors, I was approaching the finish line.

 

Turns out I really am not fond of "open cabinetry" - I always thought that was a cool look. Or at least glass doors on some of the cabinets. As it turns out, all those cabinets would have to be neat and organized ALL THE TIME. Not going to happen! It was also pretty tough to work around the mess, but I couldn't feed the family take out for weeks on end. I would simply get to a stopping point - clean up my mess - pack away my brushes and start again fresh the next day.

My "breaks" from kitchen work gave me some time to look at pendant lighting (right now this is a dream) and backsplash tile (probably a dream too, for now). Although the addition of these elements I think would really complete the look!  

Some of my favorite tile backsplashes have been......

I also took a peek at some pendant lighting and found these.....
	This is an oil rubbed bronze, which is very pretty, but doesn't match the fan in the breakfast nook. This is the brushed nickel and matches the fan in the nook. I'm just not sure which one I like better.

Hanging the cabinet doors proved to be so much more exciting than I thought it would be. You see I was meticulous about keeping the doors numbered as well as the hardware. Yet, when it came time to soak and clean the hinges and dry them outside (you know where this is going, right?) they didn't end up in the same order. Two hinges per cabinet door multiplied by 16 doors - that's a lot of hinges all mixed up! I started hanging the cabinet doors on to the bases and noticed they were all crooked. Needless to say, this was upsetting. Coupled with the fact that I was hanging my doors just hours before I was hosting a SuperBowl party! Yes, I am THAT crazy lady! I had to enlist the help of dear husband again, who discovered a trick to identifying which hardware matched on each door. After this discovery, it was smooth sailing. I was able to get every door hung and chip and dip out before the doorbell rang! Too bad the game wasn't as exciting as the project!

I just LOVE my new kitchen!