The kitchen has a very special place in my heart, I was so excited that this months theme was “Kitchen”. My head was just buzzing around with all the ideas I had. But this month truly got the best of me. So I decided I am keeping it real and just sharing a few shots from our kitchen renovation. It has been a long and grueling process. We started this whole home renovation in 2014. We completely gutted the kitchen, all the way down to the bare bones. Just walls and concrete floors. You can see the makeshift kitchen I used for seven months HERE. I am not entirely sure how I survived it feeding a family of seven but I did. (Pats self on back.)
When we first discussed downsizing and moving into our investment home, I had one condition… the kitchen needed to be remodeled. Ok, need is a strong word, but it was poorly designed and lacked a lot cabinet space. At first we thought we’d be able to get the remodeling done prior to moving in. That thought came and went fast, we had a hard time getting our home sold. We then decided to move in during construction. Something I do not recommend. I spend most of my time in the kitchen because I love to cook. So cooking (and living) in a construction zone is quite challenging. When I started designing my kitchen I knew I wanted white cabinets. I wanted the space to feel bright and airy. Since the original kitchen didn’t have a window, installing ours above the sink really made a huge difference.
Let me tell you why the kitchen is my favorite place to be. Food is my daily therapy. Not in an eating disorder way or anything, but the flavors and variety of food really help me deal with life. (Yea and wine definitely helps me cope too.) It’s a creative therapy, I love to find new spices or ingredients and try something I’ve never tried before. Cooking is how I connect with people. If you’ve come to my house, I probably force fed you. I just can’t help it. The kitchen is where I bond with my family and friends. Where every one congregates when we have company, where we laugh, share meals and swap life stories. Its where I appreciate the circle of life in terms of food. Its my safe place. I can fail in there and know that I’ll be right back in there the next day. The kitchen is the heartbeat of my home.
Once the kitchen is all finished I plan to share more of my favorite recipes.
Finally we are starting to see the light at the end of this remodeling tunnel! Here are some shots of the kitchen progress. It’s still not done, there is a cabinet that needs to be replaced, we need base boards, and still need a backsplash. But we did just have the concrete stained grey, a temporary fix to the ugly concrete floors you see in these photos. I’ll save those photos for the final reveal. Hopefully I can find some before pictures to share as well. Before you leave be sure to jump on over to Woodsy Wonders Photography and see her awesome images from this months theme.
And this cute little area is reserved for our #hansencompound quotes. This one reads “Fair is where you go to eat cotton candy and get your face painted”. A life lesson my kids all learned early on. We don’t say things like “life’s not fair”.
Letter board / LetterFolk
Cabinets / Burdette Cabinet CO
Appliances / Spencers
Need a handyman? Highly recommend AZ’s Best HandyMan
Great photos and a beautiful kitchen
I LOVE your kitchen! Beautiful transformation. Such a light and airy space!
Thank you so much Kim!
Oh wow!!! I just love your kitchen. I have always wanted an all white farmhouse kitchen. This looks so dreamy!!
I am not sure what your kitchen looked like before but it looks like it will be stunning when it is finally complete. I do feel your pain. I did something similar with a bathroom once. It took a year to complete, and it really looked beautiful when it was done. Six months later we sold the house and moved. We have since done the bathroom in our current house and that went a lot quicker than the previous one. I love your last image. That would apply to my house as well 🙂