kitchen before/after

The remodel/makeover/renovation is nearly finished in the kitchen.  I have some before and after pictures to share, showing the changes.

The kitchen is a long "galley" layout, and we left some things right where they were before, especially along the window wall on the left in these first two pictures.  

The pictures below show how one little corner has changed.  The tall cabinet on the left was the cleaning supplies.  The little appliance garage, while a good idea, only had enough room to hold 2 electric appliances.  Now the broom closet section has expanded, and the right side has widely spaced shelves that hold all of the appliances that we need.

Down below, you will see an area that has a big improvement.  In the old kitchen, the cabinets ended at the refrigerator.  Now, we have a whole new section of cabinets, both top and bottom.  It is so nice to make better use of that blank space.  Now we have ample room for all of our "good" dishes, glasses, serving pieces, etc.

And finally, probably the biggest change in the scenery.  We removed the upper cabinets and soffit,  and created an island.  And don't you love that new contemporary range hood?  Actually, we have had a long wait for that piece to arrive, but it is now scheduled to be installed this week (I hope)!

The back side of that island was formerly a carpeted hallway.  Now, it is a bank of narrow cabinets with wood flooring.

 We are thrilled with the outcome and very happy with the craftsmanship that made this a kitchen that will last a long, long time!

Our general contractor was Ross Tretsvan of Norway Builders.

He lined up the right guys, worked out solutions, tried to keep things running smoothly, and helped us through every step of the project.

Tomorrow is the bathroom reveal!

And now I'm going to make some breakfast in my lovely kitchen!

I cooked in my kitchen!

Oh, happy day!  All appliances in place and in working order!  Just a few loose ends left to finish before I can actually say the remodel is totally done, but won't it always be a work in progress?  I have targeted my next update--the light over our table has got to go.  It is sooo 1989!

Still awaiting the range hood, 1 light fixture and shower glass to be installed.  We have made a lot of progress with unpacking everything that we removed from the kitchen and bath 2 months ago.  Why does it seem like this has been going on for 6 months?!  Anyway, I did do some sorting at that time to weed out stuff to donate, but now as I am unpacking I am doing the same thing!  This is mostly because I feel like I have all of the essentials in place in the new kitchen, yet there are more boxes awaiting us.  This probably means that we have non-essentials that could go live with someone else instead of cluttering up this place!  Just one small example:

Inside a plastic storage box I found a whole bunch of costume jewelry.  Some of it I actually remembered wearing at about the turn of the century!  Some of it seemed totally unfamiliar to me, like maybe someone else stashed it in there?  And I don't think it was Bob!  So almost all of it went into a bag for the donation box.  One very fine rose among the thorns were those fantastic skeleton earrings!  Halloween, here I come!

Some updates on the kiddos:

Ian cashed in his IOU that we gave him at Christmas to go to a ballgame with us.  Last Sunday we took him to see the St. Paul Saints, our minor league team.  They have a very entertaining ballgame and very family friendly.  They have spectators participate in contests between innings, doing races while rolling a tire around the bases; spinning around until too dizzy to stand then required to cross a finish line; sumo wrestling, etc.  The ballgame was pretty non-existant to Ian, except when the pitchers were warming up right in front of our seats.  His biggest impressions from the excursion were the garbage truck in the parking lot (he loves garbage trucks) and the "funny lady" (a pig mascot wearing a dress).

Jack is now a little over 3 months old, and I propped him up on a pillow for a different perspective.  He is so happy and healthy right now.  His mommy had her first day back at work and he did OK being away from her for 13 hours.  Next week he will start at the same daycare that Ian goes to, so that will be another transition.  Much easier the second time around, and not just for his parents!

Most of my time at home has been devoted to organizing and cleaning.  I have been on a cleaning bender the likes of which this house has not experienced in a long time!  With the new kitchen and bathroom, I feel like the whole place needs sprucing up.  I think I have cleaned and washed in a few places that have not been touched in decades!  Seriously!  But occasionally I take a few moments to sit down and do something like write a blogpost or assemble these little pie pieces:

English paper pieced circles that measure 5" diameter.
Plans for more but not sure where it is all going.
I just get satisfaction in how neatly the points all meet!

 So I hope you are getting some satisfaction from something you are doing, too!

a little bit of quilting

I have been seriously lacking time to quilt on my longarm, but I hope to kick that habit soon!  Right now I am using a poinsettia pantogram on this Christmas quilt--

The quilt blocks were all made by members of my quilt group, the Ham Lake Piecemakers.  At Christmas time, we take up the challenge to use one or two chosen fabrics to create a block.  Then we have a drawing to pick the winner(s).  Our friend, Thora Lee, won this group of blocks.  She has moved away from the area, but still comes back here occasionally so I hope that this can all get done and be ready for her soon.

One big reason why my quilting time has become minimal is the fact that I have been involved with the kitchen and bath renovation at home.  Some days it just isn't conducive to creative work, and other days I just have to be out of the house.  To have our cabinetry all painted, the 2 rooms had to be completely taped off and sealed up.  The fumes were very strong, and we stayed 3 nights with Ben and Brita.  Here are some pictures of how much has been accomplished--

tile floor in the bathroom looks wonderful

counter tops and sink installation looks fantastic

shower is coming together, still some grout left to do on the dark sections

and the wood flooring is now completely done

I really love to see the craftsmanship that goes into all of this.  I regret that I was not at home when the counter tops were done, because I would really like to see that process.  We chose to use a laminate product, meticulously installed by our friend, Dana Lewis.  He can undermount sinks from a certain manufacturer, and the join is flawless!  And now the faucets and drains are in working order, so we can start using them.  Oh, the things we take for granted!

and the work goes on....

A few weeks ago, I shared some pictures of the beginning of our kitchen and bathroom remodel.  A lot has been done, and things are starting to come back together.  All of the wood flooring has been done and 2 coats of finish with sanding.  One more final coating at the end.

The bathroom plumbing is all roughed in, and the base of our soon-to-be tiled shower.

And most exciting for me--The cabinets are installed!  They were made for us by Scandia Cabinets.  They are going to all be painted (by the pros) hopefully starting tomorrow.

Here's just a quick rundown:

the broom closet and appliance storage

In lieu of an actual pantry, I have a pantry cabinet!

The look from the back door towards the great room (behind the plastic curtain)

there will be a new fridge in the spot on the left, and an undercabinet wine fridge just to the right.  The upper and lower cabinets in that picture are right next to our dining area, so will be a choice place for dishes and beverage ware.  In the photo on the right, I was standing on the stairs looking down at the new island where the stove will be placed.

All coming together!  And I think we have chosen all of the things (lights, sinks, faucets, etc.) that will be used, except for one light fixture.  I am having a hard time with that because it will be suspended over the end of the island, and a stainless steel and glass vent hood will be suspended over the stove.  So I want a light that is compatible with that, but not too large to be in competition.  I have some good candidates, from Lappin Lighting Studio.  We have picked up our items from all over the city, and after logging quite a few miles and hours of looking, pricing, comparing, etc., we are eagerly awaiting the installation.  More pictures will follow.  In the meantime, we are finding our way through the dust and plastic and household in boxes.  Today we decided we wanted to make some soup for supper.  After 10 minutes searching upstairs and downstairs for the crockpot, black beans, and a few other ingredients, we got it cooking in the laundry room.  That has become our little kitchen, since we are using the laundry room sink for washing dishes.  

I am throwing this fabric picture in here on the chance that someone looking at this might know this fabric or maybe even own some of it.  I need a small amount of it to complete a Lone Star design.  I cut some of the diamonds with the lines going the wrong way, and can't turn up anymore of it anywhere so far.  Maybe you can help me out?

happenings around here

The continuing story of the renovation includes our makeshift kitchen:

every important element of my culinary success is accounted for!  Coffee pot, microwave, paper towels,  a few utensils and coffee cups--not so bad!  And the dining room table/counter top/office/receptacle of odds 'n ends is the perfect central command post!  I even managed to make a batch of no-bake bars yesterday to share with people over at the store.  This recipe came from recipe.com via pinterest:

Butterscotch Pretzel Bars

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

6 tablespoons butter, melted

2 cups crushed pretzels

1 11 oz. package butterscotch-flavored chips (about 2 cups)

¼ cup whipping cream

½ cup coarsely crushed pretzels

½ cup chopped peanuts

Line a 9x13 pan with foil.  Spray foil with cooking spray.  

Combine the powdered sugar, peanut butter and melted butter in a bowl.  

Add the 2 cups crushed pretzels.  Pour into the cake pan and spread out evenly.

Over low heat, melt the butterscotch chips and cream together.  

Pour mixture over the 1^st layer in the cake pan.  

Sprinkle the ½ cup pretzels and peanuts evenly over the top.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours.  Actually, they were kind of sticky so I put them in the freezer instead.

And I bet you are wondering how my little guys are doing.  Well, let me just say, I wish we could all wear 

Cookie Monster shoes!  Getting a good picture of Ian is a bit of a challenge, and his favorite pose involves sticking out his tongue!  So I thought I would capture it for posterity! 

So precious!  And so fun!  He loves to play all sorts of games, sing songs, run around, cuddle up with a book, and give hugs and kisses.  We are so glad for nice times outdoors again, so we can go for walks and play in the yard.  Looks like a good summer comin' up!