Sidetracked

So without further ado, here is the big kitchen renovation reveal a year and a half later…hahaha.  Sorry, we’ve had some big changes other than the kitchen going on in the last while.  New job, new baby…

I see a lot of people complain that white kitchens are too sterile and hospital-ish.  Well, get ready to scrub in because this one is white.  The countertop guy tried to talk me into something other than white because he said we’ll be able to see every smudge and piece of food on a white counter.  That’s exactly why I like it.  I like to SEE that it’s clean.

I despise wordy blog posts so scroll on down if you want, but here are some things you might be curious about if you’re planning your own reno.

• The ceiling was raised about a foot - this made a huge difference.
• We installed Ikea cabinets ourselves.
• The countertops are Corian (probably my favorite feature).
• EVERYTHING is new.  Cabinets, appliances, etc.
• Total cost was between $8,000-$9,000 (friends helped with the ceiling demo and redo and doing the cabinets and tile backsplash ourselves cut the costs quite a bit)
• We would still like to do some crown moulding, we were just waiting until we made the final purchase of the fridge just a few months ago.
• We left a strip of blue wall between the white backsplash and white upper cabinets to break that up a bit, and I’m pretty happy with that idea. 
• I love the full size rug in there.  However, I would prefer a lighter color but we have 6 kids so, yeah.
• You can see some stuff piled up in the background.  That’s not kitchen related.  We had our guest bathroom redone and they just finished the tiling so we are putting everything back together in there as we speak.  That’s a post for next year, haha. Just kidding. Maybe.
• I kept it real with the kids and their messes.  We have all been sick for about 2 weeks and in the middle of the bathroom job, so this is actually looking pretty good. :)
• Hmm, what else?  We are pleased with the quality of the Ikea cabinets and sink. We opted not to use their faucet or appliances though and went with a reputable brand for both.
• If I could change anything we did, I would (and probably will) put different light fixtures.  We were going for cost effective here and really our intention is to get this house ready to sell or rent out eventually so we didn’t want to put too much money into lighting right now.  I would also have had the electrician put in a power outlet in the wall above the small counter to the left of the stove.  I have several small appliances stored in the upper cabinets.  It would be nice  to be able to just plug them in right there.  
• I am a BIG fan of the large drawers.  My favorite drawer is the “kid drawer” where everything is plastic and bright colors and we literally toss the dishes from the dishwasher into the drawer, and it’s all hidden away.
• And finally, yes I know the bouquet of flowers sticking out of the towel basket is plastic.  My sweet 5-year-old boy gave them to me for Christmas so they’re staying. :)

When we moved in (2003)

Shortly after we moved in (2003)

Today