My swooning for this, has become an addiction and I am completely fixated, on updating our kitchen. It started last spring, when we had a contractor come to give us a quote on doing the work. We were just about to move forward, when a few other issues arose, and those updates took priority. I told myself I'd get over it, and our kitchen was fine as is. Sadly, I was only able to make it a year, before the itch came back.
My parents put on an addition last year. Honestly, it was the renovation from hell. Every little possible thing that could go wrong did, and their contractor was
the worst. I wouldn't wish their experience on anyone, it really was the pits. The one good thing that came out of the whole 1 year stress-filled challenge, was finding the carpenter who added new built ins to their living room and updated their bar. He's just an individual, no big overhead or big labor costs, and a passion for his work. He did an impeccable job, and everything is custom. For a fraction of the price of what you'd pay most companies.
We've had a number in mind that we'd have to have saved to do our kitchen and it seemed feasible it was in the 5 year plan. About a month ago, we had the carpenter come to our house to give us a quote on redoing our kitchen, and removing the wall between our kitchen and dining room. His quote was almost too good to be true. He could put in hardwood floors, remove the wall, do custom cabinets including a new pantry and a wall of built-ins on a now-empty side wall, all for a fraction of what you'd expect to pay. We'd get our money back, probably two fold - because it would be so beautiful and unique.
Regardless of how reasonable his price is, it's still a lot of money, which my uber financial-savvy hubby just isn't ready to spend. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand and respect his concerns. Buuuuuut, what it would do to our house, to the functionality and flow at the core of our home, and to my emotional attachment to the house, are substantial. There are a lot of things I love about our home, and a few things that I really don't. Funny enough, I thought the kitchen was adorable when we moved in, and it quickly became my least favorite part. The bar is too high, and the natural wood is covered in stains and impossible to clean, the floor is disgusting linoleum and always looks dirty no matter how you clean it, the cabinets are weird sizes, the oversized (ancient) stove works, but only sometimes and the large overhanging wall of cabinets makes the small space feel even smaller and darker than it is.
So, nearly every day I am looking online for the best appliance suites to share with Brian and show that not all appliances
have to cost you, $6,000... you can find perfectly good ones for less. But I know it will take time, and eventually he'll come around to the idea. I just need to wait until he's ready. I think my problem is I'm slightly obsessed with home renovations, obsessed with HGTV and completely obsessed with the design plans we were given for a kitchen reno on our house. So, we'll see how patient I can be. Until it's time.... I'll continue to swoon over photos like these, and the idea of what could be (and hopefully will be, in the near future! ;)
white on white... beautiful counters, floors and lighting
One of very few photos where the kitchen layout actually looks like ours! This designer gives me hope seeing her working with her girls (and big smiles) in their kitchen!
More white on white... so clean and pretty!
