Kitchen Renovation - 5/10/14

We bought our house in March 2008 as a foreclosure.  Y'all, it was trashed.  Like a total hot mess, trashed.  But, we were able to purchase it for a steal, which we were so thankful for.  Before we moved in, we changed out all of the flooring and painted every wall.  We have gradually made improvements here and there over the years when we could afford to do so.

I remember when we first looked at the house, I really disliked the kitchen.  I loved the cabinets, but thought that they looked weird with white appliances.  The corian countertops had a pinkish hue to them and had a huge crack by the stove.  I remember telling Wade that I could not live with those countertops - they needed to be changed ASAP.  Well... it turns out that I could (and did!) live with those countertops for 6+ years.  Ha!

We saved and researched until we could afford to get new countertops.  I was so excited this Spring when Wade told me that we were in a position that we could pay cash for a kitchen renovation.  Yay!  It did feel a bit like the "If you give a mouse a cookie..." series of children's books, though.  If you get new countertops, they will damage your backsplash ripping out the old ones and you will have to get a new backsplash.  If you are getting granite countertops, you will need an undermount sink.  If you get a new sink, you'll have to buy a new faucet.  If you are ever going to get rid of your white stove, you better do it while they are replacing your countertops.  If you get a new stove, you have to get a matching vent-a-hood.  If you all of your other appliances are going to be stainless steel, you can't keep your white oven and microwave.  So on and so on...

Thankfully, our contractor was great and my husband is an appliance bargain hunter master, so we still came in within budget.  I'm so happy with my new kitchen!

Before pictures:

And, After:

My favorite part, hand's down, is my new copper farmhouse sink.  I love it so much!  It is a bit fussier from a maintenance standpoint than I thought that it would be, though.  You cannot leave anything acidic in there or it will leave shiny copper spots where the acid eats away at the black finish that they use.  So, I am super diligent about rinsing it out a million times a day and we don't leave dishes in there.  We still have a couple of shiny spots, though, from things that didn't get rinsed quick enough.  I still would choose this same sink again, in a heartbeat.  Even if it is pretty high maintenance.  :)

I also love that we extended the island to accommodate counter stools.  My kids love to sit there to eat their breakfast.  I went round and round about my backsplash tile, and I am so glad that we went with the travertine in a herringbone pattern.  I love it!

I did learn a ton from our little remodel.  It was much more stressful than I imagined it to be, and being without a kitchen for a week was really hard.  I know that this a total first world problem, so it is absolutely ridiculous to complain.  Wade and I reminded the kids (and ourselves!) that people live without running water and kitchen appliances on a daily basis all over the world.  We are so spoiled!

I am very grateful for the improvements that we were able to make, and I look forward to enjoying this kitchen for many years to come!