Kitchen Remodel

New Kitchen

When we bought this house nearly three years ago, the first thing we were going to do was clean out the garage and then have Scott remodel this 1970's kitchen. Even though the house was built in the early 80's it was caught up in the late 70's feel. I HATED IT WITH A PASSION. Three years later the same kitchen was in my house. Even though I had bought a new stove/oven, by now the warranty was up and it had not even been plugged in!!! hahaha.

While we were shopping with my parents for replacement doors for their rent house, we went into a cabinet store and I fell in love. Scott had said this was a discount store for cabinets and I had already drawn up plans as to what I wanted.....so the process began. I am not sure about the discount part, but I do know that the layout was what I wanted and I loved the cabinets.

I know this looks as if I am a horrible house keeper, well I am not the best, but this is the kitchen after ...AFTER we started packing things and Scott had already started tearing parts of the cabinets out. We had this old drop ceiling with the Plexiglass (?) where the florescent lights shined through. Do you know what I am talking about at all? I know its day it was the thing, but for me it became nothing but a bug catcher. I did not clean them, they looked nasty, and I was ashamed. Scott has them torn down already in these pictures thank goodness!

Let me describe this kitchen. You walk in and the sink is right in front of you. The stove is to the right of the sink on the bar area. To the left of the sink was the oven on the south wall, over by the refrigerator. The pantry was to the left of the refrigerator and was a nice size but hard to reach around and find what you needed in it.

Now with this new kitchen I decided to add a buffet/hutch style piece of furniture. I knew I was going to need more space for when we took out the stove I wanted the bar to be an open area to just open the kitchen up for a larger feel. This buffet area is where I plan to set food to get ready to serve or I could put the plates and glasses there with the food on the bar. Either way, I was thrilled to add that to the kitchen.


One of the larger expenses was the change in the electrical work. We had the house electric all upgraded. The panel was old and did not have replacement "stuff" for it. (don't know what it is called unless it is called breakers) So with the upgrade we installed canned lights (I love them) and the track light over the bar area. There is pretty much enough light now. We also put in a ceiling fan in the dinning area for the back part of the house is just so much hotter and we wanted something to just stir the air. I am so glad we did. We also had separate breakers installed for things like the microwave, trash compactor etc. no more throwing breakers while using the microwave, electric skillet and watching tv at the same time!!! Hip hip hooray.

Scott fixed the sink and plywood counter tops for me to use until the new ones arrived. He was very good to keep my kitchen functioning as there was a lot on my "plate" at that time with Zoe being so sick. I really needed to be able to fix her food, anything at all trying to entice her to eat. I was very grateful he was willing to do that for me. You can see in this picture the cabinets are in, as well as the appliance, but the crown molding is not in place. The cabinet to the left of the sink is the wrong size. It was to be a 15" but instead they sent a 12" cabinet. One of about a dozen mistakes, but I am very patient with them know that things just happen. Scott was extremely disappointed in all the mistakes and called them on them and luckily for us Kevin has made everything right. He has been a dream to work with and told us they are getting tons of complaints for the factory had laid off several people during the winter and slow times. Now that the weather is good, people are wanting to remodel the house and the company hired new workers....with no experience. They are paying for that mistake. Scott has not let them off the hook for any reason and I honestly am glad. He was harder on them than I would be, but he is a cabinet maker for Pete sake and will not put up with this junk. I am pretty sure we will NEVER be buying pre made cabinets again in our lives.....but I bet next time he will get on it quicker than three years. Ha haha.....

Here my granite counter tops are arriving. Oh I love my granite. We had it in Enid and I loved it there and wanted it again. Yes it is a luxury, but I did want it, got it on sale for a price I feel was very affordable, and I am a happy camper!
It took all three of these guys to bring in the slab for the bar area. They had to cut the granite into three different sections which I am not crazy about. But I will say this... the seams are pretty much invisible. I know where they are, but I bet you walking in the kitchen will not see them. You won't be looking for them and they do NOT jump out at you. So I am grateful for that.

The next day Scott was getting the plumbing all set up and he quietly hollered at me to come see. I walked in and he just looked at me and grinned. Both the dogs were there helping. Since Zoe has passed away there are now only two. Otherwise I feel pretty certain all three would have been right there making sure Scott did it right!


Here the cabinets are installed, the crown molding is up and the counter tops are in place. I had actually fixed dinner and was waiting on Beth (daughter) to come over and eat with us. We are still needing to fix a few things at the time of this picture, but I got that bull whip out and most of all the projects are now done.

This is the back splash, tumbled marble and I love it. the lines are really straight, it is just me taking a crooked picture. Good grief. But I have since got the grouting done, and the electrical outlets back in place. I think it looks really nice, but I have not taken a picture of the finished product. I now have stuff on the counter top waiting to be put away. Not sure where to put everything, it did not give me as much storage as I thought it was going to, and finding a home for everything has proven to be very challenging. I lost my hand mixer and we had to go on a hunt to find it. After quite a while it was found under the cabinet on the lazy Susan shelf. I told Scott it will be like Christmas every day in there...looking for the stuff and finding the "gift". Good grief!

I will try to get some pictures of the final project, I am happy as a clam right now with this new kitchen. I feel my home is now a modern, more appealing place to entertain. I can't wait to have company, or a church party here at the house. I am very proud of what we have done, feel good about our home and it even encourages me to keep the dishes done!!!!!

Marge, this posting is mostly for you since everyone else follows me on facebook and has already seen the pictures. But I remembered you have not so I had to post this "just for you". Plus you have seen the before in real life, now you just need to come see me again and see the after product. I think you will be very pleased with what you see.

love to all my girls,

Lisa