kitchen remodel part 2

First, I'll apologize in advance if the formatting of the posts seems odd. I can't for the life of me figure out how to fix it, so there might be text wrapping strangely around pictures or large paragraph breaks. These anomalies don't show up until I hit "publish," so if anyone has any insight on how to fix this, please let me know!

Now back to the kitchen - and I'll try not to bore everyone with minute details. We did want to update the kitchen while keeping the vintage spirit of the house. And while the porcelain sink we had fit the original era of the house, it couldn't stay - too small, too inconvenient and hard to keep clean. We also decided to replace the dishwasher, which was probably from the late 80s and would need to be replaced sooner rather than later. So, in the end, we replaced the sink, faucet, garbage disposal, dishwasher, countertops and backsplash.

Kitchen Before:

The countertops were a sort of beige, with a strip of pink underneath (see picture below)

When the top layer was removed, we discovered the second layer wasn't pink all the way through. Instead, a previous owner had adhered a strip of pink laminate, presumably to match the floor and the wall (we've discovered pink paint on the wainscoting. I can only imagine what this kitchen looked like then!)

We had plumbing work done to run pipes up through the floor instead of out of the wall. Hopefully that means the end to fungi growing in the kitchen (the thought of that still makes me shudder).

Work in progress! Home Depot installed the countertop and Pete did the sink, faucet, garbage disposal and water filter. He did a great job.

I love, love, love the sink and faucet. Stainless steel, double bowl, a sprayer. Life is good. :)

Removing the old backsplash

The new backsplash, installed by Pete.

We still have more work to do, including painting the walls, new cabinet hardware, new light fixtures (no more weird ceiling fan in the kitchen!) and hopefully a new floor. I'll post more pictures as the work continues!

kitchen remodel part 1

One evening last summer, I came home to this growing behind our sink, the result of a very slow leak from a faucet handle:

That resulted in a visit from a plumber and a resulting hole in the wall by our sink:

A kitchen remodel was on our list of "to-dos" but it was a lower priority than some other things. But this adventure bumped it up a few notches, so we began saving, saving, saving. And then, when Pete left Wedgwood in November, we were surprised to learn he'd had a pension and could receive the money in a lump sum. What a blessing! We earmarked the money for the kitchen, Pete turned in the paperwork and we received a check in February. It was time to start researching, planning and shopping!

More to come soon...

stop the world - I want to get off!

This is why I don't blog very often...
(First, a disclaimer: this is is no way posted to elicit sympathy or to complain about life right now. I'm very, very blessed. It's just a peek into a typical day. I know life would still be nutty as a part-time working or stay-at-home mom, which I want to be!)

Monday, March 16
5:15 a.m. - Alarm goes off
5:30-ish - Head to shower (after hitting "snooze" at least once)
5:30 - 6:40 - Shower, apply makeup, run downstairs to make coffee, head back upstairs to dry hair, get dressed, make bed, curl hair, say good morning to Peyton while Pete gets him dressed.
6:40 - 7:00 - Eat breakfast and play with Peyton
7:00 - 7:20 - Back upstairs to brush teeth (mine and Peyton), downstairs to get shoes and coats on, gather last minute lunch items, load up car with bags, Pete and Peyton
7:20 - Leave home
7:40 - Drop off Peyton with Grandma M.
8:00 - Arrive at work
8:00 - 5:00 - Work - meetings at 8:30, 9:00 and 10:00. Use lunch hour to run errands (Bed, Bath & Beyond for kitchen items, Babies R Us for Peyton - where I score on clearance items!) Write copy and update national store directory for annual church supply catalog in the afternoon.
5:00 - Leave work
5:30 - Leave Grandma M's with Peyton
5:50 - Arrive home
6:15-ish - Eat dinner (lovingly prepared by Pete)
6:30 - 7:00 - Play with Peyton
7:00 - Give Peyton a bath
7:15-ish - Start Peyton's bedtime routine (jammies on, brush teeth, stories, songs, prayer, bed)
7:30 - Peyton in bed
7:30 - 8:30 - Start a load of laundry (Peyton's new clothes), pick up house, clean upstairs bathroom
8:30 - 9:00 - Help Pete with kitchen tile
9:00 - 10:00 - Watch "24" (one of two shows I actually watch. The other is "The Office" on Thursday nights). During commercials - pick up basement, vacuum basement, throw clothes in dryer, upload photos to computer and Facebook
10:00 - 10:30 - Load dishwasher, wash a few dishes, clean up kitchen from grout work (wipe down counters, run Swiffer WetJet on floor)
10:30 - 11:00 - Hang with Pete
11:00 - Lights out!

I think I need to go to bed earlier.... :)