The Heart of the Home - Part 1

For those of you who have been following along, you may remember the original kitchen of the house.  It consisted of a stove, a sink, and a refrigerator, and room for little else.  Counter space was nil, and there wasn't room for kitchen cupboards.  Since we spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I wanted it to be inviting, open, and pretty.  It took us a bit of time to decide where to put the kitchen, but once we finally did, we went to work on planning for the best use of the space.  Even though the empty room seemed big, we knew once cabinets and appliances were in that the open space would quickly disappear.

Jack had an idea to put a curved ceiling in the room.  It was a new challenge for him, and it took a while to construct, but it was well worth it.  It really sets off the room and makes it look beautiful.  The mini chandelier we added  accents his work nicely.

We were given old cabinets from Jack's parents, who recently remodeled their kitchen.  Even though we wanted new cabinets, we knew this would save us a lot of money and we decided to make it work. Friends of ours had refinished old cabinets, and gave us tips on how to do it.  It was really much easier than I thought it would be, and we are very happy with the results. We added new cabinet knobs, and they really make the old 70's cabinets look sharp.

As we move closer and closer to moving in, I am having more feelings of anticipation.  Even though I will miss our current home with it's low utility bills, cozy wood heat, all of the work that we have into it, and the memories made there, I will also enjoy the feelings of adventure and accomplishment in this new chapter of our lives.

This is the kitchen before - counted as a bedroom by the realtor. The roof had leaked above this room and the original plaster ceiling was in really bad shape.

Lots of work had to be done to install the rough electrical and plumbing for the new kitchen.

The "skeleton" of the ceiling.

With the drywall complete, we cleaned up the old floor and slathered on a fresh coat of polyurethane. We think the wood is long-leaf pine. 

The flash is a little harsh in this picture; but this gives you an idea of what the refinished cabinets will look like.

We're very happy with the mini-chandelier and the arched ceiling.