So, I realize it has been about a year and half since our last post and I apologize for that. There’s not really an excuse for it besides laziness, but if you want to know what we’ve been up to in the past year you can check out http://mrshollychan.wordpress.com/. In remodel-world, we’ve been very busy so expect a few new posts in the coming days :)
The biggest project is……our new kitchen and dining room! As with most of our projects, this one started off fairly small. The plan was to sand/paint the cabinets, replace the countertops, and basically nothing else. As you’ll see, we ended up changing the floor plan, knocking a few walls out, and added the dining room into the mix. But we LOVE the finished product!
As we’ve learned with every remodel, there are always issues surprises. When we took down the first cabinet, we discovered an old beehive living in the wall! Luckily the bees had long since abandoned it and it was easy enough to remove from the wall.
We sanded and painted the cabinets, as planned. We were even able to cut the rounded corners of the doors off so they have more dimension.
The floor plan change started when we began installing the new counters. We decided to open the peninsula to create a counter which extended the full length of the kitchen. Louis built a couple custom cabinets to fit the microwave and other tall pantry items.
Debbie was very helpful, as always.
We decided to take down a portion of the wall between the kitchen and living room to let in a little more light. It was a slippery slope. As more of the wall came down, we just couldn’t stop! Thus, the dining room was added to the project.
The popcorn ceilings in the dining room had to go. So, we quarantined the room Dexter-style and scraped away.
Next we installed a new range hood and new hardwood floors, painted the room, and added a white beadboard backsplash. Louis made custom open shelving and added some hooks to hang mugs and create a “coffee station”.
To create the breakfast nook, Louis built a bench which opens to add pantry storage. We searched high and low for the perfect table and ended up making one using the leg of a Goodwill find and a table top from Lowe’s.
Louis made the island countertop using pieces from the old hardwood flooring in the dining room.
Trim, moulding, lighting, in-ceiling speakers, and some decorations completed this remodel. If you’ll believe it, we were able to complete this project with just under $5,000. And we love it!
BEFORE AFTER