A story of my kitchen (the dream)

BEFORE pics of the old kitchen

 Just about 14 months ago I was wrapping up a project that I had dreamed of since the moment I first walked into my kitchen when it was owned by someone else. That had been one of those "it has good bones" moments and I knew the features of the rest of the house more than made up for the awful blue countertops and outdated light oak cabinets that matched all the amazing built-ins and custom wood work in the home, so I overlooked the ugliness and never let the aspects I didn't love keep me from entertaining. The space has always been functional and for what it lacked in room, I made up for in creativity and basement storage. As I've posted the remodel pics in various forums over the last year, I've had a number of people ask the usual "how did you do that" and "what kind of paint did you use and did you sand it all down first" types of questions so I figured it was time to share the story of my kitchen. 

Despite what people will tell you about the details of how they completed a project within their home- the this was this and that was that and this was the budget, etc- I can guarantee that for every simple line item they present to anyone who asks, there are days of work and research not to mention all the stress equity and sweat equity that went into it.  This project is clearly no different as I can 100% attest to you. I'm rarely immune from Murphy having his evil way with me and going through this life as the sole owner of this house makes for an interesting dynamic in my head. Having to make all the choices alone is both invigorating and terrifying for someone that loves the approval of another mind. So this is a glimpse into my psyche on that October 2019 afternoon after deciding on a whim to overhaul my kitchen.  (As an aside note, this was all dictated/rambled into the Notes feature on my iphone as I drove. If you ever have a flight of ideas that you don't want to disappear, open up that app, push talk to text and gab away!)

"Have you ever had so many dreams and possibilities and aspirations within your heart and within your mind that you can’t begin to know what to do with them all? I mean, my mind is going 1,000,000 miles a minute sometimes and it’s almost paralyzing. I’m so excited! I’m so ready to make things happen but yet I may as well be sitting on my hands for as little as I’m able to do because I have so many things to sort through I can’t begin to deal with it. Well, this week I’ve started to sort through them more. Yes, I’ve been able to sort through my finances and try to organize my future and save for future goals. That’s not been an issue. The issue has been looking at my house and trying to figure out what I’m going to fix in there first and how I’m going to meet this goal of increasing the value of my home in little tweaks. This weekend is FINALLY the weekend of taking action! I have been pursuing flooring for months now but yesterday is the day that I left the house to go look and get samples. I already have the measurements in hand from a previous encounter with a contractor, but yesterday I went to the flooring stores and started to make decisions. Today, I picked out paint at Sherwin-Williams and thankfully it was a 40% off sale! What a great weekend for me to decide to make things happen! LOL white is not white is not white let me just tell you there are so many shades of white it could be blinding. But I read before I went to Sherwin-Williams that winter white is the way to go so when I saw a white called snowbound I knew that that was the color I was going to choose, and I wasn’t going to sit and wallow over whether it was the right one or not. I grabbed the swatch and headed for the counter immediately. Making a decision like that rarely takes me long when my gut screams out. Thankfully a blogger that posted his kitchen makeover nine years ago told me exactly what products I would need in my kitchen to redo my cabinets without

Check out those floors and lighting

 having to sand, without having to do multiple multiple layers to protect it. I get to prime and I get to paint and "voilà" I will be done! Yes, easier said than done, I know, but today’s the day I start scrubbing my cabinets and doing all the prep work. So in the days and weeks to come when I get my charting done in the evening, I am committing myself to painting my cabinets and making my kitchen over! I am literally driving right now and dictating: I am that excited and that on edge that I wanted to share these feelings that are pouring out of me. I am now on my way to look at granite countertops. Only one local shop is open on Sundays so I guess that's where I'll be going. Painting the cabinets myself will only cost me about $300 and that is factoring in new pulls and handles. Having professionals come out and do the painting isn't an option, night and day difference in price! $300 vs. THOUSANDS! I'm working on a single woman’s budget and it is going to be exquisite when I’m finished! As for flooring, I am going with luxury vinyl and as of now the plan is to do the same luxury vinyl in the kitchen and the family room, though I may change and get a tile like finish in the kitchen depending on how the color scheme goes together. I’m also looking at painting my kitchen walls and because there is a sale at Sherwin-Williams, I’m going to have to decide what that color is going to be tonight LOL no pressure! As for granite countertops, I have eyesores for countertops that were dated when they were put in in 1998. They are a blue laminate that is repulsive and that I have hated from the moment I saw this house eight years ago! Granite will be like my dream come true yet again [I had granite in NC]! As my kids get older and move out, I’m probably going to downsize and I definitely want to enjoy the upgrades for years before I'd move! So do I sound like a total manic person at this moment? Welcome to being inside of my head here lately! When you feel like you can take on the world and when the thoughts just fill my head and flow out. There are just times where I feel like the world is my oyster and I am not willing to close that shell and prevent those dreams and aspirations from coming to fruition."

Welcome to my kitchen makeover!! 💛

I enjoyed putting these little Snippets together when I was trying to put the room together in my head. The granite is in the upper right hand corner and when you see the finished product you’ll know that that is not the granite I ended up going with… I went much darker and love the choice that I made!