Kitchen Remodel

Even though I have posted photos of our new kitchen on Facebook, I thought I would do it again on my blog.  When we first bought our house the kitchen was horrible.  It was so bad that we should have walked away from the deal.  The layout wasted a lot of space, the oven didn't even work and the cabinets were made out of carsiding.  The first thing we did was buy a new stovetop and built-in oven.  Then we removed the orange countertops.  We put in a new sink and got by for a few years.  The original owners were too lazy to tape the ceiling seams so they nailed up slabwood beams to cover the seams. 

 The oven was built into the corner so at least four feet of corner space was wasted.

 We replaced the orange Formica with porcelain tile.

 The little pantry cabinet doors didn't close properly and didn't even match.

We needed to remodel but wanted to keep the style of the log cabin.  We learned a lot about wood types and construction.  We got estimates at all the lumber companies but the sizes were off and none of them could redesign the kitchen properly.  One day we saw an offer for an open house at a privately owned kitchen design store.  It was a located in Green Lake (a nearby community).  We went in just to look and we were really impressed with the quality and expertise of the owner.  We decided to go for it.  The business owner redesigned the kitchen adding only two more feet but therefore adding a lot more cabinets.  We took out the corner oven and the stovetop and put in a regular stove. The resulting kitchen is much more efficient.

 The old kitchen is being demolished.  My husband did all the prep work which saved money and because the cabinets were being built, he had time.

 He put new drywall on the ceiling and two of the walls and we had a new hardwood floor put in.

We also hired an electrician to put in outlets and a plumber to bring in the gas line and of course hook up the ice maker and sink.  The installation of the cabinets was difficult because the walls in our kind of home are very uneven.  The installer was a perfectionist and he did a great job.

The countertop went in next.  It is Silestone which is a quartz product.  It is antibacterial and doesn't scratch.  In fact, they told us not to use a knife on it because it would dull the knife.

Lastly the appliances.  I really am happy we did it even though it didn't make me a better cook.