I'm happy to say that this weekend, phase 1 (the kitchen island) was installed. In about 4 hours!
I ripped out the little wall that separated the kitchen from the family room. I will never understand why someone would want to close in their kitchen by putting in a 40" wide wall.
Give me space any day! (I also don't understand why anyone would put white linoleum down in a kitchen on a farm but....me? I'd rather have poop brown.....hides the dirt better)My BIL came over yesterday and they started installing the base cabinets. They aren't anything fancy - American Classic cabinets from Home Depot - but considering the shape our kitchen cabinets are in - these are wonderful! We are doing this as we can afford to, paying cash as we go (or in the case of the base cabinets - gift cards from Home Depot gifted to me).
The countertop? I am seriously in love with it although it wasn't my first choice. I really wanted poured concrete.
Todd said not on his life was he doing concrete counterops. He must have thought they would be hard to do or something:)
I knew I didn't want laminate. And granite is WAY out of our price range. So are the solid wood countertops from Home Depot.
Until I found an Amish woodworker who built me a 42" by 8' butcherblock countertop. For just over $400:
I still need to oil the top side. So it will darken considerably once I do that. But it's heavy, solid and gorgeous! I love it so much we are doing the rest of the countertops exactly the same when we get to the rest of the kitchen! Yes, they are a bit of maintenance (you have to oil them every month to seal them) but.....
We chose oak, maple, cherry and walnut. Had we left out the walnut, it would have been $375.
There is still a lot of finish work to do (move the light switch for the light over the island - you can see it hanging in the first photo), stain the backside of the island (stock kitchen cabinets you need to put a nicer back on them - in this case oak plywood), oil the top of the cabinet and put the toe kick boards under the fronts of the cabinets. Oh and I have to find some bar stools that I like (preferrably with backs on them).
Next up? We are saving our pennies to have our Amish neighbor build us cabinets for the rest of the kitchen (which won't be all that much really - it's only about a 6 foot stretch which includes the sink and the dishwasher), which will also have the butcher block countertop, new laminate wood flooring, new pantry cabinet and a new window. The flooring will be the absolute last as we want the laminate to also go into the family room.
Although it may have to wait until this fall/next winter. I told Todd he could put his addition on the barn before we finish the kitchen.....
Next up? We are saving our pennies to have our Amish neighbor build us cabinets for the rest of the kitchen (which won't be all that much really - it's only about a 6 foot stretch which includes the sink and the dishwasher), which will also have the butcher block countertop, new laminate wood flooring, new pantry cabinet and a new window. The flooring will be the absolute last as we want the laminate to also go into the family room.
Although it may have to wait until this fall/next winter. I told Todd he could put his addition on the barn before we finish the kitchen.....
10 comments:
Ooo, pretty. We've been saving a chunk of money from the sale of our old house to redo our kitchen- coming up in a few months. We're doing the whole thing all at once. We're looking at "semi-custom" cabinets that we are planning to install ourselves. We've done a kitchen remodel before and cabinets really aren't THAT hard to install. We're looking at counters, I'd love granite but that is probably out of our price range (the one we loved was $88/sq ft!!!!) but we found one made of recycled glass set in a polymer resin that looks really cool. We'll have to see what we come up with. I'll be excited to see how yours turns out. That countertop is fabulous!
Judy
Oh I love your island top! We will be doing our kitchen in the new house this Spring. I have been looking at a zillion kitchen ideas and we are thinking strongly about a butcherblock island top. Richard will be building all of my cabinets and also the butcherblock. We don't plan on anything fancy just simple but plenty of cabinets and counter space.
I do agree....can't have white flooring on a farm!!! Too much dirt and poop on a farm for that! LOL! I'm constantly sweeping ours.
Can't wait to see more of your kitchen updates
Kristie
I love, love, love the solid wood counter top on the island. That was such a great price. We are getting ready to do a kitchen in our new "old" house. Right now, it is bare walls. We tore everything out. I want a solid wood top on my island too. Blessings and continue to post those beautiful redo pics.
I love, love, love the solid wood counter top on the island. That was such a great price. We are getting ready to do a kitchen in our new "old" house. Right now, it is bare walls. We tore everything out. I want a solid wood top on my island too. Blessings and continue to post those beautiful redo pics.
Wow- I love that top! Good luck with the rest of the renovations-been there, done that- I don't envy you at all- but it will be so worth it!
Custom countertops! Well look at you fancy pants! ;)
I'm green with envy over here. My cabinets are decent, but the rest of my kitchen is "el poo". Someday...
Love It. You will love your island! My Favorite in our kitchen.
Have a great wk.
Blessins',Lib
ONG!!! Totally awesome!!!!! what a gorgeous countertop!! Amish are the best! We had some Amish guys come and do our roof two summers ago. I'm so happy for you! I have such dreams for my kitchen too, waiting waiting.
Nice. I love, love the butcher block. I have "faux" laminate butcher block. Not quite the same thing. lol. It looks very nice.
That's the best way to do things, by saving first and doing a little at a time. I love, love, love your new countertop! It is so gorgeous! That would be awesome to live near someone who does great work like that!
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