kitchen follow-ups

Thank you for all of the nice comments on our kitchen. I know I’ve shown it a million times, but I realized that my old post from my old blog didn’t transfer the photos when we moved to this new site, so I figured I should do a new one.  Anyway, thanks for looking {again}.

In answer to some questions:

1. We do drink coffee {you know, being from Seattle and all} and it is kept in the butler’s pantry {between the kitchen and dining room}.

coffee  coffee 2

Don’t judge too harshly the fact that the butler’s pantry is unfinished {and has been for the past two years … we are really great at starting projects, but not so great at finishing them}. One of these days we’ll get around to adding the molding and putting the light switch plates back on. Geesh.

2. We also eat food. It is stored in the pantry that is across from the coffee station in the butler’s pantry.

pantry

Our enormous microwave lives here.  Because it is not an appliance we use on a daily basis, we really didn’t want it taking up space on the counter. So we stuck it in the pantry.

pantry jars

Ryan went on an organizing kick one day and went crazy with the jars {from IKEA}.  It is really nice to be able to see everything and the jars have rubber seals on the lids that keep things surprisingly fresh.

3. Our table looks like this most of the time:

table

I enjoy a tidy space, but for some reason paper, pencils and markers strewn about the table doesn’t bother me too much. We like that the boys are artistic and making these items easily accessible is important to us. Glue, stickers, paint, etc. is kept in a bin in the pantry for other crafts, but mostly the boys just like to draw. And use tape. We go through lots of tape.

4. The files were a find from Goodwill. Ryan inherited an eye for treasures from his mom. It was originally the most terrible hot pink you’ve ever seen so we sprayed it with a million coats of white paint to cover. I just added stickers for the numbers.

IMG_8730

I haven’t found anything just like this, but here are a couple of hanging wall files that would work equally well:

ballard

{ballard designs}

pottery barn

{pottery barn}

5. That big picture above the bench is a topographical map of Mt.Rainier.

mt rainier

Ryan has summited the mountain a couple of times because he is amazing like that and someday he is hoping to take the boys up the mountain with him.

6. We kept the white appliances that came with the house. Of course I love the look of fancy stainless commercial grade ones, but a} we didn’t have the budget b}our appliances were brand new and c} I actually like the look of white appliances with white cabinets. They blend in well.

7. Other than the granite installation, we did all of the work ourselves. I sanded and painted the cabinets {with oil-based paint using a small foam roller} and Ryan did all of the demolition and construction. I am pretty thankful that my husband is so handy. When we don’t know how to do something, we just sort of wing it. So don’t look too closely or you may see that things are not perfect. But it works.

8. Our {approximate} breakdown of costs:

kitchen cost

I’m pretty sure there are more expenses that I did not account for {nails for the nail gun, electrical wiring, many trips to the hardware store picking up some little piece of trim or screw that we had forgotten}. A remodel is always more expensive than you think it will be.  We tried to come up with a less expensive counter surface {we played with the idea of pouring our own concrete countertops which is what I really wanted, but it was too risky} and without the granite, the kitchen facelift would have been very affordable. But the granite was worth it as it is sturdy and looks nice and will hopefully add value to our home when we sell it.

Okay, are you kitchened out? I will not show any more photos of it for a while.

Or at least until I redecorate the shelves. 

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