my kitchen!

...this is my kitchen as i envision in in my mind. maybe you can see the 2 sample counter chips- they are a pretty mottled blue, with grey and black flecks. one is shiny, and the other is matte. not sure which one I'll pick yet, but I'm leaning towards the shiny one.

...and here we have the healthy dose of reality! this is the kitchen as it looks now! (remember, I'm the eternal optimist!) there is also a picture of how the kitchen looked on the day we bought the house in the blog "in the beginning" it's the second picture.

when we bought the house, there was a kitchen, of sorts, but it was awful. the cabinets were plastic and other than the sink, that was pretty much it for traditional kitchen. in the course of the ripping out, Dave decided that the kitchen has to go. so now I'll get a newly designed Lowe's kitchen much sooner than i thought. i enjoyed designing my kitchen. it was very painless, and i was surprised at how easy and quick it was. there was so much to choose from, but we had already decided on white cabinets- that would look kind of old and farmhousey. i just told the guy what i wanted, and a few clicks of the mouse later, he printed out my pictures. all this will have to wait, though, until the foundation issues in the addition are resolved, sometime this spring.

so meanwhile, i continue to dream... and plan. mark W. was up in the beginning of march, and graciously offered to help. (didn't have to ask twice!!) he wired the kitchen for us. but before he did that, he took out the end window, and also took out the door, and made that into a window. i had decided to change things around, since the kitchen was very inefficiently laid out, with 5 doors and 2 windows. it was going to be impossible to have an eat-in kitchen, which is what we want. with this new layout, we have a more normal sounding 2 doors and 2 windows.

we really enjoyed having mark for the day, and i know that it was a big help to Dave to have him. mark just took off, and worked his way around the room- ripping out windows and doors, and replacing the door with our new window. then he ran all the wires, making sure that we would have enough plugs and switches- and before the day was done, we had a safely and efficiently wired kitchen! we are thankful for good friends like mark, and his son D.

this is the second kitchen that mark has worked on for me- he did most of the renovations on the high street kitchen. after i had closed on that house, he told me that i should watch the movie "the money pit", starring tom hanks and some lady. (can't remember who at the moment) i took his advice, and after i was done watching it, i was a bit panicked! obviously, we didn't watch that movie again before buying this house! anyway, it's always fun to have mark around, and we both would give our eye teeth to have been a fly on the wall at his house, and hear what he said to Kathy when he got home that night!

it's slow, but it's progress!

Dave has been working on the kitchen steadily, and we're definitely making progress. it's just very slow, and so much work needs to be done before we can even THINK about installing the cabinets, that it's hard not to get impatient...

before i go any further, i just wanted to let you know that i finally got the kitchen to-do list in the side bar. so even when i don't have time to post, i will keep that list current. we've gotten some things done on that list already! (i just love lists- but better yet- crossing things off!) also, i put in a little poll. what do you like about your kitchen? is there anything that you would change? register your vote on the poll, and then let me know your favorite (and not-so- favorite) in the comments. who knows, you could save us from making a huge blunder in our own kitchen! or even give us a really great, last minute idea to incorporate before it's too late!

here you can see just how much we moved over the kitchen wall. it's about 24", and Dave did a great job blending the old ceiling with the new. when it's painted, you won't even be able to tell. (and of course, that was the whole point!)


this east wall is being re-insulated, with both roll insulation and fan fold. then the plywood goes on the wall where the cabinets will be hung. my sink is now officially gone. it's in the laundry room, where it rightfully belongs, but it sure is a pain not to have a sink in the kitchen! (but we do have the dishwasher, still)

here is the first piece of drywall in the kitchen. yippee! Dave got it hung late last night. he'll continue with the drywall all the way around, and then go back and start leveling the floor for the cabinets. then i can spackle and paint. won't it be so nice not to have naked insulation in the kitchen anymore?

this is our worthless feline cat, spooky. she's not minding the mess one little bit!

we're definitely making progress!

Dave has had the last 4 days off, and he's been working very hard in the kitchen. we've made alot of progress, and if you haven't been keeping up with the running tab in the side bar, I've got pictures for you tonight, so you can see what we've been up to.

the kitchen is now all drywalled- and only days away from being ready to paint! that's exciting news, as for the last 8 months, we've been looking at the studs and insulation. that alone has made a big improvement in the kitchen, and I'm anxious to get it painted.

A is always daddy's willing helper, and here she's helping him measure something. tonight she came into the kitchen, struggling to carry her little chair. she wanted to help daddy hold the drywall.

even though it's been over three weeks since we've started on the kitchen, it took until tonight to hang the first cabinet! there is alot of preparation that Dave needs to do, but we sure were happy to hang some of our cabinets tonight. it's good for the morale!

A is back in the kitchen, this time to help daddy screw in the soffit. this will get a painted trim board along the top, so it will look much better when it's done. and here's the cause for celebration- 3 cabinets hung! it's really starting to look like a kitchen in there! tomorrow we will start installing some of the back splash. I'm anxious to see how that will look. (this is what we're using for our backsplash. it's a reproduction of an old tin ceiling. we got it at Lowe's.)

here is the ceiling we re-did. after moving the wall over 24", we were concerned that the old and new ceiling would not blend in. i was able to get the whole ceiling painted yesterday, and aside from where i still need to paint after the textured paint cures, you can't even tell where the seam is. we are very happy about that!

so, onward and upward! every day gets a little bit better, and i sure am excited about getting a sink back in the kitchen soon!

finishes and progress!

life has been busy here... a "big" upgrade started here in our house 2 months ago, when the 4ft.  lightbulb in the laundry room died. what started as a quite simple "hey, Dave, can you please put a new light in the laundry room fixture" turned into:

1. buying a NEW light fixture for the laundry room. (in the 13 years since it was installed, those 4ft bulbs became obsolete, requiring another fixture altogether...) 
2. drywalling the laundry room ceiling
3. finishing ALL. THE. TRIM. in the laundry room
4. painting the laundry room ceiling
5. installing new "luxury" vinyl plank flooring in the laundry room
6. closing the access hole between the  laundry room and the master bathroom
7. installing new "luxury" vinyl plank flooring in the mudroom
8. finishing ALL. THE. TRIM. in the mudroom
9. painting all the trim in the laundry room (white)
10. painting all the trim in the mudroom (tan)
11. painting the bathroom ceiling (!?)
12. painting the bathroom wainscoting
13. replacing the sink base cabinet in the kitchen
14. getting a new sink/faucet for the kitchen
15. installing new quartz countertops in the kitchen
16. installing a new granite island countertop in the kitchen
17. finishing ALL. THE. TRIM. in the kitchen
18. painting all the trim in the kitchen (white)
19. painting MORE trim in the kitchen (yellow)
20. i think that's the end of the list... 

so, actually, our *tiny* home improvement project became a lot like the book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. (there are several books like that- If You Give A Moose A Muffin... If You Give A Pig A Pancake...) I'm sure you're familiar with these delightful children's books...

anyway- NOT complaining at all! we really stalled out in the home improvement/DIYprojects in the last 10 years or so. it's really nice to have these 3 rooms DONE! 

so: on to the quilty stuff- i know that's why you really came! 

February is aqua- and i have more than i thought... i made all these HSTs, in the "magic numbers" of 3, 6 and 9. (read more about them, and magic numbers here.)

while cleaning/tidying some of my baskets in the sewing room last month, i came across these fabric sayings on a panel. i divided them up into quilty sayings, Christmas sayings and bible verses. i decided to work with the quilty sayings first. 

i remembered that i had some pieces left over from a Kona cotton honey bun after piecing this quilt for my 3rd granddaughter, AK. i thought to improvise log cabin piecing around each saying. again, i used the "magic numbers" theory, cutting each block/rectangle some variation of a 6", 9" or 12" square or rectangle. 

 and finally- here's the shoo fly and donut quilt (one of them) that I pieced during RSC21. it's all finished and on its way to the PA Relief Sale. 

so, now you're caught up on the recent happenings in our neck of the woods. (mostly, anyway!) thanks for stopping by. I'll be linking up to Angie, our hostess with the mostest for all things RSC. and stay tuned: i started a few more RSC projects that I'll be sharing about shortly... 

if you care to see our kitchen in its raw, recently purchased state, and follow along on our progress in fixing it up, just click here. 

and here's a bit of the back story (and cool features!) of our mud room. (just read the first couple posts. they're the most relevant)

my kitchen, it's coming!

*edited to add new info at end*

yesterday was a pretty momentous day- dave ordered our new kitchen cabinets! whoopie-doo! I've written about my kitchen before, but now we are actually starting to move forward. sort-0f. here is the design that i updated at Lowe's last week. it's pretty much the same as what we originally planned on, we are just moving the wall out a little bit to accommodate those 2 extra cabinets. i even colored the picture, so you could see what the kitchen will look like when it's done! so now all that we have to do before the cabinets come in and we can install them is to: put heat in the back rooms, drywall the utility room ceiling, finish the butler's pantry, finish the roof on the back half of the addition, drywall the MB so it's not so honking windy in there, close up all the BIG windy leaks in the back rooms, move out the kitchen wall 36", drywall the kitchen, and paint the kitchen.

that's it.

no biggie!

here's a picture of my kitchen sink. Dave picked it out. (I'm seeing a trend going here- he picked out my stove, dishwasher, and now sink!) but that's OK. maybe you can see the tiny little price tag up in the right hand corner? this sink was $299, but reduced to $248. but wait- they were re-doing the sink display, and were going to throw all the sinks away, but decided to sell them instead. for $25. yes. no decimal typo there. $25. so maybe I'll let Dave pick out a few more appliances. as long as next time he brings home one of those front loading washers for $99!

my new kitchen is almost done, and it's wonderful!

it's been a long haul, these last few weeks. and as Dave says, it has to get worse before it gets better. (at least, i think he was the one who said that!) i will say that ripping apart and making a HUGE mess remodeling the kitchen has not been as bad as i thought it would be. we haven't eaten as many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as i originally thought we would, either. however, egg sandwiches are another matter altogether...

remodeling the kitchen has required some flexibility on my part, as you can well imagine. besides having to look at the naked dishwasher, there was the minor detail of working around all the drill bits, screws, glue guns, levels, drills, shims and miscellaneous tools and shelves strewn about. good luck on finding that bowl or spatula that you really need to finish cooking dinner...

but in the end, it is all worth it. well worth it! Dave has done an amazing job, plus he's very thorough and meticulous, and as a result, the kitchen looks outstanding! i really like how this window over the kitchen sink turned out. Dave is an excellent finish carpenter!


all the base cabinets are in, and when the counter top comes in, we can install the rest of the upper cabinets. (they will be at the extreme left in this photo. you can't really see that spot.) for now I'm functioning with some plywood and cardboard counters, but it sure is a huge improvement over what i had before! Dave will temporarily install my sink sometime this week, and it will surely be a relief to have a sink in the kitchen again!

this is the other side of the kitchen. i decided to hang the tin Noah's ark sculpture between the windows. i like the way that looks, but there is still a dilemma about where to put the clock. there is still some work to be done on our checklist, but the bulk of it is done, at least until the counter top comes in. then I'll get my remaining 3 cabinets, and have just a little bit more storage room. the majority of food stuff is out of the hutch, and i will begin to slowly bring down all my mother's china and other kitchen things that have been packed away in the attic for the last 17 months.

although, the question begs to be asked, if I've survived without all that stuff this long, do i really need it at all? i could just have a yard sale, and sell the boxes for $20 each. that could help pay for all the cabinet knobs and drawer pulls, which were outrageously expensive. I'll have to give that some thought...

it's feast or famine around here, i guess!

I'm sorry for neglecting you, all my faithful bloggy friends (and relatives!) the kitchen work just rolls right along, and the laundry just keeps piling up...

we have several more cabinets hung, and Dave has started putting in the tin back splash. it's easier that way, and the laser level makes that job a snap. we are really thrilled with how it's all turning out.
this week i painted the kitchen, as Dave finally gave the go-ahead that he was satisfied with the quality of his spackling job. i knew that i wanted the kitchen yellow, but was really undecided as to what particular yellow. what I've been doing for several of my painting projects is looking at the paint chips at Lowe's, and choosing a color that is in the National Trust for Historic Preservation. apparently, this is an exclusive thing to Lowe's, and their line of Valspar paint. the yellow that we settled on (and yes, Dave approved of the choice!) is Mark Twain House yellow. and yellow it is. no doubt about that! it was quite late at night until i was done painting, and i was not so sure that i would like the color in the bright daylight. but, i can unreservedly say now that i really, really like it. really. (and Dave and the boys do, too, although they did say it takes some getting used to!) it is a very old looking yellow, and adds some character and depth to the kitchen. (if that is even possible to do with a gallon of paint.) when i get all the white trim touched up, and Dave trims the windows, it will look even better.

we have a tin Noah's Ark sculpture that Dave and M brought back from Haiti last year. i am undecided whether to hang it at the end of the table, or between the two windows. we do want to hang it in the kitchen though, as it will go nicely with the "tin theme" that we have going on. it will also remind us to daily pray for our friends, the Andersons, who are serving down at the mission house and clinic full time. i had considered asking all you readers to weigh in with your input about where to hang Noah and his friends, but since NOBODY did my last poll, i figured I'd just wing it on my own...

i took just a couple pictures of the other end of the kitchen- the door to the left of the hutch goes into the laundry room, and the doorway leads into the *grand* hallway. (BTW, G made me that little shcnerenschnitte picture for Christmas. i really like it- and have high hopes that he'll make me a few more!)

meanwhile, the mess in the other end of the kitchen just keeps getting worse, and spreading... dave is famous for that. but i guess we'll keep him. he's pretty handy to have around, and i've grown kind of attached to him...

it's going to be a momentous day!

the kitchen has been at a virtual standstill for the last several weeks while we waited for our counter top to come in. last week it finally came in, and Dave wasted no time in installing the portion to the left of the stove. not that that's in, we can install the rest of the cabinets there- the appliance garage and lazy susan, as well as the remaining cabinet next to it as well as over the fridge. it has been a relief to have a counter top that is stable, and best of all, cleanable! the cardboard that was a stand-in was getting a little rough looking!

today (and yesterday as well) have been Dave's days off, and he's been working very hard at getting the other part of the counter top in. it's been a bit more difficult, simply because the one leg almost 10 feet long! but late yesterday afternoon, the counter top was in, and fastened down. that meant that we could finally move on to the part of the new kitchen that we've all been waiting for: THE SINK!

Dave is cutting out the cardboard pattern for the sink hole.

making the final cut in the counter top

last night he put the sink in the hole, fastened it down, and ran the bead of silicone caulk all around the edge to seal it off. this morning already he's in the kitchen working again, and the priority of the day is to get the sink installed, plumbed and water running!

it's been over 2 months now that we've been working on the kitchen, and it's certainly come a long way- no doubt about that! we still have some things to finish up, and would like to get them done before it's time to head outside for our spring chores. remodeling the kitchen has not been nearly as inconvenient as i thought it might be, and not quite as messy either. in the end, of course it's all worth it. we have a beautiful new kitchen, and we can all be proud at the good job that Dave did. but most of all, we'll be thankful for running water in the kitchen!

it's not HOT, it's downright chilly!

earlier this week, Dave and the boys finished with the house wrap, and it did make a difference in the warmth factor of the house. that is, until the temperature dropped to below 20 degrees.

then we quickly found out that with the heat not hooked up in the laundry room and utility room, those unheated areas were sucking out alot of heat from the main living areas of the house. more than you would think, actually. it's a brisk 62 degrees in here as i type.

Dave has been working tirelessly on the heat in the back rooms, it's just that there are often so many steps to be completed before he can do whatever project he has in mind. today it was ripping out, at least partially, the wall between the kitchen and utility room. we are moving that wall over 24", to make the kitchen a bit bigger, which will be a good thing, as the kitchen is quite small, given the size of the rest of the house. (but I'm not complaining!) the wall needs to be moved now, as Dave will be running the baseboard heat along that wall. but first, G was given the job of ripping out the plaster and lath on that small wall, and the ceiling above. of course, that has created a LARGE mess in the kitchen, with a fine layer of plaster dust all over everything. (and pretty much all over the whole downstairs. again.) i need to clean that up, and in fact, should really be doing that right now. after the plaster and lath was off, Dave discovered that there is no insulation in the kitchen ceiling, which would help explain why the kitchen is always so cold. so off he dashed to Lowe's, and came home with an insulation blower, and many bags of the insulation, which is basically just shredded up newspaper. which we just paid $10 a bag for. but i digress.... so i helped him do the insulation, and G finished the little bit of ceiling in the utility room with fiber glass insulation, and maybe we are officially, almost all done.

maybe.

dumping in the insulation. kind of fun, actually.

the huge grinder just whirls it around and around, and it gets sucked through the hose, and blown where ever you want it. also many places that you don't want it. and don't even think about sticking your arm down there!

Dave is blowing the insulation in between the joists in the kitchen ceiling. now it even says LOWE'S LOWE'S LOWE'S LOWE'S LOWE'S LOWE'S on the inside of my house. these people should really be paying us some serious money, i tell you! big, mucho money.

i digress again. so now, instead of just plaster dust all over, there is also a layer of shredded newspaper dust. all over. but i should be glad that i had not finished started cleaning up the plaster, since i can just do it all at once now. yippee. because i just really LOVE to clean.

so I'm off. and I'll be busy for awhile. it's not looking good for my list in the utility room. but at least i have a good excuse...

because now that summer is over, clearly, it's time to build the summer kitchen

the summer kitchen was on the to-do list, but it was very close to the bottom. however, after we were blessed with the gift of an industrial propane stove, we decided that we should build the summer kitchen sooner, rather than later, in order to be good stewards of God's provision.


Dave paced out the walls of the summer kitchen, making it a nice size. then we made it just a bit bigger, (14' x 14') since that's how things seem to go around here! (just last week, B told Dave he needed to make the tractor shed a little bit bigger! even though he built it 33% bigger than he originally intended, it's still too small!)

besides the wonderful blessing of our stove, i also wanted to get the kitchen done in time for turkey butchering November 23. it looks so much more professional to be butchering on stainless steel counters with a sink and running water, as opposed to working on a wobbly card table in the side yard...

Dave and G quickly got the posts set, and the framing done.

next was the rafters and green tin roof.

already we can see so many advantages to having this building- butchering pigs, chickens, deer and turkeys, canning/freezing, church picnics, and as a staging area for the produce both for the CSA and farmer's market.

here Dave and G are digging out the extra dirt, preparing for a layer of river bottom stone.

now, most people when they look at this window, would think that it's a wonderful idea to have a little window up high, for ventilation.

however, if you're like most people, you would be wrong. this little window is for shooting groundhogs. the view of this window is that of the lower garden, affording Dave a perfect spot to hide out and shoot those pesty little varmints!

A and B call this little attic/storage area their tree house. already they've had snack and play time up there.

of course the girls are happy to ride along with daddy in the tractor or wagon. the bucket on the tractor sure makes it handy to load those nice gravely stones. Dave and G spread the stones over the floor of the kitchen, making it a good base to pour the concrete onto.

lastly, Dave rented a tamper, and tamped the living daylights out of the stones on the floor. this way (in theory) the cement slab will not settle and crack.

tomorrow we have 4 yards of cement coming, along with 2 friends and their wheelbarrows to help pour the cement. along with fresh home made donuts and coffee, it should be a pretty interesting day!