The sound of ice falling into the ice maker. The smell of fresh popcorn. The feel of running water over your hands while washing dishes. Sounds funny to say, but those are the things I am excited to welcome back into our kitchen.
We’ve been in our new home for about a month now. The day we first saw this house, we loved it. Similar to picking out my wedding dress, this house was the first one we looked at in real life, and it didn't take us long to realize that it was
the one. Great yard, big ol' trees and an awesome deck. But from the moment we walked in, I didn’t like the colors of the kitchen and couldn’t wait to do some work on it. We toyed with the idea of only painting the walls and cabinets at first and waiting to do the rest of the kitchen update in phases. But as we came across a few issues such as the microwave being installed less than a foot and a half above the cooktop, a 24-inch wall oven that you couldn't fit a cookie sheet in and no pantry, we quickly realized that we would need to go ahead and take the plunge to update all of the kitchen at once.
This being our first remodel experience, it’s been a learning process for us both. First of all, it’s taken quite a bit more time that I originally envisioned. There were some days where the time factor began to wear on us, and we were having trouble seeing the light at the end of the remodeling tunnel. But after about a month, we are practically done. I’m so looking forward to posting before and after pictures that I might go ahead and do that before e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g is done. We still need to do a little touch up paint, caulk and trim, order a hood/fan to install above the stove and build a window seat and shelves next to it. But considering all we’ve accomplished, that is a very small list, which continues to dwindle.
The remodel has also taught us to get creative when it comes to cooking. Because the kitchen was a working zone, all of our dishes, cutting boards, knives, utensils, pots and pans, etc. remained packed up in one of the bedrooms. And the fridge, pantry, and microwave were in the garage. And once we ripped out the countertops and sink, we no longer had running water in the kitchen making it difficult to wash what dishes we did pull out for necessity.
Washing dishes in the bathroom sink.
Clean dishes air drying in the laundry room.
We ate plenty of grilling, take out and had two awesome moms bring us some home baked meals with love to help us through too.
Slowly but surely, things have made their way back to their rightful places in our new kitchen. And as of this morning (now that the kitchen sink has running water again), we officially have a fully furnished/functioning kitchen. This has been just as exciting as putting my dishes away into the freshly painted cabinets. Can't wait to try out that new sink and wash them in it!
My dishes in their new "home." (and a sneak peak of our new kitchen pictures coming soon!)
I know the years will pass away quickly, and we’ll soon forget the inconveniences of our first few weeks of living here. And I guess that’s how it should be. But for now, every time we go in the kitchen, we just stop and enjoy all the work that’s done.
