Operation: Kitchen!!!

Wow, what a busy {crazy!} couple of months it has been!! The traveling and friends' visits have died down, but we're again right back in the throws of chaos!! For two years now, I've been bugging Kevin to take down the wall between our kitchen and workout room to open up the space and have a huge kitchen/eat-in dining area. It just makes a lot of sense... We'll be able to enjoy it, the resale of our house increases, etc... But for two years he's been telling me to politely, "take a hike!" :)

Well... (and I pat myself on the back as I type this) he caved - and has now admitted what a fabulous idea this was!! The past month or so has been a whirlwind of contractors, granite, cabinets and tile and today was "D Day!" Demoliton Day... We officially began our kitchen renovation!!!

Over the next 4-5 weeks, our kitchen will be transformed into the space that it was always meant to be. Somewhere where we can entertain friends and family and just be in a beautiful space where everyone gathers and feels at home. We can't wait for the everything to be installed and see it all come together. It's been a loooong time comin'!

As I said before, demolition started today. The "before" pictures were taken this weekend. Our contractor gave me a hammer this morning and said to take a few swings, which I obviously loved doing (see the smile on my face!) See ya ugly kitchen!!!) The plan was to take down a wall between the workout room and kitchen, making a 20 foot by 12 foot kitchen. As it stands, the view from our living room is two doors, one to each room. The new space will block off the WR door and widen the kitchen door. We're installing new cabinets, countertops, appliances, tile backsplash, hardwoods and a kick ass 5 1/2 foot island.

Here are the pictures - excuse the mess, we were packing :)


The Before - Kitchen

Another shot of the kitchen

Looking into the kitchen from the living room...wall on the left near the flowers is the one being removed

Workout room from the living room

Another shot of the workout room, wall with the painting is being removed

Oh yeah - watch out, mama's got a hammer!

See ya wall!

Workout room door framed and sheetrocked... kitchen door that has the plastic covering will be widened 18" to mirror our front entryway

View out to the back of the house/deck - these windows and slider will remain where they are

That area that juts out is the existing chimney - a 4-foot pantry will be built in next to it...
Here is the floor plan.....



Lots still to do - I'm currently in tile HELL! I can't decide what I want for the backsplash - the whole theme and color of the kitchen is dependent on it. This is a BIG decision and I'm definitely taking my time on it! Any suggestions on tile backsplash are welcome!

Stay tuned for more updates and pictures...