What Ana Does

The Pantry, the little room off the kitchen, was a big selling point when we toured this house. It was full of cabinets and had a door on it that was ideal for storing platers and appliances, and tossing things I didn't want people to see while hosting.  But, it was also an afterthought to the owners. The cabinets were shoe-horned in, the floor was still an ancient linoleum and the counter was clearly just remnants from another job, which was clear due to a big crack in one piece. But it had a door, so it was livable.   I laid out the vinyl floor tiles when we first moved in five years ago. But they've since started to wiggle around on the floor. So a decision needed to be made, do I replace the moving tile pieces, or do we go for the renovation we've been putting off thanks to bigger projects.  This pantry should have been done with the rest of the kitchen , but budgets got tight, so it became a phase 2. Well ... it was time to tackle it because another vinyl tile j...

One of the last shopping items on my list was to find matching chairs for the kitchen table. My first idea was to find thrifted chairs and paint them all black. I've seen the look on Pinterest many times and it's awesome.  But after digging through all the online shops and striking out at the ReStore (twice), I found black metal chairs that matched the white metal stools at the island. Great idea, right? And the price was less than most of the chairs I was looking at.  (Here's the Wayfair link to the black metal chairs I bought.) Notice that I have two matching light-wood chairs we bought from Crate & Barrel back when Leah was born -- 16 years ago! -- and are no longer sold by that company, unfortunately.  The matching black matches the light fixtures all over the kitchen. And they're more comfortable than you'd think.  And last ... here's the kitchen table area with the finished floors. They're almost a light blonde and giving some Scandi vibes and I LO...

 I can't take enough pictures of our new kitchen. It's been a total game changer EVERYDAY.  I love all the light fixtures and options to light the space. I love the huge sink and cleaning it up each night. I love that I can see the TV, so I can watch Ted Lasso while I'm making dinner by myself. And that all of us can be preparing food in there at the same time, because there are several prep space options.  On the other side of the kitchen, I'm so glad we added these cabinets, in BLUE, to the space and basically doubling the size of the kitchen. It's amazing! I have my coffee station over there and all the cookbooks and baking pans are in the cabinet. It's handy. And PRETTY. The Nova color on the cabinets in the kitchen table area is just my favorite!  Then I added this horizontal panels to this part of the wall, an attempt to do that design trick and "tie" it in with the wood oven hood. It's rustic and interesting. It's the first thing you see...

During our kitchen renovation, our walk-in pantry got outlets! (Nope, there were no outlets in there before -- crazy, right?!)  That was a huge addition to this wonderfully useful room that houses all our small appliances and servingware, like bowls and glass jars. We can now use those small appliances in the pantry, rather than carting them out to the kitchen counter.  It's on the list, at some point, to replace the Formica countertops, laminate floors and add a backsplash in here, but not at this time. So I painted the room this moody blue and came up with a FREE solution to the backsplash.  Chalk pen!  This was too easy. I got a level and a scrap board and made horizontal lines along the wall with a white chalk pen. Then, added horizontal lines to connect. Voila!  It was really just as easy as that.  The best part, it's all chalk, so if I decide I don't like it or want to try another design, I just wipe it off with a wet sponge.  There's nothing I a...

This is our first kitchen renovation, we'd done bathrooms and basements before, and I'm learning a whole lot about how this is all done. Sure, I've learned a bunch from my HGTV shows, but it's obviously far from the real thing. 1. Put your plan up on the wall! As much as I like our contractor Bruce and the guys he brings in to do the jobs, he forgets a lot about the details of the OUR VISION. A perfect example: the plumbers had to come back and hide more plumbing because he forgot we're not having upper cabinets. Taking the advice of some Instagram home designers I follow, I tacked up the cabinet plan and other views on the wall of the kitchen. So I, or Bruce or anyone else around, can reference them.  We've pointed to them so many times in the last few weeks, they're super super important. You have to expect these guys are working on other jobs, so they don't have your plan memorized. This helps so much.  2. Be on sight as much as possible and check in...

Wow. Once the walls went up to cover all the holes the plumber and electrician needed, the kitchen room looked so much BIGGER! With a clean ceiling thanks to no more soffits, the room just looks so wide! We had daydreamed what the kitchen would look like without the soffits but seeing it was a whole other thing.  TOTALLY WORTH IT! I was also amazed by all the new sightlines. Never before could you see the patio door from the front hallway, and now you can thanks to the new openings in the dividing wall. That additional longer view and all the sunshine hitting new places ... I just can't get over it. Now imagine all the white cabinets and walls, the additional lighting and warm wood accents -- and this kitchen is going to be a beauty!  Progress is slow and steady -- the steady part I'm happy about, the slow, no so much. I wish I could get 8 more guys in here working. But this is just the reality, I guess. And the drywall process has been LOUD. Lots of sawing and drilling pieces...

While we were away, our GC started the kitchen renovation with the demo! It went from this ...  To this ...  Week two is over and the plumbing is done and electrician is underway. It might take him the week to finish up and get the inspections done. But after next week, we should start seeing this room get put back together again. There are decisions to make every day -- from position of sconces to where I want light switches and outlets. I've got to come up with a plan for the trim on columns and where the family room panelling should end and sheetrock will start.    Here's the design concept post for a preview of what's to come. 

I've looked at a lot of design inspiration photos for kitchens, and given the style of the house, my "modern colonial" theme, and what I think will last the next decade, this is the two directions I'm considering for the new kitchen:  I'm really drawn to the green, white and black option. The butcher block counters, the bold floors and subway tile on the wall is just the modern statement I want to make, but simple so hits that colonial vibe. On the other hand, bright white would give me the light and airy kitchen that sitting in the middle of our home -- with no direct sunlight -- would need. I also really love those slate black floors.  So, I ordered a few samples of tile. And looking at a ton more pictures to get my direction.  I also worked up a few sketches for our contractor to piece together some estimates, and some inspiration images so he knew where we were going. Because our next step is getting the COSTS and deciding if all of this is actually realistic....

It's starting! We have our first meeting with the contractor we used in the basement to talk about the KITCHEN remodel. That's right, it's time to tackle this crazy, dark kitchen!  One thing you need to know: Dave and I have been talking about a kitchen remodel for about 9 years. If you recall, the kitchen in our last house was OK, workable, but certainly nearing retirement. And we talked often about our wish list and what we'd do.  I had a pretty good layout in my head and have looked at hundreds of inspirational photos. So we're not walking in cold. If I'm being honest, I regret not tackling that kitchen in Illinois years ago. It had such potential and I carried that picture in my head for years, so it was sad to not see it get done. Though, I don't think we would have seen the return on investment, even in the crazy market. It would just been my satisfaction of knowing I gave that great house a great kitchen. But I digress.  This kitchen in our Modern Col...