House Renovation Phase Four: The Heart of the Home

We saved the "best" (eh-hem, the worst) for last- a complete
gut and remodel of the former kitchen...and we had just 8-10
days to get it done before I flew out to Hawaii, then Beijing.

Before I left for Indiana at the beginning of my
"summer vacation", we deconstructed about half of it.

The first order of business was tearing down the
wall that got rid of the 5' x 9' ham radio room.

This was our stopping point before we headed north to visit
our families.  Eventually ALL OF IT got torn out.  I had big plans!

So, in the final weeks of school the end of June, I set to work on
designing our kitchen.  I had no graph paper to work with, and I
was having trouble with some software, so I bought some paper
from the school bookstore and set to work!  This is paper that the
Chinese learn to draw their Mandarin characters, lol, or it
also works great to design a kitchen :)

I LOVE POWER TOOLS!!!!  Everything was torn out- GONE!

I loved pitching the ugliness off the balcony and down on
to the yard- so liberating!  I tried to reuse as many upper cabinets
as possible, but all the bases cabinets had to go.  They were
a homemade job out of pine and plywood.  We bought unfinished
cabinets from Home Depot, and the plan is for all of them to
be painted a bright white acrylic paint, with brushed nickel pulls.

Next we set to work measuring and placing the cabinets.
Lee had to move the 220 electric for the stove.

We got to a stopping place with hanging cabinets.
It was after 11pm, but neither of us was tired, really.
What project could we accomplish in a couple of
hours or less?  Len went and got the tile saw set up :)

I measured and marked the cuts for him to make, he ran the saw,
and I glued them down.  Just like me measuring and working the
saw when we were laying down the flooring (he runs the nailer),
once we fall into a rhythym, we are beasts!!!  In under two
hours, every base cabinet in the kitchen and island was tiled. It's
really a genius idea, no more sticky messes or cabinets getting
ruined by leaky pipes- great idea, Len :)

Another late night, hanging upper cabinets.  Remember the
uppers are a different finish, as we tried to reuse as many of
the previous cabinets as we could.  How do you like our
cooktop? We took it out of the old cabinets, lol, so it was
kind of like glorified camping this summer :)  With the cooktop,
a charcoal grill, a Cuban coffee maker, a wine bottle opener,
central AC and indoor plumbin', we were living LARGE, y'all!

Clearly we were living in a construction zone!  The bead board
you see by the stools was used to wrap the island and finish
the end cabinets.  I'm still going for a Southern Plantation feel,
with a touch of modern in the stainless appliances and
brushed nickel cabinet pulls and light fixtures.  You'll see the
full theme emerge....keep reading...

I refinished the interior window casings in a
rich walnut stain, and we continue with the
same fluted casing and corner blocks to trim it
out- the same as the guest bedroom. Notice the
upper cabinet to the right.  It was formerly a
microwave cabinet.  We cut it down, shortened
the height, and Len is going to install dowel
rods to make a plate rack for me to display
my Grandma's fiesta ware. I love that our home
will be filled with bits and pieces from both of our
  families, some from many generations back. 

It's starting to look like the little drawing I made back in China :)

This gives you a view of the island- it will be 40" x 80" inches of
stainless steel counter space to prep food. Len and I really love
to prepare and cook food together, so this was an essential :)

Painting done, crown molding up, ceiling painted- time for
light fixtures.  I am in love with my pendant light over the
sink, and the matching drum light over the dining area.  They
remind me of the top of a lighthouse.  Are you seeing a theme yet?

Next we laid the bamboo flooring in the kitchen, and later, the
dining area and the first several feet of the great room.  We had
a guy coming to measure for the granite counter tops, and our
stainless appliances were being delivered on that same day. We
wanted the flooring down before the appliances came- we made it!

Making the template for the granite looked like putting a puzzle
together for some craft project.  He went through five glue sticks for
his hot glue gun, lol.  I just had to take this pic as it has MY NAME
on the template.  I have never had granite kitchen counters in my life.
 I am so excited :)

Not long after the granite guy left, the appliance
delivery guys showed up!  Sans refrigerator- boo :(

I've never had stainless appliances, either.  We're building my
DREAM KITCHEN, y'all!

Once they left, Len set to work wiring and installing the
above stove microwave.  How sexy is he, working with
his shirt off and his hat backwards?!?!  Oh. my. stars.

Tah-Dah!!!

With bamboo flooring down, paint up, cabinets and
appliances in, I had to go digging through my suitcase!
I grabbed a sheet of glass tiles that will be used for our
back splash, and I dug out the rug I bought in Indiana
when I visited my Emily.  It all matches beautifully:)
So, I wanted my kitchen and great room to be a rather
subtle tribute to the ocean, my first love.  I didn't
want it to be in-your-face nautical, or Keys' kitsch. There is
the blue paint color on the kitchen walls, what looks like sea
 glass in the back splash, the stainless appliances like the grey
sky when storms appear on the horizon, the white cabinets
like the white sea foam on the waves, the nautical looking
lights, the sand colored paint in the great room, and all of it
is anchored in these rich bamboo floors. It's like sailing in to a
safe harbor in the islands. I freakin' love it!!!

In a moment of post wine celebrations toasting our
hard work, we took it upon ourselves to put up
the wavy stainless track light over the island.  It was
like a one inch wide 6 ' roll of stainless that you could bend
in to any shape at all. In spite of two bottles of wine...
I think it also came out beautifully. No whine was involved.

I JUST LOVE IT WHEN A P-L-A-N COMES TOGETHER!

Unfortunately, the kitchen was only about 85% finished when I had to leave.  We couldn't install the tile back splash until the granite gets installed (in September). Len wants to change out all the cheapo plastic slides in all the drawers to ball bearing ones (to satisfy the former cabinet maker in him :) Then he will paint the cabinets and install their hardware. We also need to locate a metal shop in Ft. Myers that will make the stainless steel island counter top for us, and he has the plate rack to finish....when all of that happens, we'll be the next ones to host the neighborhood happy hour at 5 o'clock on Fridays.  We have some awesome new neighbors :)

G'nite, y'all!

(10 days' work as far as we could take it, two days of rest, and then off to Hawaii- stay tuned)