If you read my weekly pics post from Saturday, you know that our kitchen was in pretty bad shape. A while ago Owen bit through the water line going to our ice maker (it was sticking out from behind the fridge) and we didn't realize it. It leaked under our stick on floor tiles and ruined the floor.
So yesterday afternoon/evening, Bryan took our kitchen from looking like this:
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| Please pardon our mess--I forgot to take before pictures until we were in the middle of packing it all up! |
to this...
And it looks much better now. Between Bryan, my step-dad Steve and Grandpa Bill, they've taken everything apart, cleaned up the moldy floor boards, scrubbed walls, repainted (a really similar shade of green)
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| Bryan painting the chimney area. I really recommend a paint sprayer--it saves so much time! And isn't that expensive. We bought ours while redoing the upstairs of our house since it would hit the awkward angles better! |
and have the new floor boards installed.
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| Praise the Lord, the water damage wasn't as extensive as we thought, and we only had to replace half of the floor boards! |
Tomorrow, the plan is to cover the screw holes with sheet rock mud so they don't bust through the new floor, and then lay the linoleum. After doing some research, that sounded like the best floor covering for us since it's very likely to have water on it again. We picked one that is wood patterned, and I think looks nice.
Bryan is also going to redo the plumbing to the kitchen. Our house is old. All of the plumbing was installed after the house was built (our bathroom was NOT original to the design). And it needs some work. He'll start tackling that tomorrow as well. I'm so thankful to have a husband who can do so many things, and who works so hard for us!
After that, we have to stay off the new floor for at least 24 hours, so Wednesday we're heading into Spokane to pick up a couple of new cupboards.
You see, we decided to rearrange things a bit.
Our sink will be moving to the other outside wall, so now I'll be able to watch the kids play while I'm at the sink. Our stove will be taking the spot where our sink was. And I'll have some nice counter space where the stove used to be. And more cupboards!!!
I'm looking forward to it!
And I'm learning a lot about kitchen organization. You see, that's an area I really struggle with. In fact, for years our kitchen towels and dish clothes were in a drawer clear across the kitchen from our sink. One day, I decided to move them to the drawer next to the sink. It was amazing how much time in the kitchen that simple move saved! Then I went all radical and moved the pot holders in the drawer next to the stove. Can you believe it? So needless to say, my kitchen needs some serious thought as I put everything back together.
So I went online today searching for kitchen organizing tips. And was kind of discouraged because I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. We buy too much in bulk, we don't stock up on lots of cans (except tomato products), and we don't need to worry about keeping our coffee maker next to our coffee cups (since we don't drink it!)
But I did learn that every kitchen is different, and every cook has to decide to how to best lay out the space given. So I've been thinking a lot about it, and am excited to share some of what I've been learning. And planning. I think it'll be really efficient.
And I'll finally have enough space (we're adding two more full length pantry cupboards!) to put away the groceries when I do my big shopping trip. That means no more stubbing my toe on potato bags stored on the floor, oh yes it does!
Until then, I have cupboards to go wash. One of the ways we are REALLY cutting the expenses for this project is by reusing everything that we can. Home Depot still has the exact same cupboards in stock that we bought seven years ago when we first moved in. Everything can match still!
But, that means all of my dirty cupboards that are sitting on the porch are meeting some Murphy's Wood Oil Soap cleaner and sometimes some bleach water. And elbow grease. Lots, and lots of elbow grease!
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| Looks like a dysfunctional yard sale or something! |
While I go scrub cupboards, I will leave you with this, our newly designed floor plan for the kitchen. We found a great app, and used that to design. Called Mark on Call it was well worth the few dollars we paid!
The black thing in the corner is the chimney. No moving that!
The door by the full height pantry cupboards goes outside. The door directly across from that goes to our utility room.
The brown thing by the fridge is the doorway to the rest of the house. It used to have a door, but we took it down and have a gate there now. Someday (when Owen can get around the gate) a nice Dutch door will go back.
The X boxes are upper cupboards. That one was probably obvious, but I thought I'd tell you anyways!
Under the upper cupboards by the chimney (where you don't see a lower cupboard) will be counter top with empty space underneath. That's where I store my large 5 gallon buckets with flour, wheat berries and what not.
Welcome to my kitchen! I'm looking forward to sharing this project with you all!
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