Changes in the Kitchen

Remember what our kitchen looked like when we moved into our house?
Then we did a little work...
In July Ashley, Graham and Eden came to visit and Graham helped Britton install wood on the ceiling.
It looks great! Can't wait to post pictures of our recent progress!

Before

What is the most important thing about renovations?.... Before and Afters, of course! Here is a peak at what we have been working with the past few months.

Living Room
Master Bedroom
Screened Porch
Master Bath
Living Room

Kitchen

Guest Bath

Den

Kitchen & Den

Guest Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

The barn

And this is one of my favorite spots, the arbor.

Craving a Kitchen

Eight weeks down and seven weeks to go!! We ripped out our kitchen in the middle of May and we are over half way through our summer with no kitchen. This kitchen featured in Southern Accents is the kitchen I drool over as I hunger for our kitchen to be complete!

Amateur Gardener

Britton and I built a raised bed garden this spring. I have to admit the garden has not been a priority since we have been working on the house.

The garden often does not get watered or loved. So you can imagine our suprise to see this large cucumber appear basicly overnight. While I cannot exactly claim the blueberry- it was a nice suprise left by the previous owner.

The Barn

When Britton and I were first looking for a house to call home, this barn made our future home a true diamond in the rough.

Britton used the pressure washer to revitalize the barn first. In this picture the bottom half has been pressure washed.

After finding the perfect shade of Red (Benjamin Moore Cottage Red) let the spraying begin.

And the final details!

Appliance Delivery

I ordered the appliances for our kitchen over Memorial Day weekend. Knowing how much I love to cook, Britton and my mom urged me to get what I wanted and not sacrifice in the kitchen. The vent hood is from Home Depot. It arrived several weeks ago and Britton already put up the blocking in the wall for it to mount it.

Britton and I did not want to have all stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, so we bought the Jenn- Air floating glass appliances. I am esspecially thrilled about the range and refrigerator. The range is duel fuel, the cook top is gas and the oven is electric.
The refrigerator is also Jenn-Air. It is cabinet depth which means it won't stick out as far into the kitchen as the old refrigerator did.The dishwasher is a Kenmore. It is a consumer reports best buy.

Now I can't wait to see the kitchen come together and actually be able to cook in the kitchen (although that may be months away).

Designer's Delima

Today I read the latest blog post by Erica at Urban Grace Interiors. Is it bad that her frustration made me feel better about my week?

A group of talented and speedy electricians came to our house this week to rewire the house and put in the recessed can lighting. I typically specify Halo brand can lights, but the electrician asked if I would use Progress Lighting because he could get a better deal on them. I agreed; I am always looking for a better deal!

When I got home I was horrified to see this hanging out of my ceiling.

I freaked out! The things that I prevent from happening at my client's house had happened at my own house! After dinner with some friends, Britton and I went to Kroger and picked up four different bulbs to try. Britton, who is always calm, had assured me that it was just the bulb, but what did he know --- he is just a contractor. One by one we tried the bulbs to no avail. We searched the Internet. The diagram of the progress recessed can did not show the bulb hanging from the ceiling. How could this be? 7:00 am - Wednesday morning we were at Home Depot to buy a PAR 30 Short Neck Bulb.



I love the new recessed can lights at our house! Now I know why I specify PAR 30 bulbs for my clients.