We have been living in a kitchen remodel since we moved into our home three years ago. Little by little, as we cam swing it (punny!), we have knocked out tile, a wall, another wall. We installed light fixtures, a dishwasher, a range, fridge, a sink. Currently, our counters and cabinets are cut up pieces of the original counter and cabinets screwed together. The counter we installed after taking out the south wall is our old bedroom closet door. We have several holes in the floor. It’s a mockup version of what we want. It functions great. Sure, I wish we could afford to just bang it all out in a month like all those homes my husband works on. But I’ve grown to really appreciate living with the mockup, living with the daydream of what it will someday be.
A few of the benefits of living with the mockup:
- We have changed our minds. We are testing it out and have found that things should move a bit from our original ideas.
- Waiting has allowed us to score some pretty awesome things. Like, last summer, we were given some leftover (gorgeous, designer, sea glass-looking) tile from a job my husband worked on. Enough to tile one entire wall and a backsplash. Like the range and sink (click links above).
- We are good daydreamers.
- We feel lucky now. When it is all done, we will value it more than ever.
I’ve not shared much of our progress here because I wanted to share it when there is the big, fancy before and after. Because who doesn’t love a good DIY before and after?! Truth is, our home renovations aren’t seamless and quick; they are not wave-a-wand-voila! There are a lot of guts between before and after. So, our before and during:
Looking south. Living room is back there.
Looking in from front door.
Looking north. The green door is our front door.
Sink.
Looking west.
We lost a quite a bit of storage when we took out the south wall. It was the greatest change for us; that dark corner is now a bar counter with two stools (our girls favorite spot) – it is where all the kitchen action happens. Having limited storage space has forced us to choose what we really need. Seven pie plates? Five mixing bowls? Four spatulas? Two salad serving sets? Don’t need them. We store a lot of bulk food and kitchen items (like pressure cooker, serving dishes, extra wine glasses) in our garage.
This isn’t to say that things don’t get bananas in those few cabinets. We aren’t the most organized bunch. Every so often – when things have felt crammed and messy for a few months – I get a wild hair to sort and purge. It usually happens when I have coffee in hand and several other very pressing things to do.
During this process I always re-remember that we have enough space. There is always more than enough space.
As I consolidated and organized our pantry (a slender freestanding cabinet in our living room) recently, I took this photo. I will reference it the next time I say we don’t have any food in the house.
One of most-used pantry items is pancake mix. Thought I’d share our go-to recipe.
Pancake Mix
4 cups flour
1/2 cup ground flax (optional)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
To make pancakes, use 1 cup mix, 1 egg and 1 cup milk (almond milk is our favorite; any milk will work). Even if I am using 1/2 cup mix and 1/2 cup milk I still use one whole egg.
These cakes can be altered in so many ways. A few of ideas:
* add 1/2 cup almond butter and one mashed banana
* add yesterday’s leftover oatmeal
* add 1/2 cup cottage cheese (might need to add a bit more flour)
* add a few spoonfuls of jam
This year in the kitchen we hope to replace the vinyl floor. (so wishing the original linoleum could be saved!)
Next will be cabinets. Counter. We took the doors off one our current cabinets to see if we’d like open shelving for the stuff we like to look at – mostly handmade mugs, colored glass and vintage lovelies. We like it and plan to install thick wood bracketless shelving there. But it could all change, by the time we get to it. I’ll continue to dream and pin and enjoy the enough-space we’ve got.
26 Comments
I can relate to this post 1000%!! What started as simply replacing cabinets and laying down new flooring turned into ripping down walls, new electrical, making higher ceilings etc. My god we didn’t have counters for like 8 months!! It’s taken a LONG time and our vision changed every other day. But now? We love it SO much. It was worth the tumultuous “during” phase. Xo
And soon your baby will be crawling around in there! Holy shit. xoxo
I love seeing the evolution of your kitchen. It tells a great story of your family’s time in your home I think. I love the idea of cutting out space and finding more contentment. My family recently did a temporary downsize and lost half of our square footage. It’s been mind blowing how little space and stuff we actually need to be content. As we move into a larger space again, I find myself wanting to get rid of even more things.
I can so relate to this! This house was a downsize from our last and we lived in 400 square feet for six months when we were waiting on this house (we were actually downstairs IN this house! Long story.) It was one of my favorite times for so many reasons. No doors, getting outside to “escape”, less stuff…it forever changed my opinion of what we need.
Is that a toddler Ruby in those pics? I wondered who it was, but then realizing it was 3 years ago, I figured it must be!
It hard to believe I’ve been reading your blog for five years!
Yes! Still in diapers. I had to resist sharing 117 photos of my babies in this kitchen. Maybe that could be another post someday. 🙂
I love the in between. I for one am so tired of this mentality that everything has to be new and perfect. When we moved into our first home (this home) our 1300 square foot 100 year old four square we redid most of the kitchen to make it functional. We never planned on making this our forever home but are realizing now it may be. I’ve been reluctant to change out our 50 year old gas stove because I want to save up for that gorgeous chef stove. I too have dreams of opening up the back wall and building a porch on where a rickety old deck may be. I think rearranging and revamping and renovating are some of the best parts of being a homeowner. And that sink and stove of yours make the whole kitchen as far as I’m concerned. And yes! to less stuff!!!
Yes! Funny because every time I post photos of our home and our funky upcycled, handmade stuff someone inevitably mentions that they think it’s gross or dirty. New and perfect is fine. But I so much more enjoy one-of-a-kind, interesting and creative. Here’s to different styles YO!
Well, of course, I love all of this business. Have you considered butcher block countertops? We spruced up our kitchen on a budget and went to IKEA for butcher block countertops. Super reasonable and you can cut on them. Once a year, Steve sands and oils them for me. The best present EVAH! My stove/oven is about to die and I’m having major appliance envy over here. I remember your post about how Andy scored that stove/oven. I’m hoping the appliance gods shine down on me soon, as we need a new fridge, too.
Oh, we ripped up yucky vinyl in our one and only bathroom and recovered with Marmoleum (not the squares, but in one big sheet). So durable and easy to clean. Retro, but modern and totally eco-friendly. You probably have this all dialed-in but I wanted to share because I really want to host my own pretend-HGTV show about clearing clutter, rearranging furniture and finding creative ways to live in a small space. You could be my guest host one day in the future.
xoxo
You would ROCK that show. And I would happily be a guest. I love love love all of those topics. We laid marmoleum (sheet) in our last home – in the bathroom. It was tricky to lay! Andy really wants to save for tile but I think marmoleum is a more reasonable choice for us so we have been researching. I really don’t like our current floor situation. It just always looks dirty. And oh that linoleum underneath is so beautiful! A tragic thing to cover with puke-colored vinyl.
Love this. We are in need of a kitchen reno and have been putting it off until we save enough for a full reno. But this is inspiring me to go in and start making some little changes with what we have now. I see some weekend projects in our future!
Go for it! Beginning and doing what you can really is a luxurious way to figure out what you want. The only cost we had with the wall removal and counter building was the medium to patch the ceiling and wall. Literally, that was it! Start thinking outside the box and you’ve got all you need for a temporary “remodel.”
This put a REALLY BIG smile on my face!
xoxo
When I refer to you and Andy as a “power couple,” this is a perfect example as to why. Your ability to stay focused on nurturing the life you’ve deliberately created, all the while using your creativity and drive to improve your home on a smart budget is truly admirable. Love you, wifey. ;D
love
Love watching the transition! I created open shelving by just taking off the doors from the cabinets then painted the back wall (http://ecogrrl.net/2012/12/25/before-after/) and love it! We keep our food in the linen closet adjacent to the kitchen which we added more shelves to make it accommodate both pantry foods (the ones that can’t be put in pretty jars) and linens :). LOVE the big kitchen sink you have now – dreamy!!
We just renovated our kitchen last summer. We knew we were going to do it, but waited a couple years to get an idea of how we used the space. Our kitchen was already quite large so we didn’t need to move any walls or anything and (sadly) we didn’t redo the floor so it wasn’t all that painful. Still, it took a month. We also did mockups of what we thought we’d like. We thought we wanted an island so we brought up an old ikea island thingy we’d bought years ago when we lived in Germany. We learned so much by living with it before putting in a permanent one. Now we have exactly the kitchen we’d hoped for. You’re right, it’ll all be worth it.
Where did you find your counter top material? I love it! And loved spotting Alice, and now the new pup in your shots. xo
I love this! You’ve inspired me to go and change some things up in my house 🙂
Hold everything! Did I see a cute little puppy?
You did! Meet Mabel.
Love this post. My husband is a carpenter and while we’ve been saving to built our own home for many years now, he has been busy building many other beautiful homes. So we dream and I redecorate and reorganize our current home. I long ago gave up the notion of why bother with this home if we’re not going to be here forever, because it sucks up all my joy and all my creativity. Home is wherever my carpenter and my boys are – fancy house or not. 🙂
Indeed. I so get this. Home is in the eye of the homeowner. 😉 xo
Thank you for saying “before and during”. I love your posts and I love you for saying that. It is very validating to me. Much Love, Val-Marie
Your kitchen is one of the most comfortable and welcoming places I’ve been. Beautiful things happen in there, and I think that’s awesome. xo
I so loved reading this, because I’m in the thick of a kitchen reno right now. Well. Not really. I’m in the planning stages…which I’ve procrastinated on making decisions for so long that my husband is grumpy. I just.cant.decide. I’m paralyzed. What if I make the wrong choice? Etc.
I love your & Andy’s approach. And I love the banged-up kitchen! And I love that Viking (swoon). Thanks for sharing! xo