“Yeah, that would be awesome!” we both agreed.

…but then continued to just line the shoes and boots up against the wall and used a small wooden step stool in the corner as a seat.  I mean, who has time for such projects when you have an entire house to renovate.

Well, it’s no secret that we’re pretty much done with the major projects around here…so look what we finally completed!

The Craftsman Extraordinaire decided to use some of the mahogany he’d purchased for a different project (long, yet common story around these parts…), and he created an awesome hand-crafted built-in bench, complete with shoe and boot storage underneath.  (I think we’re going to get baskets or containers to fit on either end. He may or may not have used the dimensions of some IKEA ones we’ve been eyeing.)

See the rubber stone-like mats?  I got the glamorous job of cutting those to fit.

In sticking with the theme of our entire house, nothing about this project was square. The walls, the corners, the mats: all NOT square.

But we made it work, and I love it!

…except in my dreams.

I love it.

Yes, we still need to install baseboards (and when we do, I’ll probably do another post just to show off my hubby’s handiwork), but the finish line is in sight!  Nearly 10 years of working on this house is almost behind us.

I wasn’t sure when this day would come.

Last night, my husband looked at me and said, “Is it weird that I want to sleep in here tonight?” to which I replied, “Let me get my pillow!”

In the meantime, I thought I’d post the photos of our progress. I LOVE the kitchen. LOVE it. I am so happy and amazed by the changes!

It’s amazing what a little paint can do!

And this is where I admit that “a little paint” wasn’t. It wasn’t just a little paint. It was a lot of paint…and blood…and sweat…and tears… I know you’re not supposed to say “never,” but the thought of painting cabinets ever, ever, ever again makes us sick to our stomachs. If we ever move, and the new house “needs a little paint,” I may burst into tears.

They make it look so easy on those HGTV shows. Time-lapse photography and an army of workers gets it done in a flash. That’s just not the case. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but we just didn’t really grasp how horrible it would actually be.

We looked at the cost of ripping out the old, gross cabinets and just replacing them and thought it was too expensive. We’ve done so much on this house, what’s one more project? It was terrible. Refinishing them instead of painting them would have been just as bad. Mid-project, we looked at each other and said, “It’s just money.  Let’s rip them out!” …but by then it was too late. We’d invested way too much to give up. We powered through, and I’m so glad we did.

I’m so glad it’s done, and I LOVE IT.

Before:

(This was taken in 2008 when we replaced the stove.)

After:

The walls are still Montpelier Olive.  We used Baked Brie on the cabinets.  The countertops look new, but aren’t!  Bonus!

I would have posted photos sooner, but my husband was busy adding little extras to the cabinets for me.  I wanted to post pictures all at once, so there they are!  He does such good work:

Spice Rack!

Hand-made silverware drawer divider! (As with everything else in this house, the drawers are not standard, so none of the dividers on the market actually fit properly.)

Trash and recycling center!

Pull-out drawer for pans and a slidy-drawer for the lids!

This is now a pantry!

Even Fred was happy about the changes, but he wanted to wear a disguise for the photos. Silly Garden Gnome.

Along with the kitchen remodel came a total rearrangement of every item in the cabinets. For almost 10 years, we’ve tried to find the best place to house things. Our cabinets were just awkward.  We were forced to put things where they fit, rather than where they “should” go. We did the best we could, but I’ve never really liked it. After 10 years, I knew where things were, but it never made sense to anyone else.

With the remodel came restructuring, and now things fit in a manageable flow. Things make sense. I still walk across the kitchen to where the trash used to be, but I have yet to throw it in on our food. (The trash wouldn’t fit under the sink, like in a normal house. So, we had it in the tall cabinet. We added shelves, and that is now a pantry, and we added the trash/recycling unit to the cabinet next to the sink. See photos above.)

When we were painting the cupboard doors, they were all off, exposing the items inside. I actually grew fond of this look. Our things looked pretty, and it did wonders in learning where things were. Now that the doors are back on, I’ve remembered where things are. There have only been a couple times I’ve reached for something where it used to be.

Next up will be the installation of a hardwood floor in the kitchen. It’s not a top priority, as we’re just basking in the glory that is a fresh new kitchen. I’ve convinced the other half of my work team that someone else needs to be paid money to install the floor. (We can demo to save that part of the budget, but the installation needs to be someone else’s responsibility.)  He agreed.

In fact, this time, he didn’t even hesitate.

In fact, I painted for 8.5 hours yesterday. (Yes, for real.)

That does not count the hour break I took to eat lunch and go get more paint. This does not count the time I spent painting the cabinet doors on Friday and Saturday or the hours we spent painting on Sunday. Yesterday, I was all alone in the painting arena, but I had help on Sunday.

She did a great job!

Well, my allotted break-time is over.  I’m such a meticulous slow painter that there is no time to stand around here!

In fact, if you stand still long enough around here, you’re likely to be painted with primer, two coats of white and then however many coats of “Baked Brie” it takes to make you look nice on the outside.

Over at Mile High Mamas, I wrote about our forays into the wonderful world of DIY. We’ve been doing this for over 9-years now. Can you believe it?

Go check it out!

Comments are closed here, but I’d love to hear what you have to say over there!

In the meantime, here is a photo of our Princess Diva Mudpie Maker.

Note the knee-pads and tiara. It’s best to be properly attired when working outside.

Now, it’s not so critical.

Still, imagine our dismay when his sink appeared to be clogged. Nothing is more annoying than a clogged drain, and one day, he decided to put one of the heavy-duty clog busters down it. He even taped off the sink so that we wouldn’t forget to leave it alone while the chemicals worked their magic.

That night, the clog still held a tight grip on the plumbing.

So, he tried another treatment.

Again, the clog claimed victory.

The weekend came and went. The week did the same. The next weekend proved to be full of other home-improvement projects. (I’ll get to that later this week…) We didn’t have time to address the clogged-sink issue.

By Monday, I’d had enough. Daddy is so busy with other things, that I didn’t have the heart to nag remind him. How hard can it be? I know what needs to happen, and as long as I’m careful, I can fix this clog.

After eight years in the home-improvement trenches, there aren’t many tasks that could scare me away completely.

I knew enough about plumbing that you have to take out the U-joint-thingy. Other parts may have to come apart, too, and as long as you pay attention to where they go when you put them back, you’ll be fine.

Righty-tighty.
Lefty-Loosey.

See?
I’m prepared.

Claire and I had Ballet that morning, and I told her that when we got back from that, we’d have lunch, and then we’d fix the clog in the sink.

She was all excited. “After lunch, we get to figure out the sink…right, Momma!?”

“Right!” I’m good at faking enthusiasm. In fact, the better you are at pretending, the more enthusiastic you really become.

I got out my dish-gloves and laughed at the fact that they matched my hot-pink strappy sandals. What an awesome coincidence!

I got down on my hands and knees and assessed the situation. I cleaned out the cabinet (okay, truth be told, I just shoved stuff over to make room), and put a bucket under there to catch the water from when I unscrewed the pipe.

See? I know what I’m doing.

I carefully unscrewed the connectors, got the U-joint-thingy out of there and then nearly passed out from the stench.

Stench!? I had NOT anticipated that.

“Momma!? What’s wrong!?” Claire asked, concerned. “Why are you making those noises?”

Somehow I kept it all together. I think the thought of spilling this black goopy slime on the bathroom floor helped me stay focused. The thought of having to clean up barf in addition to that terrible mess gave me added resolve.

“This smells terrible, Claire. I’m trying not to gag.”

For whatever reason, she thought the word gag was the most hilarious word ever, and she kept singing it as she danced around.

“It’s okay, Momma,” she said when her song was finished. “I’ll help you!”

With my little plumber-apprentice right on my heels, I made several trips to the kitchen with the pieces of the sink’s underbelly. Using a bucket from the shed, I cleaned all the parts and didn’t barf once.

I knew in the back of my mind that there was another section of the sink that could be the hiding the Creature of Black Doom, but I was hoping that all the grossness I’d already eradicated was the key.

I got all the pieces put back on.

Righty-tighty.

I turned the water on.

No leaks!

…but no water draining from the sink at all.

All of this torturous activity and clog was still there!?

I summoned every ounce of my energy and went in again, telling myself that I had made progress, just not enough.

Our sinks have really fancy-schmancy stoppers. You can’t just pull up the plug and take them out. You have to unscrew a part in the back, under the sink, to release it from the drain, and all of this is easier to do when you take apart the other pieces. Again.

I figured out how to do that. I took apart the pipes again so that I could get a good view.

I will not describe to you what I removed from that section of pipe. Only Mulder and Scully would be able to determine exactly what it was. I did not let Claire see it. I ran to the toilet before it had a chance to lash out at me, and I flushed it away.

I can only hope it isn’t attacking some poor seaside village as we speak.

I got everything put back together, and the water runs freely now. The clog is gone! Now, does anyone have any Mental Drano®? **No, we don’t use Drano®, because it’s not good for older pipes. Images from that little foray into plumbing are still clogged in my brain, and there are just some things you can’t un-see.

In the meantime, Claire thinks it’s pretty awesome that Momma can take apart (and put back together) a sink. I think the hot-pink gloves and and matching sandals made all the difference.

This weekend, we got started working on our Flagstone Patio Project, and we aren’t done yet. But, I want to share some sneak peek pictures!

Who says divas can't be backyard landscapers?

The three of us take a break.

Here’s a little background:

When we bought the house 8 years ago, there was a 3-tiered deck on the back.  We instantly fell in love with it. A couple years ago, when we were going to repair one of the levels, we discovered a flagstone patio underneath. We knew there were flagstones under the deck, because we’d “harvested” them for other projects around the property:

We relocated these flagstones from under one part of the deck.

But, until we’d removed the dilapidated wood in that section of deck, we had no idea the flagstone patio was so extensive and elaborate…it even had a step! Rather than replace the deck with wood, we decided to rip out part of that section and restore the flagstone patio.

We were able to rip out the wood and finish the edge on that level of the deck. It’s taken longer to muster the energy to tackle the flagstone patio project, but this weekend, we decided to give it a go.

Do we know how to do this?

No.

Has that ever stopped us before?

Of course not.

We’ve been doing this for so long that our concept of “easy” home-improvement projects is a tad distorted, and we often bite off much more than we can chew.  But, we both have good appetites and strong teeth.

You won’t be able to see the finished product, because that hasn’t happened yet, but we’ve got a wonderful start.

So, stay tuned for the full story…in the meantime, here are some pictures!

Close-up of the patio.

View from the top.

You can see the flagstone patio off to the right. This photo gives you perspective of the deck as a whole.

The chairs we found are wrought iron and wood and look like bistro chairs.  We fell in love with them the moment we saw them.  At that point, we only needed two chairs, so we didn’t buy any extra.  Plus, we have eight chairs at the dining room table, so if we ever need an extra, we could grab one of those.

Fast forward five years, and we add another person to our family.  We don’t need an extra chair for her, yet, because it will be a while before she can even sit in a chair.  Not to mention, we’ll do a high-chair for a while.  Plus, what are the odds that we’d be able to find a chair to match the ones we bought five years ago?  There is no sense in worrying about it yet.

Fast forward another year.  Claire has her own high-chair.  This will last us a while…no need to panic over finding a matching chair.  Not to mention, when we’re done with this chair, we’ll go to a booster seat, and we wouldn’t want to put that on one of the nice chairs anyway.  We have a folding chair that will work perfectly for that purpose.  Plus, what are the odds that the big outlet store would still have that style?  There is no sense in worrying about it yet.

Fast forward another year.  Claire no longer wants to sit in her booster seat, so she’s been using a chair that we’ve pulled from the dining room.  The perfectionist in me is starting to twitch, because not only is there one chair missing from that table, there is now a mismatched set in the kitchen.  But, it’s not the end of the world, so I’m trying really hard to not worry about it.

So, yesterday, we’re out and about, and on a whim, we decided to stop at the furniture store to see what our options are for kitchen chairs.  I’ve resolved myself to the fact that if we can’t find a matching chair, as long as it’s similar, I’ll be okay with it.  I mean, it was almost eight years ago that we bought the first two…what are the odds that they still have them?

My husband suggests that we look at getting two additional chairs so that if we ever need the fourth chair to go with the table, we’ll have at least two that match.  (The table is designed for four people, but it has two leaves on either side.  We flip one leaf down, jut the flat side up against the wall and just use three chairs.)

I think this sounds like a great plan.  I mean, what are the odds of finding the exact chairs this time, let alone if we ever decide we want that fourth chair to go with the table?  He’s right.  It’s best to complete the set now.  In my head, if one chair has a mate, and the other two chairs match each other, I’ll be happy.  And, as long as the two pairs are similar, they don’t have to be exact.

So, we finally find the right section in the huge store, and we cast our gaze across a sea of kitchen and dinette chairs.  The possibilities are endless, but none of them are wrought iron and wood.  We decide not to panic until we’ve looked through the whole section.  We start off in one direction, planning to work our way through the maze.  As we turn the corner, we can’t believe our eyes.

Our chairs!
The exact chairs!

And, they have been discontinued, so they are on clearance!

So, we bought two on the spot.

Click to enlarge.
I’m standing on the fourth one to take the photo…

And they’re a perfect match. What are the odds?

After seven years of projects, we want to take a little break. No kitchen projects allowed! (At least for right now!)

Well, back in June, my hubby submitted a “replace the stove” project proposal through The Management, and approval was granted (i.e. I agreed).  He’d found a killer deal for a really nice, new(er) flat-top stove on Craig’s List, so I told him to go for it. Arrangements were made, and we replaced our vintage 1970s double oven with a 3 or 4 year old flat-top stove. After some elbow-grease to spiff it up a bit, it was ready to install.

Because this wasn’t really a kitchen project, I forgot to take “before” pictures. Luckily, I found some random photos of the kitchen that were taken on Christmas 2007. Please ignore the giant ham on the cutting board and all of the things cluttering the counters.

Click photos to enlarge.

Yes, that upper monstrosity is a full-on oven. It was actually my favorite feature. You didn’t have to bend over to check on anything, and hot food was kept up and out of the way of those pesky toddlers.

Because this wasn’t really a kitchen project, I didn’t post a recap in a timely fashion. We traveled to the Midwest (twice) and have been enjoying a fun and guest-filled summer, and posting pictures of our new stove just kept getting pushed farther and father down on my To Do List.

So, without further ado, here is our new stove! Eventually, we’ll replace the microwave (on the counter) with a hood/microwave combo that goes above the stove.

And, here is our new dishwasher!

Kidding! It’s not new; it’s the same old one! It’s amazing how a coat or two of new appliance paint can totally change the look of a dishwasher, huh??

I am amazed at our new stove. Correction: I’m amazed at how horrible our old stove really was. When you turn this stove on, it fires up instantaneously. Stoves are supposed to do that? All of these burners cook evenly. Where’s the fun in that?

It’s all fancy with its working properly and keeping the correct temperature. Gone are the days of realizing that a burner isn’t really on, or the temperature in one of the ovens has varied so wildly that you have no idea how much longer something needs to bake. In fact, we don’t even need our little separate temperature gauge. I think we’ll keep it in there, just for old time’s sake.

In fact, cooking around here has become rather mundane. We’re so spoiled now!

And, my hubby was right…we should have done this non-kitchen project much sooner. Now, if I can just keep him from eyeing all of the floor-tile options…