Kitchen Renovation Update: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

You know that ugly duckling teenager phase some of us went through?  Where parts of your future glory lay just beneath the surface, upstaged by frizzy hair and braces?

Oh, wait, maybe that was just me.  But you know what I mean by the ugly duckling phase some people {me} are forced to endure, right?

My poor kitchen is going through that right now.

I’ve gotten lots of questions about how things are going and requests for photos, but I hate to parade my kitchen during her formative phase in case there’s no turning back.  All vanity aside, I’m going to keep it real and share the good, the bad, and they ug-leeeeee.  Forgive me, future glorious kitchen!

I’m in love.  Check out the new floors, the color is an absolute dream.  I added the kid’s table and chairs to demonstrate how I hope it will look with our white cabinets:

The granite.  Unfortunately, I picked out the granite before my design epiphany so it’s not the granite I love but rather the granite I thought would work best.  No complaints, I’m thrilled that after half a lifetime of coveting granite countertops I finally have it but perhaps would have chosen differently if I’d waited until after Haven’s ‘ah ha’ moment.  These photos were taken before I cleaned them off (you can see the dust), so bear with me until I can get a beauty shot!

My faucet.  FINALLY I have a pull-down sprayer– this is going to make cleaning so much easier.  Here’s the one we bought, the Annabelle Faucet by Moen:

New dishwasher, purchased at a local independent retailer for less than listed at the big box stores.  I need to write a whole blog post about why you should purchase from independent retailers, but let me just say this quickly– free delivery, free pick-up of my old appliance, a rebate, AND getting to deal with a real live person and not a chain of random people who steal your money.  Ask me how I know this.

Seems like our favorite table no longer looks good now that the floors are a different shade of dark wood.  I’m thinking of painting the legs white, and refinishing the top?  Paint it all white, or a Pottery Barn black?  What would you do to “make it work” (as my boyfriend Tim Gunn might say)?

The fridge.  Our stove, microwave, and dishwasher are all stainless steel which leave the refrigerator all alone in it’s glossy white glory.  My facebook friends gave some great advice on which type of fridge works best should we purchase a new one in a helpful Facebook discussion; I’d love to hear your thoughts as well!

Hardwood floors.  Wait, what?  We’re they listed in ‘the good’ section?  Yes.  But… they received a gash on Day One when they rolled the fridge into place (soon to be fixed, I hope).  If that happened with the pros when the floors were just a few hours old, I’m terrified at what we’ll do to them!  Also, they show everything.  I’m not even sure how the Danger Twins did it, but there’s a line of tiny handprints going over half the floor like someone handstand walked across it.  Seriously, how did they do that?  Try to spot them across the bottom of this photo:

This backsplash won’t be appearing in any design magazines.  I wanted to paint it temporarily and then tile it eventually.  Might have to move those plans up if it doesn’t sand down flat.

Moving everything out and having the room stripped to it’s bare minimum leaves some rather embarrassing cleaning secrets.  Like, these baseboard heaters are in desperate need of a scrubdown:

The cabinets are still oak colored until the painter arrives next week.  This is what I mean about the gangly teenage phase right here.  The dark floors/ dark counters/ dark cabinets look is NOT working.

I’m definitely going to have to paint the walls sooner rather than later.  They moved the moulding down to match the new level of the floors, leaving me with a ‘farmer’s tan’ type look around the walls:

We are counting our blessings that we have a floor to walk on, counters to slice on, and a sink to wash with!  Our down time for that part was only eleven days.  11 long days to be sure, but totally survivable when you have a modernized beautiful kitchen as your goal.

For past posts on the kitchen renovation, visit the following links (listed in chronological order):

10 Things I Hate About You
Decision Time: Should We Do This Thing?  (aka, Are We Nuts?)
Dream Kitchen Inspiration Photos
No Turning Back Now!  (Kitchen Demolition, Day One)