Kitchen Post-Wall: The Open Look

One day, I really was going to go back and detail the full process of how we turned our cramped 1970s kitchen into our favorite spot in the house. But, as I come up on a year since the project started, it's time to admit that it ain't gonna happen. Besides, all people really want are pictures of the good stuff right? So here goes, starting with when we had a wall between the living room and kitchen, and when we didn't...

The "nook" in the foyer (below) is the old entrance to the kitchen, which is now moved down to the other side of the breakfast bar. It solved a flooring problem, namely that tile had been run past the end of the foyer...now we've incorporated that section into of the foyer. Also, it gave me something I've always wanted: space for a storage bench in my entryway. 

On the kitchen side, the fridge backs up to the nook, recessed so as not to block window sight lines. I opted to put my Hoosier in this corner, rather than add more cabinets. I worked hard on that baby, and love that we fit it into the reno (and saved $$ by doing so!). 

For the fun of it, here's one during. See more pictures of the de-construction here.

The day this opened up, I sat on my couch with a glass of wine and just stared at this opening for like an hour. Partly marveling at how much that beam of wood added to the renovation costs (see the budget breakdown), but mostly at how drasticly the feeling of my home changed pretty much overnight. Ok, more pretty after "after" pictures to come.

Sneak Peek: Looking into New Kitchen

As I go through my chronologically-challenged blogging, I couldn't help but put a sneak peek of the finished product out there. Well, finished-ish...still have to do more trim, backsplash and a few other items that have been languishing once we got the kitchen to a useable space.

Here's the view of looking in from living room. We built the island using 39" Ikea lidingo wall cabinets facing into the living room (so much storage!!) and regular base cabinets for the front. My husband built a base that the cabinets rest on, and connected them to each other from the inside.

More to come soon, promise!

Ceiling Bling

Maybe it was the heady rush of realizing how much I'd saved on my yard sale cabinet pulls, or maybe it was the need for something SPARKLY to look at  on this dreary fall day. Oh wait--I blame my friend Liz for letting me know that Pottery Barn had 20% off their lights this week. And thus, I found myself pushing our lighting budget up by about $40 (or about $120 if you go by the price of the lights we purchased but are returning) so that we could own three of these: 

We'd gotten a great deal on some copper-look lights with Edison bulbs, at just $40 each including the bulb. And they look nice--if you don't look at them. With the exposed bulb at eye level for adults seated at the bar, the effect was a bit blinding. So the lighting search re-started.


We looked at Ikea, back to Lowe's, Amazon, Etsy, round and round. I think the extra money we are spending on the Harlowe Wire & Glass lights is a small trade off for the time I will save by ending my internet search!

Also alleviating any budget busting guilt was finding these EXACT lights on Ebay, new in the box, for the sale price, but with no shipping or taxes. That saved over $30. Which is just enough to make me feel like I got a good deal and enjoying checking another item off the list.