Man, this is really taking a long time. But it's getting there. For realsies. New paint, new floor, new counter top. And a blessed dishwasher.

The pictures below are the BEFORE the tiling of the backsplash.

And this is what the whole kitchen looks like:

Can I just say that I really enjoy having the oven at the perfect height? It is sooooo nice.

Summertime. . . and the livings easy

Well, maybe in comparison to the wintertime, when going outside isn't exactly possible. I don't know that I would say EASY. I've been really busy working, and taking a superfun economics class, and climbing. But there are house things happening as well. The kitchen will be done this summer. I am foretelling it.

First, we couldn't work on the kitchen because we had to finish the new chicken coop. It looks like a little house which is why I'm posting it here. I think Jeff is getting really good at building things! I painted :)

the bottom of this thing will be open so the chickens will have an extra 16 sq ft. underneath.

red door

exclusive view of the inside. it will never be this clean again.

So this is the first cabinet installed in my new kitchen. It's not much, I know.

And this is what's going on now.

Maybe you would like a reminder of what it used to look like:


The fixing the electrical and the gas lines in the kitchen was only made possible by the help of jeff's brother-in-law and dad. So now I'm just waiting for IKEA to get my countertop in stock, and the ugly backsplash portion is going to get tiled. By me, ha ha. I hate tiling. I have learned from my mistakes though and will be using bigger tiles this time! The flooring is this weird black and white laminate from IKEA and we can do that in a day.

So maybe the next post will be really exciting!

Garage Sale!

Here is an updated picture of the kitchen. We have primed and installed some of the cabinets. The stove is still not gone, though.

My new favorite thing is garage sales. They are thrilling. This morning we picked this cute salt and pepper shaker set:

And also this vintage chair.

And jeff found a vintage puzzle.

This morning I woke up to four inches of snow, by the way. Thank goodness it wasn't May yet. That would just be unacceptable.

Kitchen update and Navajo* rug

We're going to paint soon, I promise! Except not next week because I'm going out of town for spring break and probably not the remaining 4 weeks of school because it's getting kind of hairy.

Wow. the smallness of this kitchen never ceases to amaze. Good worker, jeff.

this is the new window drywalled and mudded.

I like the new window but it has a very big design flaw that I have illustrated in the picture below. First of all, it is too small. I should have made it huge! You can't see the window at all from the living room. A refrigerator just doesn't fit anywhere in this kitchen. Believe me, I exhausted every other possibility for the location of the fridge, and this is the ONLY way it would work. But I kind of hate it still. That stove is going away very soon so don't worry.

So I jumped on the navajo rug train and bought this off of ksl for 10 dollars. If you recall I had this big shaggy white thing that I loved the look of but it was a logistical nightmare. First, it SHED. Like big time. Like I don't even notice my dog's hair anywhere. Only the rug hair. It was disgusting. Secondly, it was WHITE and couldn't be washed. No carpet cleaning, no dry cleaning, and it gets really dirty up in here with all of the construction going on! So I thought I would buy a rug that was already dirty.

Yes. So. This was what was available in the navajo-dirty-cheap department and I don't hate it.

I'm going to refinish that coffee table by the way. Don't judge my gross living room, lest ye be judged.

Why the navajo print you ask? It seems so unlike me, I know. But I am really having an issue with the style of rugs these days. Flowers are ugly, I think we all might agree. But I also hate modern rugs with circles or blocks of brightly colored rectangles on them. And the shag, like so many things, looked good but just didn't perform. What is a floor to do?

*I keep referring to this rug as "navajo", it is probably not navajo as there are like a thousand different native american tribes around, further, it is probably not even an authentic pattern. Nevertheless it has been christened, and that is how it will be known. Holla.

Blahg

The reason I haven't been posting is not because nobody posts any comments on my blog.

I do not hold it against you.

Especially if I don't know you. I will allow you to stalk in peace.

The reason I have not been posting is because mudding the walls in the kitchen is a lot of work, but the appearance of the kitchen changes not at all in the process. I do not wish to bore you with pictures of bare walls, but Rest Assured I will post a pic once the painting is complete.

Speaking of, I am having some trouble deciding on a color. The problem is that I think I am going with white cabinets now instead of red. The floor is probably going to be white as well. The counter is butcher block. I am leaning toward white for the walls because of this picture:



But that's a lot of white.

And I love these kitchens too!






What do you think?

Step 1. Take Cabinets Out

The kitchen is a daunting project. It is the project I was most looking forward to, but I'm starting to get overwhelmed. As you view these pictures, keep in mind that many hours of plumbing work (by jeff) and electrical work (compliments of Mr. Redneck-who-needs-to-use-my-bathroom-and-borrow-supplies and his sidekick homeless-strung-out man) have been endured, and you can't even see that work!

The sink has already been moved to its new home. Base cabinets out.

Do you see that brown thing up at the top? Whose original purpose was perhaps decorative, but in reality only succeeds in making the kitchen appear smaller and darker - yeah, that thing? So behind it is dead space. It's basically a box. We ripped it down and heard a thump.

Something had come flying out of it.

Something mysterious.

Wrapped in old newspaper.......

I was so excited to maybe find an old journal of a former occupant of my house, who will hopefully be a teenage girl!

Except it was only a Bible.

Still awesome. Must be from the 70's. Based on the decor from which it was sprung.

So that is that. Still a really cramped dark kitchen. And the walls are in horrible condition. So I guess we will definitely be covering them. . . .

And these dogs are no help at all. In fact, I would not be stretching to say they are a hindrance.

Yes. That is how you spell hindrance. Surprised?

I was too.

Christmas Light Contest

So I haven't really had a chance to show off my neighborhood. For some reason people around here either don't put up lights (which I'm fine with), or they put them up and do a really sloppy job (which I find offensive). We thought it would be fun on Christmas Eve to go around and document just a mere sampling of what the hood has to offer. We did not have to travel far.

The honorable mentions:

It looks like Halloween, not Christmas.

Hmm. Not that bad. Just a little lazy.

A plus for the light placement. D- for the creepy santa.

And the winners are:

3rd place!

2nd place! Love the single string of lights connecting the tree to the house.

And the Grand Prize of all time goes to. . . . .

Really? Yep, really.


Merry Christmas Everyone!