Well as you all know I'm in the middle of a major kitchen remodel.....the kitchen and dining room were completely gutted and the wall between the 2 was knocked down and now it's one big room.....My wonderful hubby has been working away on this for a while....Today all of the bottom cabinets are in and the countertops are partly installed and the sink and faucet are getting put in....

Here is my new light in the dining room--it spoke to me....I loved the leaves and the metal going around the glass....


Here is the new cabinets and countertops.....yay!


New sink and faucet.....I like both of them a lot!


Mark hard at work!


The mess in my living room is getting to me!


And the mess in the dining room is pretty bad too!


It's coming along though--we'll be getting the dishwasher next and the floor and upper cabinets!

Loz - what a lot of work you're doing! Looks great so far! And wow - living with that mess - must be frustrating, but know that it will soon be over and wonderful!

I love, love, love that lighting fixture - I also like leaves on lamps and such, and am definitely into swirls. Care to share where you found it? We need new fixtures both for our diningroom and foyer - this would be great in the foyer, as I have a table lamp to put there with leaves just like that!

That mess is terrible.....I hate the fridge sitting where it is, it's hard to get into properly......and all the stuff in the living room is a nightmare....but I know when it's done it'll be great....I'm more of the supervisor, although I did do some painting and priming and lifting.....Mark is doing all of the work by himself.....he's so handy!!!

If you have a Lowes anywhere around you'll find that light there.....and guess what, it was only 30 bucks......gotta love that right? It's actually a good size, and takes 3 60 watt bulbs....it's pretty bright. The light we are getting for the kitchen is the same style only it isn't flush to the celing it hangs down just a little and only takes 2 bulbs.....That scrollwork going around with the leaves on it are really nice......as soon as I saw it hanging in the store I told Mark that was the light for me! I love anything with leaves or flowers.....I hope you have a Lowes, and that they have one of them there you can buy!

Oh loz, what a beautiful lamp to adorn your dining room! And such a bargain, too! I would have guessed it at a much higher price it is so handsome.

The good-looking cabinets and countertops you chose sure look nice in place, don't they? But will you orient me a bit? Where will the dishwasher be installed and where will the refrigerator go?

I understand about the mess you are contending with, as you know, we have minor work underway here, too.

Geez, you must be proud of Mark.

Merme

by loz:
If not, you might try Lowes online....

Merme, the 2nd picture down is the best one for me to explain where the dishwasher and fridge go......our kitchen is really small, but with the walls knocked down it's now like one big room....On the very left side of that 2nd picture right next to the cabinet is where the dishwasher will go, and then next to the dishwasher will be the fridge....Kind of hard to explain because I didn't get that angle in any of the shots.

I can't stand that kind of mess......I mean I'm not a neat freak, I like the house to have a lived in feel.....but my living room is really driving me nuts......luckily that half with all of the stuff isn't really used, and our living room is really big.....our couches and entertainment center are on the other side of the room.....That light in the dining room was a great deal, when I looked at the price I couldn't believe how inexpensive it was.....It's not like any of it is plastic or anything.....so we lucked out with that...but the sink and faucet weren't so cheap....but hey, if you are doing it you may as well do it right huh?

And Tricia that's a good idea.....I never thought of looking online.....

Loz...you have my DREAM sink!


Cindy

LOL----you can get a sink just like it from Lowes...... It wasn't the one we decided on originally, Mark came home friday with that one--totally different.....Made me a little nervous but I do like it a lot.....The one side is a good bit deeper than the other, and we hooked our garbage disposal up on one of the sides .....everything is really starting to come together....I'm starting to envision the total picture.....it was kind of hard to do that when it was all gutted out....

Hey, I just noticed that Mark is so tan from roofing that he almost matches the cabinets.....

I went and looked at Lowes online and found one similar that hangs down from the ceiling but didn't see the one like your picture.

Thanks for the extra explanation, loz. I can imagine what you wrote. It is going to be so nice I bet you'll want to spend all your time in there.

I'm glad Afgrey remembered to mention the sink because I forgot to. It is so special and looks as though it will be very handy, particularly with that long-necked curved faucet.

My faucet comes out quite flat from it's mounting and it's impossible to get really tall things under it. Yours will be dandy even for a pasta pot! Plus, it is pretty.

Pretty AND functional.

Oh I wouldn't call you a neat freak for not enjoying your home in such disorder while this big work is underway. You said it is hard to access the fridge right now. I'm guessing it is hard to find other things that are stored. It's just difficult to live like that, so go ahead and complain when you feel like it!

We'll all be listening to cheer you on

Merme

One good thing is that I haven't had to cook much lately......Mark took it upon himself to get up early one day and throw all of the contents of the old drawers and cabinets into the boxes in the living room picture....so I can't find anything to cook......

We had Dominos Pizza tonight......lol

looks great! I was wondering about how ya'll do the cooking and eating and everything while everything is so scattered lol!

Hey Loz,
The hanging version of your light...does it hang freely? What I mean is...umm...well...

The ceiling in our kitchen slops and the only kind of lights that work in there is one that doesn't hang perpendicular to the ceiling. They have to be able to hang freely and tip to one side. Does the hanging version do that??? I'd love an updated lamp in the kitchen!!!

Wow Loz,everything is looking great! Love the light fixture

Can't wait to see the finished product!

G-Mom

Loz, it's looking great so far!! ETA on when it'll be done? I can't wait to see the finished project! Maybe I'll have to come visit ya when it's all over.

Meg

Thanks you guys.....glad you all like it....I'm the mastemind behind it(if you want to say that), and Mark is the muscle.....although most of the stuff I liked he liked too, we didn't really disagree on anything.....

And Meg you could come visit me anytime......actually it isn't too far.....remember I told you my niece lived in your town? Haven't been down that way for a while because we usually meet in the middle at Capon Bridge....Let's see....next weekend will probably be the dishwasher, and maybe a start on the floor.....we still have to put in the upper cabinets.......I'd say that it should be looking perfectly done by the middle or end of August....There are little things that need done too, like the trim around the doors and windows, and the hardware on the cabinets....things like that.....

Jenn that light is semi flush to the ceiling, so I don't know if it would work for you or not.....here's a link to it on the lowes website so you can look at it......I think we may put that one in the dining room and move the other one to the kitchen because the one we have now is brighter than this one.....
my other light

Mark has really been busy, hasn't he? I know that you are excited. I can't wait to see the finished pics.

Dianna

I am going to have to look at it in the store. I told Stephen about it, he seems pretty ok with the idea of a new lamp. We don't really like the one we have, but the previous owners couldn't find a replacement that would work....they really liked the one in the kitchen and wanted to take it with them! Stephen called it "a bit on the hideous side"

Yeh, it's always better to check out the actual product in the store to see if you really like it......and it's not only a cute light, but it's cheap too!

Just wanted to let you all know that we got the dishwasher today, and the other light that we were discussing above.....and Mark got some more money out of savings to go and get the flooring today too!!!! So far today he's installed the rest of the countertops and is getting the dishwasher ready to hook up......Now he's working on getting the light installed.

I told him with all of these boxes from the lights, sink, dishwasher, computer, etc...that it feels like Christmas....LOL The trash people will just love us on Wednesday morning when they see all of that sitting outside.

Hey, it's Christmas in (almost) July!

That's so great you're getting so much done!!

Meg

I love opening up all the boxes....it's exciting.....Pretty sad when you get all excited over a dishwasher and a light....that's when you know you are getting old I guess....LOL

It's sooooo hot here today....I'm glad Mark has motivation.....even with the AC on after a while it starts to feel not so cool anymore....

Okay...quite a few pics here...Now remember, it's still kind of messy and I don't have all of my curtains and decorative things out yet...so it looks a little plain.

Remember this is what it started out looking like...with that AWFUL flowered contact paper on the walls, and the small doorway into the dining room.


Okay, here is what it looks like as of this morning.....so much better.....

Here's looking into the dining room from the kitchen, you can see how the light matches the other one!!! That one hangs down a little though instead of being flush to the ceiling. The old wheelable dishwasher there is going to my sisters house.....


Here's the new dishwasher installed...


Looking into the kitchen from the dining room...


My little bakers rack fits there perfect, check out the mess still in the living room--can't wait to move that table back in where it belongs...


Just wanted to show a good shot of the floor that mark got finished putting in yesterday!

It looks GREAT!!!

OMG Loz...what a difference! Don't you just love looking at the "before" pics...and then seeing the progress! Good job! You are getting me a little more motivated to start on the rooms!

Thanks Jenn and Vanessa.

Yep it's a huge difference...and it's not even finished yet....remember upper cabinets need put in(when we can afford them), handles and knobs for the drawers, baseboard heater needs put back together, over the stove ventless microwave needs to be bought. But all in all I can really start to move some stuff back in and decorate a little with all of my kitchen stuff. We had to make about 20 trips to the basement last night lugging all of his tools back downstairs.....He must've had every single tool he owns up in the kitchen....LOL

One other good thing is when he gutted the kitchen the wall behind the stove didn't have any insallation at all, so he put some in----hopefully it'll help it stay warmer in there....There isn't any heat in the kitchen because it's all baseboard heating and there's no room for it around the bottom of the walls, but there is some in the dining room, and all the other rooms in the house of course.

You can get those rooms done!!! I know you can!!! Do you have a timeline of when you'd like to start them?

Last May!!!!!!!

loz tell the head burke he did a excellent job and he can come help scott on our floor lol

Hey there twit!!!! Glad you stopped by to check out the kitchen pics......everyone say hi to my friend Mel, she's my bestest bud! We graduated high school together and went to college together....she was my partner in crime during college....he he he.

The floor went quick and was really easy actually.....He just tapped the pieces in places with a rubber mallet and a piece of wood.....

Don't be a stranger, now you have a house and some plants come in here and talk to us all!

loz, it is wonderful! Mark did one terrific job on that floor, too.

Can't wait to see the final version, when you have all your doodads in place...



Merme

Thanks Merme....Mark has worked soooo hard....he hasn't really had a real day off in weeks between his job and the kitchen.....he did a great job on the floor, I must agree....it looks really nice and will be so easy to clean.

I can't wait to get all of my doodads in there...I'm itching to get it done!!!!LOL

wow that's looking excellent loz! you're husband is certainly a handyman!! you caught yourself a great one :-)

Wow Loz, that looks amazing! I want hardwood flooring, but Steve really thinks we'll need it professionally done. He doesn't want something like our floor messed up from his inexperience. :rolleyes: Well, he kinda wants ceramic tile, but I am thinking otherwise. I haven't fully decided what kind I want, but I do want the carpet out of the living room upstairs, cuz it's nasty, and Alex's room, cuz of her allergies.. and may as well do the hallway while we're at it..lol. Our room, & Marissa's room, we aren't touching. Can't get the stuff out of Marissa's room, no way no how. It's not moving, till *we* move! And our room is just packed full of junk. Ya can't hardly get around the room, and you can's get in the closets. :rolleyes:

Meg

Thanks you 2.....Mark has been amazing, grouchy at times from working so much, but still amazing.....I'm proud of him.

Meg, that floor was so easy to put in...and actually it's not real hardwood...It's that Mohawk flooring from Lowes--that floating floor stuff that locks together in planks like real wood....only it's some kind of laminate on the top--but it looks like wood! It's supposed to be a lot more durable, so we decided to go with it since it's a high traffic area.

I could use new flooring...we have this thick brown stuff in the living room....I don't feel motivated enough though to have to move everything in there....LOL It's a pretty big living room.....with a ton of stuff in it. So brown carpet it is, at least until I work up some motivation again!!!LOL

GOOD JOB MARK!!!!

Are those "solid surface" countertops...i.e. corian,avonite,surell,gibralter?

G-Mom

No, they're just laminate.....This is a kitchen remodel on a shoestring budget...LOL We tapped into some of our savings, but we don't use credit cards at all--so everything is paid for in cash.....When we started the kitchen though we didn't think we'd be tackling the dining room so much too......that's how it works though.

I think the fake wood floors are nice...you don't have to worry so much about messing them up....

Mark might actually come in here and read this post......yesterday he had me pull up the post and show him the pictures I took.......

George has been following this post...being a remodeler he couldn't resist it!

We were betting on your countertops this morning I was going for a solid surface and George was going for Granite. You fooled us both

If you want to make the floors really shiny put straight Future floor wax on them. I do it every couple of months...2 coats and they are like a wooden mirror(speaking of which...they're overdue :p )

G-Mom

Ooo, thanks for the tip.....I'll have to remember to get some of that.....does it make it really slippery???

LOL--at least the laminate must look pretty good to fool you both......Actually I like it...we both agreed on the dark laminate since the walls are so light....I originally wanted ceramic tile because I like that fact that you can set your hot pans on it....but when I was thinking about cleaning all of that grout I changed my mind....

The cabinets are those premade ones from Lowes that you stain yourself....They've turned out pretty good considering.....I just can't wait to get the rest of them!!!LOL Getting those saved us a ton of money...We splurged a little on the sink and the faucets though.

Mark still has to trim up where the walls meet too, I forgot about that...and then the opening between the 2 rooms--which is basically just a big room now....Well Mark wants to cover the inside of that with wood trim matching the cabinets.....

BTW, do where do you buy that wax at? Do you go to Walmart for it? Tell Geoge I said hi---and that I'll be posting a picture of my Jeff Gordon collection just for him.......LMAO

He said "Send'em ON...I've got Photoshop and I'll fix them up for her"

ROFLMAO!!!!!!

Alex is now yelling "GORDO"!

G-Mom

Oh,sorry,yeah,your question...I buy it at Grocery stores and Wallyworld,it's with the floor cleaning stuff. Costs about $5 a bottle.

G-Mom

Hi Laura!
I took a look at your kitchen pictures- looking great! Lots of hard work and patience has obviously paid off!

Oh, my mother bought one of those "wheelable" dishwashers when i was a kid (back in the 60's, lol). Is it old? I wonder if they still make them...lol I'm sure your new one is quieter and much more efficient!
Thanks for sharing the pictures and i hope you enjoy your new kitchen!

We are getting floods here in SC from tropical storm Cindy and now they are talking about Dennis...

I'm trying to get a foundation in. It's just a "mud hole" now.

Hey Gmom----tell George he wouldn't dare touch my beloved Gordon photos because he knows deep down that Gordon is the man!!!!LOL

Thanks for the heads up on the floor stuff...I'm going to look for it next time I'm out in wallyworld.....

Thanks Bob--and that wheelable dishwasher is probably from the 60's, or 70's.....It's old, but you know what? It worked great! And built a lot sturdier than they are nowadays....but it is awful nice to have a built in dishwasher----can't wait to get rid of that old one, it's sitting in the living room right now....LOL

You'll probably have a mudhole for a while, especially with Dennis possibly tracking up this way......

Love the kitchen remodel and all of the pictures. Cannot wait to see it all put together.

I have all my stuff back in there, but I'm waiting to show pictures until it's really finished....upper cabinets, hardware for cabinets, and trim......once it's all done I'll share a lot of pictures....I can't believe it's the same kitchen.....When I'm out there I keep saying that to myself....LOL I can't wait to share finished product pics with you all! And thanks Triss!

loz...you're so lucky to get a kitchen remodel.
There's nothing worse than trying to cook a meal in a kitchen that you hate. That's what me and Les (shamrock) were discussing last night while I was trying to make us some sketti and salad. There was no room on the countertop to do anything.
This house is huge, with a tiny, little kitchen.
Don't make sense to me.

I know, and trust me I HATED that kitchen with a passion....My brother couldn't believe how different it is....He was telling me that their kitchen is even smaller than mine was before the wall was knocked out.....I couldn't believe that a kitchen could be smaller than mine....lol

I have a little extra counter space now, but we're going to get an over the stove microwave to free up room on the counter....that'll be some extra room!

Could you knock out any walls to make your kitchen bigger?????

I would get great pleasure in knocking some walls out here

Cindy

Our kitchen is tiny too with virtually no dining room. Makes for a tight squeeze when you are trying to get 8 around a table. Cannot wait to get the dream kitchen.

What's up with that?
Is it because men designed our houses and thought, "Hmmm...I guess I HAVE to put a kitchen in the house :rolleyes: but I want to make sure I have all the other rooms big enough for the super-huge televisions so I can watch re-runs of Gunsmoke over and over and over...let's see...that leaves a little bit of space here, not much, for the kitchen."

Must be because our living room is HUGE. I would so love to be able to redesign this house. I'd knock out several walls.

Small kitchens are terrible things!!!! This kitchen used to be only 9 1/2 by about 11.....now it's 9 1/2 by just under 20 feet.......knocking out the rest of the wall between the dining room and kitchen really made a dramatic difference!!!

Hey Triss, our living room is huge too!!! Go figure.....Big living room, tiny kitchen, tiny dining room....Then again our house IS over a hundred years old........I guess they didn't need a big kitchen way back then, they probably cooked outside or something....LOL

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones...my kitchen measures 12.6ft X 12.6 ft

I know you're gonna love all of that extra space,Loz!

G-Mom

I like the whole "gathering space" idea for a kitchen area. My dream kitchen would be 20x20+ and attached to a 20x20+ family type room with a fireplace. Very comfortable and lots of space to hang out while cooking.

You could really use that space Triss with all of your children......It's funny how the kitchen really is the heart of the home....at my parents house we all gather in the kitchen(she had hers redone last year).....

Maybe Mark will come home today with the trim or a few of the upper cabinets....It'd be nice....LOL

Maybe I should take a picture of mine. Not even room for a table. The kitch is behind the gerbil cage. Now...ignore the messes on the counters...I'm taking a break from cleaning out the cabinets under the counters. Oh...and Cindy, friend, you will notice that my refrigerator is looking a little more cluttered since you last saw a picture of it.

That's GREAT!
Let me know if you need any magnets!

Cindy The Magnet Freak

I guess I have you allbeat! My kitchen is 7ft by 6ft from cabnet to wall. You can barelt turn around in it...well actually, you don't have to turn around in it..you don't have ROOM! It is the most awful kitchen I have ever had! It has a whopping 2 drawers in it...I thought I was gonna die! I ended up haveing to gut the laundry room out and making it into a pantry just so I could have some cabnet & drawer space! Our other house had a large kitchen with a bakery room attached...really spoiled me! I MISS my big kitchen!!!!

I have a few magnets but I like them to be all in order....LOL I know I'm weird....It drives me nuts because my sister Allison will come over and mess them all up when I'm not looking....she thinks she's pretty funny I guess....

Vanessa, that sounds SO small...I don't know how a baker like yourself can stand it...I bet you do miss your old kitchen. It's hard to go from a big kitchen to a small kitchen....In the apt. we lived in for 5 years the kitchen was huge...then we bought this house and the first thing I said when we looked at it was....Oh, the kitchen is tiny....Do you have a place in your kitchen now to work on your baking????

In the late 70's we rented a farm in Plum Texas ( my wife would joke and say by the time you realize your in town your plum through it) was built it 1800'sI think around time of the civil war. House was four bedroom's all large huge dinning room and kitchen was 20 ft. wide and 40 ft long ceilings was 10 ft. high. My wife loved this kitchen she had a picnic table in it to set her mixer and make her bread and cookies (man I miss those too). House had no insulation so impossible to heat. In 1980 had the worset heat wave in history I think close to 100 days with heat in excess of 110 and humidity just as high we had no A/C but had a porch went around the house our bed room set so a breeze was always blowing through it beleive it or not could sleep real well with windows open and afan blowing.
Jimmy

Jimmy,

That place sounds AWESOME... maybe I will rethink the size of my dream kitchen

The walking space of our current kitchen is about 4x8 (and that is probably being generous)and the counters are a U shape around the floor area which is the only thing that saves my sanity when cooking or baking.

Wow Jimmy what a huge kitchen--sounds like one heck of a house.......Triss maybe you should rethink the size of your dream kitchen.....could you imagine having that much space with all of your kids....WOW...You'd have to have a walkie talkie to communicate with whoever was at the other end....LOL

I would be in kitchen heaven. The only thing that enables us to all eat around the table is that my fil made us beautiful benches so we get several little kids across the back of the table and we can put the table very close to the wall. The eating area is L-shaped off the kitchen. Oh I have to take pics so you can see what I mean.

Triss

Here is the kitchen, uncleaned after dinner, and the eating area, cleaned cuz the kids did their chores. I am standing in the same spot taking both pics and just turned left to take the eating area pic.

I had a small kitchen like that one time. I think it is called a galley kitchen? Wasn't too bad at the time I was living there because I was a divorced mother with 2 children. I remember my 2 year old daughter climbing into one of the bottom cupboards and I about had a hissy fit trying to find her. Good thing that I kept the bottom cupboards empty!

Dianna

Thanks for the pics Triss.....it's nice to see what someone is talking about.....at least there's one good thing about a small kitchen, you don't have that far to walk to the sink, stove, and fridge......

Those benches probably are really helpful that your FIL made...you must have to cook some HUGE meals to feed all of your family....I cook a lot for just the 2 of us because we both eat a lot...couldn't imagine cooking for 8 people!!!!

So far not too bad on the cooking cuz 4 of them are under 5 and Zack eats like a bird. But the good thing is that I LOVE to cook, got that from my mom and dad. Looking very forward to making cookies tomorrow if I can remember to get brown sugar at the store

Nope, I just have to juggle everything! The ONLY thing that saves me is the "pantry" room. I designed it myself and every inch is utilized...I mean every inch. It's about the only room that is finished...except we haven't built the doors for the cabinets yet. Instead of building drawer space I left cuddy holes that the rolling rubbermaid drawers would fit in...so when I am working on cakes I can roll the drawers into the kitchen...and then you REALLY can't move in there...okay...dirty as it may be I'll go try to get a few picks...
Triss your kitchen looks about the same size as mine except it was designed better and you have a TON more cabinet space!!! POOH!

The cabinetes are good. I like you utilize my laundry room to store things, like the kitchen aid. In fact, I think my laundry room is bigger than my kitchen.

Wow..it actually looks bigger than life here! And that's JV's banana nut bread on the counter...I have been cooking all day! I wanted to take a pic of the pantry...but man it's the pits right now...you all would come and have my house condemed...Hhhmmm...now there's a thought! I dislike this house SO much!!!!

LOVE that color! But you are right, it is small for baking.

It is small for ANYTHING. If I stand under the pot racks...I can easily touch the fridge & the dishwasher with my arms slightly bent! And, when you open the freezer door...it will hit the pots if you don't watch it...but I had to have the rack because I didn't have a cabinet for the pots! Did I mention that I dislike this kitchen????????

loz, are you redoing the whole house? It's nice to have a handy person around. Is your wall red? I love that color.

Yep, you mentioned that. We do have one really cool thing about the kitchen. The lower cabinet on the left is a spinning cabinet, not quite a lazy susan but I dont know what to call it and it has all kinds of room for pots.

You know what I'd really like. I big garden window over the sink where I could grow some herbs indoors. That and watch the kids play outside.

I priced one at Lowe's and they were VERY expensive! But, then I got a price from a builder and it was a lot better, am going to have one put in when we re-do the kitchen. It has to have all new cabinets...these are rotten. The dining room is as small as the kitchen. It makes it so difficult to have all of the kids/grandkids here at the same time....we just have to step over each other!

Well I'm dreaming here so who cares about the expense.

I, also, only have 2 drwaers

UGH!!! My niece does the SAME thing to me!!!! I have my magnets all in order and she totally messes them up!!

I had a really good friend that stayed with me for a year to recupe from a really bad heart attack. My daughter and I had always been alone so it was a little strange to have a man around the house for any length of time. He was an ex sailor and had to have everything :p just so..(anal??) My fridge was lined up like a military parade. Everything had its place. Height restrictions etc.
My loverly daughter took great joy in opening the fridge and just strewing EVERYTHING around. :rolleyes: He would never say a word, but half an hour or so later, all back in order.
I still have to giggle about it, especially when you talk of your magnets.. If you saw any of mine, you would

Insert drooling graemlin here. Vanesa am already drooling it looks good from what I could see. "licks lips again" Your pot rack looks like the one my wife had years ago she finaly did something with it I was always hitting my head on it and she would laugh and say it's still in the same place dear. Tris you would like the bay window across my kitchen(still does not feel right to say my kitchen it has always been my wifes)I put a shelf goes across the window about 14 feet and put flowers on it in the winter no room for anything else then Also In Igauna's bedroom have shelf for flowers and my seedlings.
Thank you Vanessa
Jimmy

Sybil, cleaning the fridge has to be my most absolute unfavorite chore...send your sailor over here please!!! LOL

Oh JV...we think you are worth it!

Everybody here hits their head on the pot rack...and I tell them the SAME thing....it's in the same place it has always been..... :rolleyes:
Our ceilings are very low..and of course the lights that I wanted were hanging ones! So we tried to adjust them up as high as they would go...I have to keep the table pulled up under the light so people wont whack their head on it! Did I mention that I don't really like this house! Jv...I think I'm gonna come and claim your KITCHEN!!!!!

okay you guys heres my kitchen... For directional reference the window is facing West and the stove is north...

Looks like a nice sized kitchen to me...and lots of cabinet space too! Are they his and hers coffeemakers on your bakers rack???? Or just for when you really want a lot of coffee...LOL We have 2...Mark has a big one, and I have a little 1 cup maker....works for us good...He drinks a huge thermos full in the mornings.

I was searching for a TV and spotted it above your fridge....I couldn't live without my little 13 inch out there...When you are out there cooking for a long time you need one....

The cool thing about the tv is the remote works for the big tv in the living room too!! and vice-versa.. So I always have a remote for the tv.
The coffee pots are thus: The one on the left is one I got for a gift but it was a lemon from the get-go. So I wrote to Mr.Coffee via email and told them of my suggestions for the product. They started telling me to take it and have it repaired etc... Long story short- by the time it was over they sent me a brand new one the one on the right... So now I use the one on the left to make tea and the other to make coffee. The black one in the middle is a Black and Decker Home Cafe` for when I only need one cup(which is rare!!!)

Geez, I'm coming to your house for some coffee or tea.....you have a regular coffeehouse set up there....LOL All you need is a cappuccino maker and a bean grinder and you're all set....

I like the bookshelf being in the kitchen....are they all cookbooks on there????? I have a ton of them, that I keep on my bakers rack for lack of anywhere else to stick 'em..

Yep all the books are cookbooks. I have three small 3 ring binders that I have 5x8 index cards in with my Mostest Favorite recipes in and my own design recipes and the third I have hard copies of all the recipies I have stored on my pc. And I have three different sets of those recipe cards that you get samples of in the mail, ya know the ones I mean??? And I've already given Angela quite a few to help her start her own collection. But the one I have the most fun with is The CakeMix Doctor. Its fabulous when it comes to turning simple box cake mixes into something extraordinary!!!

Okay Tric...I'm really hitting the sack....I just can't stop reading posts....it's bad...LOL

I've heard of the cake mix doctor cookbook....Wouldn't mind a copy of that myself....I think I saw it on one of the shopping channels on TV...I joined a bookclub and got the new edition of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook not that long ago, but I have lots of other ones too....I bet you have that one on that shelf somewhere.....LOL Night again....

Well, PC, I was going to comment on the coffemakers, but I was beaten to it. Darn fireworks!! I WILL comment on the mixer...its the one that I want!! Yours looks like the 4 1/2 quart one tho...I want the 6 quart one with the larger motor(arr arr arr)

Here is my kitchen...
The frig, part of the pantry (on the left)...its where we keep all of our seasonings, and the dishwasher counter.


Turning towards the right, this is the microwave, sink, and another counter.


Stove (obviously)


and the back door


This is our pantry...it goes down the steps towards our basement.

This is my deal of the week...
I got it for $2!!! It has a corner that was broken off, but I stained it with Old English and you can't even see it. The first and third frames have recipe cards that belonged to my Nanna and in the middle is a poem for her. On the little shelf is a kitchen utensil that my pop-pop made and next to it a rose from my Nanna's funeral. Not bad for 2 bucks, eh?

WOW..you really can't see it...I mean REALLY can't see it!

I think all gardeners try to live in their kitchens. I would but mine is to small. I love the redo. Your wrought iron is wonderful I love it.

I wish I had my cookbooks in my kitchen! They are in the pantry up high and it makes it hard to get to them!

Funny, Vanessa. I tend to do that when I'm really tired.....and it was soooo late!!
Here's the pic of my little shelf.

Hey Loz! I love your kitchen! I bet you're so excited to be done. I'm totally green with envy right now, because we just took out money so we could get started on ours, and then all of a sudden all this stuff comes up. Like, I'm pregnant and sick as a dog, so I can't do the work myself, so we'll have to hire it. Plus, we'll have the expenses for the new baby. Then my hubby gets a notice that his company made a mistake on his W2s reporting a distribution from last year, so we're going to have to REFILE our taxes, and I figure we'll now have to pay about 2 grandbecause we got way too big a return because of the mistake, so our budget by the time all this stuff adds up is going to be less than half what it was. I love those Lowes cabinets, both the kind you finish, and the in-stock ones that are already finished, especially the maple. I keep wishing they's get hickory in.

Meg-- putting down these hardwood floors these days is really one of the easier home-improvement projects, and one of the most satisfying, cause it looks so GORGEOUS when it's done. You could totally do it yourself. Idid almost our whole house 4 years ago, and it looks great. The hardest part is making sure your floor is level.

Cindy- I have the same size kitchen as you, 8X12. I actually think that's a pretty good size kitchen. Not too big, not too small. It's the layout of ours that's crappy.

Jenn- Ilove the way you have your pantry set up. That's such a great use of space!

Ok Jenn,

I love the pantry stairs. I have to get Dan to do that for me.

Our kitchen is something like 14 x 10. It seems small. I don't have a lot of cabinet space either. I'll take some pictures and post them.

This is my kitchen from the back porch.



and from the hallway



and from the dining room



as you can see I don't have much cabinet space. I'd like to knock out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room but that would take away more cabinets.

Love that space. I bet if you did take out the wall you could put cabinates along one of the long walls and still have a wonderful space. Love all the light!