The Long Awaited Kitchen Reno Pics

I know, I know these were promised a long time ago. But really we only finished about a week ago because the brand new high end dishwasher wouldn't work when installed. Then we waited over a week for a part, then half a week for dude to come back and install it. So really, I couldn't honestly take 'done' pics until now.

And well frankly, we're really not done because there's no backsplash. It doesn't seem too bad in person, but these pics point out the need for it. But alas, we'll be waiting a while for that because when you've had your kitchen upside-down for months, you're not anxious to go there again for a while.

So here are some lovely, oh so lovely, before pics. Why oh why did we feel the need to.....oh ya, it was hideous.

You can see my attempt to improve the cabinets once upon a time - painted the lower cabinets but it didn't work too well. This photo also features the miracle faucet, held in place by calcification. That was Rocketman's favourite part!

You will see in the after photos that we ripped out this closet/pantry. It allowed us to move the fridge further along, so we could actually have more than 3 feet of countertop. We're livin' large now!

Just for your entertainment, here are some during photos:

I actually cooked on the stove with it pulled out like this many a night.

It was helpful that we yanked out that closet because behind it lurked the ductwork and we found it gaping open - explained the cool upstairs despite having put in a high efficiency furnace. All is right in the heating world now too, or well, was right until it turned to summer. It will help with the air conditioning as well, obviously.

And here's how it's looking today. Yes, still have to paint around the window, eagle eyes! And you can see that it's needing some backsplash. But that will be fun when the time comes.

This last one is a whole new wall of cabinetry. There was just a baker's rack here before which wasn't too efficient. Working much better for us now.

So despite this total gut job and lengthy reno....two things haven't changed. Do you know what they are? 1) The fridge is still covered in kindergarten artwork; and 2).....

Charley is still more interested in what's happening outside the kitchen than what's happening inside.

So now you know why I'm hooked on cooking and baking these days!