Cue the crickets!!! Kitchen update..finally

The project that just won't end... our kitchen.  After looking at these photos, I see so much more that needs to be finished! (frown!) But it am not a Debbie Downer so I am basking in delight from having the new hardwood floors put in yesterday!  What a nightmare getting these, but so worth it!!! We were on a roll, the cupboards went in fairly quickly, had to wait for the counter tops,  then the wait for flooring came, set us back a month and a half.  Oh and lets not forget the fact that we had to get all new appliances at the last minute, had to move the old ones back into the old house.  Fun times! 

So we chose stainless appliances and hopefully one day this upcoming weekend we can use them!  We are really getting sick of eating out!  Five months people!!! 

My sweet hubby did a wonderful job with the subway tile backsplash, love it!!!

 Love my stool found at Meijers for $17!  This is the area leading into my mom in law's wing of the house.  (past the doorway) We still need to paint after a few drywall repairs and new lighting was installed in the ceiling.  Toe kicks are on the agenda for the weekend!

 We also have lights to go inside the cabinets that need to be installed. 

 Trim around the dishwasher too!!

I am loving all of the changes taking place, no matter how long they take, I like to see progress!  Sorry for the lack of posting, we have been super busy around here!  I now have  a 16 and 6 year old, Dayton went to prom, is now going to be an 11th grader in the fall and has a sweet little girlfriend.  He also played baseball and no injuries to report for the first time!  Thankfully! Oh and is getting his license next week.  Myah is going to be a first grader, played tball with her cousins, is in the gardening club, and got her ears pierced and bangs!  Life is good for her!  We are all adjusting well to our new environment and love being near our family.  Mom has been struggling lately with her breathing and has been in and out of the hospital, which makes my moving here all the more validated.  It is so much easier to help when you don't have a 2 hr drive in between you!!! I will be back with more updates I promise, I just have been swamped lately.  Our addition starts soon and I can hardly wait to expand into our new spaces!  I am really wanting to fuss with the kitchen things aren't how I want them to be exactly but for now it is a functioning space and I can fuss later!

I'll Be Watching!!!

I will be one of the billion people getting up at 4 am to watch William marry his Kate!  I am a huge lover of all things royal so I am over the moon excited!  I can't wait to see all the pagentry!!!!

Kitchen Remodel Part II

We have been working so hard around here lately, we ended up waiting 4 weeks for our counter top to be made and delivered.  On Monday 3 men arrived with my beautiful Corian counter top and I have never been so happy to have a functioning kitchen in all my life. While waiting, we took a vacation to the Emerald Coast, our favorite getaway! 

Armed with a new camera and lenses I was ready to take tons of photos.  Truth is, I just relaxed and rested up, it has been such a long cold, snowy, winter around here, it felt just wonderful to soak up the sunshine and take long walks on the beach. I am sure you want to see photos of the kitchen progress so here you go, we still have alot to do but I can at least use my appliances, counters and sink. 

 We have some trim  and filler pieces to set in place now that the sink is in. 

 I can finally make a meal in my LeCruset pot that my sister gave me for Christmas! I love the crock holding my utensils.  My Grandma  once brought me fresh morrel mushrooms in this years ago.  Yummy!

 Subway tile and dark wood floors are on the agenda, along with finishing the trim on the cupboards.  I purchased the new faucet with my gift card that I received from Lowe's!

 I also was able to purchase the cool light above the sink on clearance for $15! Don't pay attention to the dirty windows!

 Loving my island!  I put oil on the butcher block yesterday and it helped to darken the wood a bit.

 The gaps are where the filler pieces are going. 

 The dining room is ready for some great meals to come out of the kitchen!!!

 Oh, and my Dayton has made the baseball team, I never dreamed my son would be sporting my colors!! He actually hit for the first time in a year last night, my whole family was there, I love living back at home. Today the physical therapist cleared him from his shoulder break.  Thank Goodness!!!

 And just cause I love them so much I had to show you my sweetie pies!  Oh how we love the beach!!!

I am starting to feel short around them!!!  At least I have Myah still little for a few more years!! Dayton will be 16 in a few weeks, I just cannot believe how fast the years are flying by!!

Sorry for the delay in posts, I have been so busy with life and remodeling, I wanted to post when I finally had something to show!  Oh and while we were on vacation my mom called me to tell me that they found Mr.Cole's remains... 2 doors down from her on the lake.  His body had traveled 3miles down the lake, 2 months had gone by that he was in the icy waters.... this weekend we are attending his memorial.  Thank you so much for your prayers for this special family.  May he rest in peace.

Dining Room Reveal

 Loving my 12 light chandy from Ballard Designs, I wanted a significant piece over the round table, this was just perfect.

 Everything in this bookcase has meaning to us.

 I found this awesome column for $35 at my antique mall. The mirror was a $4 gar.sale find last summer.

 Under this cloche is one of the very old German Bibles that my mother in law gave to us from Mark's grandmother.

 Some more of the collection. It was like they were meant to be there.

 The cigar box was in some of my Grandmother's things, the binocs were from a g.s.

 Almost everything in this room was second hand, except the chandelier and the new PB rug.

 Everyone loves my tobacco basket, I found it for $35 at a second hand thrift store a few years ago. 

 The Ethan Allen dining set and buffet was a hand me down from my sister Melanie. Those gorgeous curtains were a gift from her for my 40th bday last year, she got them from her sis in law who didn't like them! They are from Chandlers'.

 One day we will have wood floors!

 I have named  our home Dandelion Cottage, I will explain it later in another post!

 A few before shots with my mil's things in here.

Ta-Da !!!

Kitchen Remodel part 1

Whew!  I am tired just looking at this post!  We have been busy as bees since moving last month, we have been waiting for the contractors who are doing my mother in law suite to remove the cupboards in the kitchen and re use them in her new kitchen.  Last week we finally had demo day and Mark and I got straight to work, and work we have done.  Constantly.  We are starting to see things take shape so I thought I would share a few (ok alot) of pictures, mostly so that  could keep track of our progress (and my mother in law who has fled to Florida for 2 months could see too!)  Here are a few photos of the before, the way it was when my mother in law left. 

I am already taking heat from the locals for not making cookies like she does!

She is never this cluttered, I took the photo on busy day.

We are reusing her cabinets in her new kitchen space.

She even got her own entry door

The door to her new bedroom.

This hallway will lead to her family room. 

Here is the kitchen now that we have our cupboards going in.  We purchased our cabinets from Ikea and are very happy with them so far. 

I am so excited about having glass doors, you have no idea!  I wanted you to see how high they are, my hubby is 6'2", he has been so wonderful, staying up late working hard to get this done for us. 

So my first choice for countertops was a marlbe looking granite, loved it!  But way out of our budget so we went with the Corian countertop. We ordered ours from Lowes and right now they have a deal where you get free undermounted sink with your order ($400 value).  So we were pumped about that. It is going to be a few weeks before the countertop is installed, I can hardly wait! Lowes also has a deal going on right now if you purchase a gift card (over $500) they will give you 10% gift card starting March 18th. We purchased a gift card in the amount of our counter top and in  a few weeks we will have  over $200 worth of Lowe's credit coming to us.  We thought that was worthy of passing along to you guys!

We painted the wall in the dining room and purchased an awesome rug from the Pottery Barn Outlet. Things are taking shape!  We also hung a new chandelier in the dining room , it is large and grand and I love it!  We are not done with it yet, I need to clip the chain and maybe add some shades, I found it at Ballards. 

These are my mil's appliances, we need to go back to the old house to get ours this weekend.

We are going to put in darker wood floors eventually and paint the lovered doors white.  The knobs still need to go on the island and wood blinds need to be hung.  I have a new light fixture to hang over the sink, I need to find somthing else for the ceiling lights.  We are also going to attempt a subway tile backsplash. 

So that is it so far.  We still have  a long ways to go, it will be wonderful to get the countertop in!  I am really sick of eating out!  At least we have a temporary sink, thankfully!  It is so exciting to see our hard work paying off.  I am living in a constant mess around here, but it will be worth it when all is said and done! 

As a side note, my coach Mr. Cole's body has still not been located in the icy waters.  It was 4 weeks ago yesterday that he was presumed to have drowned.  They are still searching for him and need our prayers.  Thank you.