In the Library (with a candlestick?)

   Today we continue our tour with a room that gets a surprising (to me) amount of use from a relatively small space: the library!  I think it sounds cozier to call it "the library" than "the office"--don't you?  This room is immediately to your left when you walk in my front door.  The wood/laminate floors from the living room were thankfully continued into this room, so the only real changes we did were to paint and change out the light fixture.  Take a look!

   

   I love the double doors leading into the library.  Unfortunately, they are closed most of the time to keep curious little hands out of places they shouldn't be. This also appears to be the only photo where you can catch a glimpse of the light fixture.  There was a ceiling fan with a light kit in here, but the ceilings aren't all that tall and my husband didn't want a flat top, so I spray painted it and moved it to the master bedroom. In its place, we hung a flush mounted drum shade fixture with a pretty quatrefoil-type  pattern on it.  

   
   Here is the computer setup (I know you've all been dying to know where I blog) and Chris's book case.  These bookcases are sentimental to me because my grandfather built them for me when I was in grad school.  (He said he wasn't going to move the pieces of crap that I had again, and would build me something sturdy enough to hold my many many textbooks.) They have been moved umpteen times, and are still kicking!  Chris stained them a little darker when we rearranged our old apartment to make room for Abby Kate. 

   The other set of double doors open to a closet, so technically this is a four bedroom house.  I'm not sure who would want to have the bedroom that is squarely in the middle of the "public" area of the house, but to each his own.  

   The white built-ins house more books, magazines, and photos (in the white boxes, labeled with my beloved label-maker).  I think it really adds to the "library" ambiance I was hoping for in here.  We added the chair a month or two after moving in.  We discovered that we tend to gravitate to this room in the evenings after Abby Kate is in bed because it keeps the house a little quieter, and it's been great to have somewhere for the non-computering person to sit and read or hang out.

   This angle shows you my bookcase and the one tiny window in the room.  I don't mind the lack of windows so much since I don't spend a lot of daytime hours in here.  It would probably get really hot in here with more, since this is a south facing room. 

   The rug clearly isn't the "prescribed" size for a room this size, but we ran into a few challenges with that.  The entryway is on an angle, so anything much larger stuck out the door, and anything larger made an infuriating speed bump for the computer chair.  So I like to think that the small rug sort of "designates" the library area from the computer area.  ....Right....

   And now, for my favorite part of this room...my craft closet!  My dad helped me design and implement a way to add more storage in here without changing too much of the existing closet, just in case we decide to sell and the next owner isn't a crafter.  

   We added some pegboard to one side, making my sewing supplies easy to access, and shelving to the other side to hold scrapbook paper (organized by color, of course), yard, momentos, and sewing trims.  I decided to paint the shelf backs and pegboard a nice aqua (my happy color).  

   The desk was assembled mostly from things I already had.  I previously used these white organizers in the office in our apartments, but they have been stored away since we had Abby Kate.  The plywood on top was already stained since we used it as a desk top in several places.  We added the "scooters" on the bottom, applied a little silicone adhesive, and bam!  A desk!  

   It holds my scrapbooking supplies, so everything is right at my fingertips.  There isn't a light in the closet, so I just roll my desk out to work and roll it back in when I'm finished.  I can stop mid-project and just tuck it all away if I need to tidy up suddenly!  Usually I pull it out and turn it 90 degrees, so the closet is to my left when I'm working.  My paper is easy to reach and I can watch Netflix on the computer while I work.  Does life get better?

   We have loved having this "grownup playroom" to keep our things safe from little hands, and to have a place where we can be creative, or read, or watch Netflix, or just visit in the evenings.  It's a cozy little spot that I didn't know how much I would enjoy.  

   What's your favorite room in your house?  Are you a crafter?  Netflixaholic?  

Master Bed and Bath

     Apparently you all are more interested in kitchens than in living rooms.  I had triple the number of hits on my blog when I posted the kitchen photos than with the living room ones.  That's okay.  I get it.  It's cool.  Kitchen makeovers are a lot more interesting than just putting some furniture in the living room.
   
     Hopefully today won't be another disappointment for you: it's master suite day!  We didn't do much in the master bedroom.  New paint, new carpet, and swapped out the dinky little fan that was in there for a bigger one that was in the office.  We did Phase 1 of our bathroom renovation.  I'll explain as we go, but most of what we did was cosmetic for now.  We're planning and saving for a larger scale renovation, maybe in a year or two, but we wanted to freshen up what we are currently living with.  So...here are the photos!

Master bedroom, before

Master bedroom, after. We painted and replaced the carpet, but neither looks much different in photos.  It does in real life.

     Like I said, we didn't do much in here.  Just added our stuff.  I did purchase that metal decorative thingy that's over the bed new because the ceilings are so high in here that my old decoration looked dumpy.  On top of our armoire is a photo from our wedding and the candle we lit during the ceremony.  Awwww....

Tub area, before

Shower area, before (with spider light fixture)

Throne room, before

     Again, sorry for the terrible photos.  Still no photoshop on the computer.  Someday I'll come back and fix it.  Maybe.  Anyway, the bathroom before: ick.  Leopard print wallpaper to the rather high ceiling, two toned tile, spider lights.  ::Shudder::  I like leopard print probably more than the next girl, but I have to draw the line somewhere.  Here's the pretty new bathroom:

Master bathroom, after. No more spider light!

Tub area, after

Throne room, after

     We nixed the beige paint in favor of an airy pale blue (Night Frost, by Olympic), I put a coat of darker stain on the cabinets and added some hardware (none in here originally either).  My dad framed out the mirror in here and added that nice chunky trim at the top to act as a base for the new light fixtures.  My sis spend I don't know how long peeling off wallpaper, then we added the beadboard (you knew you couldn't get away from it, right?) and shelves around the tub and in the "throne room," and laid new tile around the toilet to more closely match the rest of the bathroom.  That's Phase 1...

     For Phase 2, sometime in the future, we plan to put in a new vanity (the current one is pretty stained and beat up), a new soaker tub (the current one has a hole in it and is rather shallow), and redo the shower.  The current shower is a one-piece slide in unit, which isn't terrible.  It's in good shape and easy to keep clean.  However, Chris can see over the top of it, and has to contort himself to bend low enough to wash his hair.  Apparently the previous owners had this problem too because the drywall above the shower insert is badly damaged from being wet.  We would like to tile the shower up to the wall partition (you can see it a few pics up) to prevent that kind of damage in the future.  And we'll likely add more beadboard because I have a sickness.

     It's been wonderful to have this much space to get ready in, and to have the toilet segregated.  I don't know about you, but we're still door-closed kind of folks, even five years into our marriage, and it's always been a carefully choreographed dance of getting ready in the mornings and for bed so we can both maintain the mystery.  Brushing your teeth beside someone is one thing, flushing is another.  :\

     What about you?  Door open or closed?  Any partial renovations at your house?  Plans for an upcoming redo?

Living Room Reveal!

     Many thanks to the handful of you who follow my blog.  I mostly use this as a creative outlet and motivation to clean my house and dress my kid up adorably, but I do appreciate when you check out my thoughts, follow the blog, or comment.  Feel free to let me know what you think about this stuff!  The house is "finished" in that the major items are in place, but it's more of a minimal acceptable baseline sort of finished.  It doesn't feel right quite yet.  That will take time, yes, but it may also take some ideas from folks like you!  

   

     Another day, another room revealed!  Today we're headed to the living room.  We do have a small entryway, but truly the living room is what you see when you walk in the front door.  As always, let's remember where we started:

The old view from the front door

The new view from the front door!

   We didn't do a ton in this room, and it was the last to be finished because it made great work space for all of our other projects.  The trim got a coat of paint because it was in pretty rough shape, and the walls were painted as well--no more gold walls!  I like how the new wall color cools down the wood tones in the floor and grabs some of the greys in the fireplace bricks.  The paint color is the same as the kitchen, which I thought was going to be a grey-leaning taupe, but turned out to be a warmish grey.  Good thing I like it anyway!  

   We did replace the ceiling fan in here too.  The original one was a little spacy/modern for my taste.  The floors were already in when we bought the house.  They're a nice laminate and were in good condition.  I would have chosen something a little darker and/or less orange, but once the new wall color went up and we got our furniture in, they're fine.  

Gallery wall

   Chris's dad was able to add an electrical outlet to the paneling over the fireplace so we could mount our TV up there.  I didn't want to have to figure out where else to put it when the fireplace seemed like the obvious choice.  It's not my first choice for interior design purposes, but it sure is handy!  The DVD player is resting on the TV mounting bracket, tucked in behind the TV.  No cords showing!  We don't have cable, so we didn't have to hide a cable box, but we did order a Chromecast that we LOVE!

   This side of the room is a little more bare bones right now.  The entry area is small, as I said, so I have hesitated to hang much on the walls there because I don't want them getting bumped or broken, or taking up valuable shoulder space.  And I just haven't figured out what I like sitting on the white dresser, so the Scentsy pot currently lives alone.  I pictured it as a spot to make adorable little seasonal vignettes, but I haven't quite mastered that yet.

     This aqua hutch was rescued from the trash pile at our last apartment and refurbed into it's current state.  I'll have to do a post on that some time.  We used it in our dining room previously, as sort of a china hutch, but our dining room here didn't lend itself quite the same, so it ended up in the living room.  I actually really like it on this wall, and I needed somewhere strong to put my scrapbooks.  The bottom used to house my scrapbooking supplies, but now it holds games and off-season throw pillows!

     So that's our living area!  We spend a lot of time here during the day.  The kitchen is very open into the living room, especially if you're standing at the sink, which I really enjoy.  Some day I'd like to add some more seating for when we have guests, but it's fine for now.  That isn't very high on my priority list at the moment!

Kitchen Reveal!

   It's been almost two months since my last post, and in that time, we finished renovating our new house and moved in! I am so thankful that we had family to take us in for a few months while we transitioned to our new place, but it has been wonderful to try to get back to some shred of normalcy.  C's commute is around 20 minutes, less than half of what it was when we first got here.  We're settled into our house, and it has been a challenge and a joy to unpack and decorate to make it a home.  I thought I would start the first of what will likely be many posts about how the house that we refer to as "The 717" has turned out by showing you the room that had the most dramatic (read: time, labor, and budget intensive) makeover, our kitchen!
   As always, let's go back to the beginning so we can all appreciate how far we came.  This is the kitchen as it looked on closing day:

   And here it is today, thanks to the hard work of my grandpa, my uncle, my father-in-law, and lots of other helping hands:

   This is the best shot of the new tile.  It's an 18" square tile, which my grandfather said he will likely never install again in his life.  Oops.  Our floor was pretty uneven, and it was apparently pretty tough to get the tiles level with the added size, although he admits that they look really good.  We picked a dark grey grout to pick up some of the tones in the tile.  The best part though, is that they have a bit of grit to them, so they aren't slick!  Yay!

   Excuse the yellowish photos.  My flash has been ornery lately, and we don't have Photoshop installed on the computer yet (Chris did an overhaul recently, another reason I haven't gotten these photos up sooner.)

   I absolutely love my kitchen.  It isn't at all what I had in mind on day one, but like many things, I think it turned out even better.  Soooo much hard work (not mine, as I said in my previous kitchen post) went into this room, and I can't imagine a better finished product.  Here are a few detail photos:

   We went with an off-white integrated sink because Lowe's was running a special on them the day I ordered.  They're typically a bit more because of the labor involved on the installation.  We also had a few things customized on the countertops.  Usually they come with a standard 4" vertical lip all the way around the countertop.  That would have left me with about two inches to paint between the lip and the serving bar you can see in this photo, so we asked that they extend the surface all the way up to the bar to prevent any moisture sneaking out from the sink. Sometimes I'm a little wild when I wash dishes, what can I say?

   Here you can see our pretty new appliances, and a good shot of the beadboard backsplash.  Some folks were worried that I wouldn't like that much white all together, but I love it.  It wipes off easily (I'm a wild cook too), it's a great backdrop for my accessories, and it adds a little bit of detail without busyness.  And raising the upper cabinets givens me good work space, allows room for a microwave, and makes the room feel so much taller, although I do have to tippy-toe to reach things on the top shelf.  Worth it.

   You already saw a photo with the dust-catcher decorative ledge knocked out, but now you can see it with the pendants hung.  So much more flattering for my pretty kitchen.

   Another look at those can lights, which make my kitchen SO bright and easy to work in, and the pendant hanging over the island.  No trace of the fluorescent light box that used to be there!



   Here's a closeup of the countertops.  They're a solid-surface countertop that we ordered from Lowe's while they were running a special.  I think they're trying to clear out a few colors because only selected colors were on sale.  Luckily, that happened to include the one we liked.  This photo is reading really brown, but they seem a little cooler in real life.  It's a taupey-grey with an ivory and a dark brown and maybe even a black speck in it.  I've only had them for a month, but they seem to clean easily and the color is forgiving of anything I missed.  (Not sure if that's good or bad...)

   This is crazy, but these cabinets are the most sentimental to me.  They hold my wedding china.  In five years of marriage, I have never had all of my china in a cabinet, ever.  It's lived under my bed, in my grandma's attic, a few place settings in a cabinet in one house we lived in, but never all of it in cabinets.  I cried when I put it all away.  It finally feels like I am settled, ready to live my life, not living a temporary life until we move somewhere else or until we buy a house.  This is my home.  This is where I belong.

As promised, the best source list that I can put together from my very poor memory:
Wall paint: Olympic Icon in Stormy Weather, satin finish
Cabinet paint: Olympic One in Off-White, semi-gloss finish
Appliances: Frigidaire, Gallery collection
Door knobs: Threshold, found here
Drawer pulls: Threshold, found here
Faucet: Glacier Bay Fairway faucet in Bronze
Countertops: Allen + Roth for Lowe's in Antiquity
Tile: For the life of me I can't remember, but I bought it at Mill Creek Flooring.
Light fixtures: Hampton Bay Somerset collection

If I forgot to source something that you're curious about, let me know.  

Bathroom Progress!

   It feels like progress in the house is slowing down.  In reality, there is much being done, but most of it requires some sort of previous experience or skillz that I don't possess, so there isn't a lot that I personally can do.  I plan to continue learning how to do things, but for the moment, I don't know how to change a faucet, etc.  Our focus in the past week or so has been in the hall bath, which serves as our guest bath and Abby Kate's bathroom.  This bathroom is good sized, has a linen closet, has two sink/vanity areas, and a separate shower and potty area, making it ideal for being shared by multiple people.  (Please note, there are no babies in the works.  Just reflecting on growing up sharing a bathroom with my Seester and mom.  Three women getting ready at the same time could have used a little more elbow room.) 

   In the theme of the kitchen update post, let's remember where we started, shall we? Hall bath, before:

Hall bath, before.

   Not offensive, just incredibly boring.  Okay, those light fixtures are a little offensive.  You can't see them for the glare of the lights, but they're those "Hollywood" style  fixtures that had been spray painted (I think) with that horrible faux-stone textured paint.  ::shudder::  Again, I don't like orangey-stained wood, but there's tons of storage in those cabinets.  The biggest problem in both this bathroom and in the master is this:

Two-toned tile in the master "throne room"--seriously?!?

   The tile is two different colors.  Remember the slick-as-snot tile that we ripped out of the kitchen?  It's ba-ack!  For some reason, the previous owners laid the matte gray/tan tile in the main parts of both bathrooms and in the hallway to the bedrooms, but left the shiny ivory stuff around the toilets in both bathrooms and in the laundry room (my dad says they were probably too lazy to pull out the toilet and do it right).  Again, places where there are bound to be dusty feet or water on the floor.  This sounds like a broken wrist waiting to happen, not to mention it looks terrible.  So out it came.  My dad did the majority of the busting out in the hall bath, after giving me a tutorial, and I chiseled it out of the master bath and most of the laundry room.  That is hard work, friends!  I got lucky because there had apparently been some previous water leaks on the floor in the master bath and in the laundry because after I finally got the first tile out (after 45 minutes of hammering), the rest came out in much larger pieces. 

   We found one box of the correct tile in the garage, which was enough to finish the hall bath.  I found a VERY close approximation elsewhere for the other rooms, and we decided to add a "decorative buffer" and roll with it:

New tile!

   Keep in mind that the new stuff (on the right of the photo) has a little "grout haze" still on it, and the old stuff (on the left) hasn't been cleaned in heaven only knows how long, contributing to the difference in color.  I promise it's the same tile.  I think it turned out great!  Here are a few other projects going on in the bath:

 

   

   BEADBOARD!!!  Mwahahaha!  You knew it would pop up again, didn't you?  My dad installed a four-foot paneling of beadboard both in the shower area and in the main part of the bathroom, and added that awesome chunky railing at the top.  (I would have LOVED to do beadboard about six feet high, more of a plate rail height, but that stuff ain't cheap.) It's painted the same creamy off-white as the rest of the trim in the house, and I absolutely love it.  I think it makes the whole bathroom.  And here's a shot of the last project underway in here:

Vanity in progress!

   Dad also built that corner cabinet (he's super handy like that) and is framing in the mirrors, essentially creating two mirrors instead of one big wrap-around one.  They were plenty big, so I wasn't worried about losing mirror space, and I think it totally classes up the joint, don't you?  The cabinets have been sanded down and are awaiting a couple of coats of a darker, richer stain.  That's my department!  I plan to add some oil-rubbed bronze hardware to the cabinets as well. 

   So there you have it!  One hall bathroom, getting its makeover.  We have done a few more things in here since these photos were taken, like paint and light fixtures, but I think I'll save it for the big reveal photos.  You know, leave you hanging just a little.  Make you want to come back for more (and bring your friends). So make sure you come back for more!

   What are your priorities for bathroom design?  Do you hate Hollywood lights too?  Share my obsession love of beadboard? 

Before my very eyes

   As excited as I am about our new-to-us house, being first time homeowners, remodeling and decorating, and all that goes with that, it's tough.  The house takes up so much of our time and attention. There was the packing and moving, the house hunting, and now the work.  It's been a huge answer to prayer, don't get me wrong.  I absolutely cannot wait to move in and settle into life here.  But I almost feel like I have missed the past four months of my baby's toddler's life. I try to stay engaged, I try to make sure that when we are together that it's quality time, I try not to just yell at her and her incredibly frustrating toddler tendencies, but it seems like I blinked and all of a sudden she's a little girl, not my squishy-cheeked snuggle baby.  I know that happens with all kids, but I have noticed it more recently.

Silly faces with her favorite Auntie, November 2013

   When she visited grandparents in November while I was recovering from surgery, she was a proficient but unsteady walker.  She said some words, but mostly pointed and babbled.  She would bang toys together and enjoy exploring brightly colored or musical toys, but they were all just sort of random objects. 

Enjoying snow for the first time (she was too little last year!), December 2013

   When we came home for Christmas, she would bear crawl on all fours over the threshold to the addition in my parents' house.  She had started to recognize that her toy dishes could be used for having "tea" with whoever was willing to make the right sound effects.  She enjoyed hiding in the little fabric playhouse that my mom made for her, but didn't get the "house" concept.

My serious little bookworm, February 2014

   Then one day I blinked.  She "reads" books for fun by herself.  And she has definite opinions on which book she does and does not want to read.  She cooks at her play kitchen with appropriate pans and utensils (usually) and feeds her babydoll and stuffed animals (and sometimes the dog, if she doesn't run away fast enough) her imaginary concoctions.  She rocks her baby and takes her for rides in the stroller, careful to put on a jacket before they go.  She takes her dishes into her playhouse, and sometimes a tiny chair, peeking out the window and giggling at us.

Swinging with Daddy, February 2014

   My tiny baby is now pretty good with a fork and spoon, generally choosing the right tool for the job at hand.  She wants her bites in a particular order, asks for her "pup" (AKA "cup") when she needs a drink, and loves to wash her hands and wipe up her messes.  She knows how to throw away trash, put clothes into the dryer, and help unload the dishwasher.  She runs everywhere she goes, can go up and down stairs faster than I can, and knows that a girl isn't dressed without shoes and a bow.  (Not sure where she learned that...)

My funny Valentine, in her first pigtails!

   Sweetest Abby Kate, although some most days we struggle with a clash of wills (yours vs. mine), and some days I think I'm going to leave you to your toddler tantrums and go to Sonic, I am so proud of how you are growing up.  It melts my heart when you say "please" and "thank you," when you blow kisses, and when you add you "amen!" to the end of our prayers. I love it when you sing "Jesus Loves Me" with me, and when you are concerned about other babies crying.  You seem like such a big girl walking into Big Church by yourself and helping us take the dog for a "wop," but even on our tough days, I can peek at you napping and remember that you're still my baby girl.

Kitchen Progress!

   I know you're just dying to hear all about my amazing renovation plans for our house, aren't you? Okay, okay, I'll indulge you.  ;)  (Thanks for putting up with me.)  We'll start with the room that has the most dramatic plans for change, the kitchen.  Remember what we started with:

   It's hard to tell from the photo, but the ceilings are REALLY high in the kitchen (and living room), which is awesome, but sort of dwarfs the kitchen as it previously stood.  The orangey stain is about my least favorite color of wood on the planet. Also note, there is no microwave.  Also note, the refrigerator is older than I am.  We won't talk about how old that might be.  The dishwasher, oven, and vent hood are original to the house, which was built in 1999 (par-tay!) so they aren't ancient, but are definitely tired.  I don't have photos of it, but the countertops are a grey-beige Formica type material that is cracking and peeling and bowing away from the walls, especially in places where it got wet.  And finally, the tile.  The color is not offensive.  There are a couple of cracked tiles in the corner by the sink--looks like the previous owners dropped a heavy pot or something.  The major problem with the tile is that it is a super high gloss shiny tile and it is SLICK. AS. SNOT. if it's wet or if you have dust on your shoes.  You know, like if you're coming in from the back yard (the door is in the dining area) or if you are a messy cook (I am). I have very nearly busted my can just about every time I'm in the house.  So here's where we are now:

   Pardon the mess, but so much better, right?  Here's a list of what has been accomplished in this picture so far:

• Upper cabinets were raised 6". This makes the kitchen feel taller, decreases the awkward space above the cabs, and allows us to install a microwave! They were so low before that there wasn't enough space between the stove and the upper cabinets for a microwave, thus only a vent hood.  
• Tile and countertops were removed.  (Duh.)  To be replaced soon.  The tile will likely go in next week, and I'm currently waiting on the countertop folks to schedule installation.  Hopefully end of next week.  
• Cabinets painted off-white.  (Also duh.)  I love white cabinets.  They feel so airy and clean and fresh to me.  I know it's a matter of preference, and lots of my family believes it is a sin to paint woodwork, but I LOVE IT.  We added some oil-rubbed bronze hardware to the cabs too.  There wasn't any before.  Call me lazy, but I like me a drawer pull.
• You can't see it in this pic very well, but see that lower cabinet in the left?  The one with the tiny tiny little door?  See all that space in that cabinet, going clear back to the corner?  Wasted.  Completely and utterly wasted.  The huge cabinet space was accessible only through that 6" wide door.  There's a shelf in there and everything, like it thinks it's usable space.  It's wrong.  So a hole was cut in the adjacent cabinet's left wall to access the space a little better.  It's still awkward and will still be tough to get stuff in and out, but it's a heck of a lot better.  
• The island has been moved in these photos, but it's going back where it was.  Just needed some elbow room.  

   Here's another "before" shot for you:

   So many things drove me nuts about this picture.  I hate that horizontal "decorative ledge."  What's the point?  It's like no one told the room not to wear horizontal stripes.  I need to get rid of the "boob light." You know, that little round flush mounted fixture over the sink?  I heard another blogger call them that once, and now I can't un-see it.  Therefore it must go.  You can also see that super-rad 80s/90s fluorescent light box peeking over the dust catcher ledge. Not my fave.  And last but not least, there was some pretty hideous wallpaper below the chair rail in the dining area.  And it was peeling off.  Classy.  Here's a refreshing "progress shot":

   Sorry for the blurry iphone pic.  But again, so much better, yes?

• No more dust catcher!  Such a tall svelte kitchen now!  
• No more light box!  Chris's dad installed some can lights in the ceiling for us, and it gives great light in there.  We are planning to hang a pendant over the island using the existing wiring.
• No more boob light!  Going to hang another pendant there over the sink using that wiring.
• You can get a glimpse of the pretty off-white painted beadboard that now resides beneath the chair rail.  (Warning: I have a beadboard problem.  You will get tired of hearing about all the places I'm putting beadboard.)
• You can't see in this photo, but scroll up to the "before" if you need to. There used to be two rows of tile on this side of the "bar" area.  I have no idea why.  It looked strange.  Luckily, the home-improvement force was with us, because we found two more boxes of the laminate flooring in the attic, so when the tile came up, the wood was extended all the way to the partial wall.  It looks awesome.  

   Clearly, there's still a lot to be done.  Paint on the walls, tile, countertops, and (spoiler!) shiny new appliances.  I'll do a full source list for anyone who cares when I post pics of the finished product.  And lest anyone think that I did anything in this kitchen other than write a check, I did not.  Not one thing.  We have some seriously talented and generous family members, y'all.  My grandpa and uncle are doing most of the work in the kitchen, from raising and painting the cabinets to removing the old tile and leveling the floor to installing beadboard and tile and a zillion little things along the way.  I'm over my head in gratitude and "I owe you's."  I'm putting in my sweat equity in other rooms of the house, but I had no part of the work in the kitchen.  And it's amazing.