It's been a long time!

I am finally able to sit down and add a bit to my blog.  I have done so much this month.  The kitchen is most of the way done.  The floors still need to be finnished, there is some painting to be done yet, and I still have a couple pieces of furniture to purchase.  It was just crazy of me to even start this project before Thanksgiving, but we got it together enough to have 25 people over for dinner.  I really have to thank both my handymen.  They worked hard, long hours to help me out.


It was all fine until the cieling was ready to be prepped and painted.  That meant haulling all my stuff out of the kitchen and dining rooms.  I have far to many things.  Then Mike made sure my ceiling was perfect.  That means he put drywall mud up, then sanded it off, put more mud up, then sanded again.  I think he repeated the process about 4 or 5 times, much to my dismay!  I kept telling him I would be fine with a rolly-polly ceiling, just to paint, he didn't listen.  I must admit, I am so glad he ignored my pleading, it looks super.  Even with the plastic up over the doors, dust went to every inch of the house!  Amanda did her best to keep up with the shop vac.

Once we reached a point of cleaning again, I was much easier to live with.  My ceiling is one to be proud of.  Some of my favorite comments so far are that "my kitchen makes my house look older", and that "my kitchen looks so big now".

This is my perfect baking area.  All my baking needs are tucked away in my Hoosier, my mixer is between my flour and my sink, mixing bowls are in plain view, the cookbook has a stand that holds my page, and the Hoosier has a pull out work top that is a perfect level for kneading dough.

Beyond the sink is extra working space and my stove.  Our everyday eating dishes and glasses are again in plain view.  Pots and pans are the same, right where you can find them without stooping over and digging in some dark cupboard.  To the left of the stove you can see my knives on their hand magnetic holder.  Below that you will soon see a butcher block.  The kids are enjoying a cup of hot coco out of my working space, yet still in the room with me.  Notice the shiny, copper colored ceiling?  My family thought I would hate it, but I love it.  I will admit that my designer girl friend did hers first or I might have been too timid to try it.

Across from my great baking area is the refrigerator and a cabinet.  The cabinet is home to the things I don't need to access much like cookbooks, water pitchers, and to-go coffee mugs.

Kitchen saga continued

Because I started this renovation without checking my handyman's schedule, he is not really available til the end of this week.  Bummer.  So to make the best of things, we are doing some experimenting.    I moved the frig back to the other side of the kitchen and put my Hoosier by the door (that was actually my original plan).  Well, you wash your hands a lot while baking.

Then I moved the frig away from the hall to the bathroom.  It gave me such a squeezed, bottleneck feeling. And instead of a work table, I picked up a china cabinet that isn't as deep as the frig, but still gives me storage.  Cathlene found this little buy for me.

 I have a 72 inch table pretending to be my island, much to my surprise it is perfect in here.  Also it will have the stools on the frig side, keeping the traffic flow out of my main cooking area.

These are the times I am so glad to have a friend that lives similar to me.  She can brain storm with me, plus she is great at detail.  I just blurt out what I need or want, and she is able to help make it work and look good.

Now I just need to get her husband over here to work his magic.  He is a great detail man himself.  I am having fun experimenting with my kitchen, but I really want pretty walls again!

The kitchen for a baker

I have been using a kitchen filled with cupboards and counter tops for the past few years.  I notice I don't bake as much or make fun stuff like cheeses.  I finally decided it is because of the kitchen design.  It is very hard to knead bread on a counter top when you are just over 5 feet tall, you need to be at least six feet tall for that set up. 

So, I started ripping out cupboards last week and bought a new stove, with a full size oven.  My wall oven was small and uneven.  My cakes all came out thick on one side, thin on the other.

Then I decided to rip out even more.  The top cupboards will be replaced by shelves, I like to see my stuff.

I was going to put my Hoosier cupboard in the kitchen for baking, then I decided to move the frig to that spot and give myself an entire baking zone.  Now that I see about what I will have I am on the lookout for the right island.

Now that I have a feel for how it will be, I have my favorite handyman on his way to make it look good!  His wife is also quite the decorator and she will be drug into it to help me decide on some final touches.