Kitchen Chaos

There's something to be said about doing your own home improvements. The feeling of pride, accomplishment, and savings from doing the work yourself can be exhilarating!

And, then there's the feelings of frustration, fatigue, and why did I ever decide to take on this project?!

That's where I am.

A few weeks ago, when my sister was here visiting, we decided to take on a long-time project goal of mine: re-doing my kitchen. It included painting the cupboards, painting the walls, adding new hardware to the doors and drawers, removing the current backsplash, adding a new backsplash and replacing the countertop. Yeah. Big project.

But we knew we could get a huge portion of it done together.  With years of experience under our belts from working with our dad, we took on this project without hesitation. Frist stop: repainting the cabinets and walls. They turned out BEAUTIFUL! We cheered, drank some wine to celebrate and enjoyed the rest of Kristen's time in Denver playing and relaxing. 


A few days later, Kristen returned to Michigan and the cabinets peeled. 


Yeah. 


I almost cried. Well, I did cry. All that work down the drain! We had gotten some bad advice from "The Fix-it Store" as Sofia calls it and the paint reacted poorly with the wood. Ugh. 


After regrouping and putting in a new plan in place, I started over. And I mean really started over! I stripped, sanded, washed and primed all the surfaces to make sure that NO paint would be coming off this time. I have spent every spare minute over the last two weeks working on this kitchen -- while the kids have napped, staying up late, getting up early, etc. Finally tonight I reached a major milestone: the first coat of paint on the upper cabinets is finally on! I'm super excited about the final product and can't wait to get everything all done! 


The countertop and backsplash will be attacked in August some time when we've had a little break from all the kitchen chaos. 

I really am proud of this project. :) Even cooler is how Chris is so trusting of my abilities and has let me just do my thing. It feels good to be taking charge of my own house like this! And for this, I am thankful!

Before

New Hardware for Cabinet Doors and Drawers

Upper Cabinets Halfway Done! Lower Cabinets Yet To Be Stripped and Redone.

I even installed the new wine rack on the wall! 

My Make-Shift Drying Rack