35th Kitchen

Ah.... this is def one of my favorite of the whole house.

I have become a sucker for white.

I'm am usually all about color, ALL about color. I am a painter after all, so it makes sense...right?

But there is something about white, especially kitchens, that I am drawn to. (I seriously considered white counter tops, but changed my mind. Worried about stains for the new owners or future renters.)

Also, when we got inside the first time, we were both giddy...there was wood floors underneath through out most of the home.
And not only that...they were in grrreat condition...fo reals? Yup...
But, I had one constant question... 'You think they run through the kitchen?'

Nasty vinyl was down and I had a fear they would have a nice sticky goop on them, and guess what...they did.

Boo hoo... Oh well, tile it is... My budget was 1.99 per sq ft for tile, and guess what? Found it for .99, woo hoo!! Smile back on the face.

Picture from the listing before purchase...

And what is up with the rockin kitchen cabinets you ask? Well don't.

Pieces of wood glued on, seriously...no lie.
Thought it was one solid piece... nope, glue.
Friggin glue... the vein of my existence in this house, glue on the cabinets, glue on the floor, etc.

Day we closed and previous owners are moving out...


After prying off bookoos of wood pieces and sanding, the wood was off.
I was absolutely amazed at everything the previous owners had done to the house, this being the perfect example.
I would have loved to of replace the doors. No, I would of LOVED to gut the whole thing and start new, or at least tear out the cabinets and put new ones in. Even called a friend to get a price on doors and it all sounded so good and got super excited. Then we came back down to earth and looked it all over and realized it would NOT be smart to spend the money on that, somewhere else, like carpet in the bedroom, and give it a super good sanding and paint job.


Ok, have to explain the counter 'situation'. For all of the homes we do this work to, for now, we purchase the pre-made counter tops. So with the purchase on the counter, we later realized they were too big. And I'm not talking about to long, as its obvious in the pics. It hung over about two inches...ouch. Doesn't sound like alot, but when you can stick your whole hand in, it's not ideal ;)
But, from this predicament, I really, really wanted and tried to push to have the counter extend as it does going to the left, to have a bar area. There is no eat in area in the kitchen. I know its not a huge deal, but it did bother me a tad, and just the additional workspace, either to put barstools for a small bar/eat in area, or a place for bills and workspace area really appealed to me... A LOT.



But in the end, as you can plainly see, we did not do it...
1.) More time, big factor
2.) More money, cost in materials to go back and build it, huge factor
3.) If we did that, since we ever so slightly rearranged the kitchen, there was no where for a frig....that's minor right?

Oh well... Not a huge bummer...just would of been nice. I'm always up for more and more storage and counter space.


Also, had tried to go with a different backsplash, but was insanely backordered, grrr.... So backordered we could not wait and were all ready running out of time to get it back up on the market, sooooo went the the fast one.

And After...

TOTALLY digging the shelves, want them in my house!



Totally happy with it.

And I feel the need to explain. I have had many who say 'Why don't you do this or that?'. Sure, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to put in stainless appliances, knock down walls, all new windows & doors, modern vanities...a total gut.

But that doesn't make any sense at all for what we are doing.

What we do is buy and fix it up for the specific area that it is in, so that it is not overvalued for it's area.
We stick to an extremely tight budget to get things fixed & in working order, updated & more appealing than what they were before, and not go overboard. I am always searching for a deal on things. Example, kitchen faucet was a close out kohler faucet, normally over $200 and purchased for $60, I was so excited, had to call the mister. I think even he had a smile on that purchase!

I know most areas we purchase in, the interested party that looks at the house to live in, isn't either interested in renovating or doesn't have the means to... This is when it makes me truly happy and I get goose bumps, knowing that we can come in and totally change it up, and have someone else walk in with no worries, fall in love and call it home. I truly, truly love doing this.

Happiness....total happiness.

There you have it.

To another crazy day,
A