Did You Know – It’s Finished

Saturday was the perfect day, my kitchen remodel was FINALLY finished. Was it worth it? Heck yes! Would I want to do it again? Heck no! I don’t know how people survive building new houses!

It took me a year to design and figure out what appliances I wanted. The remodeling began in May and what a transformation. The planning stage was so important as I wouldn’t change a thing in my competed kitchen because of it. I watched remolding show after remodeling show writing down anything I wanted to have done in our new kitchen.

We lived and cooked out of the dining room for a long time using my slow cooker, microwave, induction burner and air fryer. My coffee pot sat on its own table and the new refrigerator was in there temporarily. The contractor was very accommodating by leaving the range and sink hooked up as long as he could. Once the sink was gone we set a plastic tote up in the basement utility sink to wash dishes, carrying them up and down every night. We used as many disposable plates as possible but I don’t like to use plastic silverware or glasses.

From a 1970’s country style kitchen to a 2024 modern style, what a difference! Check out my before and after pictures below! At the end of the post are my posts during the remodel. The only appliance allowed on my countertops now is my coffee pot and no clutter! Are you seeing a pattern with the coffee pot?

BEFORE – Standing in the living room looking into the kitchen. A bit different from the picture below.

AFTER: The linoleum floor and carpeting are gone! We had a propane line installed to the range, a water line to the refrigerator and an electric outlet put on the side of the island. All of the lights are dimmable.

BEFORE – Fake brick backsplash that I eventually painted white and Formica countertops. We had the cabinets on the far right completely removed and extended the island there instead. There was a soffit above all the cabinets too.

AFTER: Marble backsplash, granite countertops and floor to ceiling cabinets, no more soffit!

BEFORE: Check out that tiny island and all the appliances on the counter not to mention the linoleum floor. I never liked the way the window looked either.

AFTER: A new deep sink and amazing faucet. I love the new look of the window too.

BEFORE: A countertop microwave, slow cooker and food processor taking up precious countertop space. An electric range and dishwasher.

AFTER: All under cabinet lighting and my new microwave is now above the range. There is a huge lazy Susan in the bottom corner cabinet. A new dishwasher too. There is a five burner propane range that has a LP convection oven, LP oven, LP broiler and electric for self cleaning. If you have never cooked on a gas or propane range, you don’t know what you are missing! This is my first propane range and it was the best thing I did in the kitchen, well one of the best.

BEFORE: This refrigerator had to be small or it didn’t fit under the cabinets. We made ice with ice cube trays!

AFTER: Our new refrigerator is gigantic with the ice and water door dispenser, something we have never had. It even has a button to fill water bottles. I love the freezer on the bottom too.

BEFORE: I made use of this corner with this little cabinet. It was where we stored all our grandkids goodies so they could reach them.

AFTER: We had this pantry made to fit the corner with more than twice the storage.

BEFORE: The free standing white cabinets to the left were my pantries and where I stored a few cookbooks. The wastebasket sits to the right of the pantry.

AFTER: We had these two large pantry’s made. One for spices, large pans and appliances. The other for more storage and appliances. The bottom of the pantries have shelf sliders that pull out and the entire kitchen has soft close doors and drawers with pull out shelves. The island is so long that we put two wastebaskets on one end inside the cabinet on a slide out shelf, I really love that! I extended the island countertop to fit a stool under it so when I am doing long prep work, for someone to eat at, pay bills, read mail etc. My kitchen is too small to have any more seating at the island but I have a huge dining room with a large table.

CONCLUSION: All of the cabinets were custom made. We personally went to the granite company to pick out our granite. I planned a long time for this kitchen. All of the appliances are matching stainless Bosch, I researched a long time to come up with this name brand. I saved a long time for this kitchen remodel and paid cash! Now we’re broke.