I started remodeling my kitchen about three years ago. This is a before picture of an unstaged kitchen showing the layout. I liked the blue, but it was time to repaint. I didn't like the slant anymore of where the kitchen vinyl and the carpet met and it was time to replace the carpet.
To enter the house there was a narrow entry the length of the wall and then a person had to turn down the hall to get into the kitchen/great room. It felt claustrophobic coming into the house and I wanted to open this up. 
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| Add caption I started the remodel by taking down all the wall cabinets, tearing out drywall, and rearranging the base cabinets and refrigerator. This required cutting off some counter top and replacing some with the previous island counter top. In the end I was not worried if everything matched. I wanted everything to function better. |
At this point, I sort of (well definitely) had an angry husband. I had to live with bare studs and electric wires for a year before he would do the electrical work. So while I waited, I repainted the entry and added some old windows I had around. I also cut a table in half to make it narrow enough to fit in the area and when the hubby finished cutting down and re-trimming the area the wall pegs on the kitchen side were rehung to hang coats and hats.
I used the wall cabinets I had removed and another window I had to build the island. The window display has butterfly wings so that the window can be removed and the items used as needed.
The side facing the work area has open shelves for storage and frequently used pots and pans and even a sliding door!
Here's my sweet guy finishing up the trim work and you can see how on a bright sunny day the whole area feels brighter.
Now it was my turn to delay. It took ME two years to put up the back splash! But in my defense everything else had been finished and was working. Well not everything. We had to replace the fridge and so now I need to add something to the cupboard to make it less odd!
It is still dark in the house on dreary days. That's one of the down falls of side porches and log cabins. But I love the new back splash! It was much easier to do than I thought it would be. I shouldn't have put it off so long.
A few detail items. For me it is all about having the things I use often accessible. But I am noticing as I look at this picture that one of those thermos bottles needs to live elsewhere and the nice white pitcher thermos needs to be put back on the shelf!
Old dishwasher silverware baskets were painted and hung on the wall. The added shelf stores the plates, bowls and glasses that we use everyday. This is handy and it also helps keep the cabinet doors cleaner! Almost everything will unload from the dishwasher without taking a step.
The new flooring goes throughout the great room and entry. I run in and out of the house all day in the summer when I am gardening and it is so nice just to sweep and occasionally mop and know that it is clean. The process has been satisfying....and according to my husband can NEVER happen again.
