Kitchen Remodel Details

I have lived in several homes during my marriage.  Our first house was the one that we brought all of our children home to (except our youngest) and then one that holds the most memories for me.  We lived for a short time in a custom-built home but sold it after two short years--it never did feel like home to me.  The house that we live in now and have for the past 21 years was quite small when we purchased it.  My husband added on over the years--once out of necessity when we had a "surprise" who turned out to be our Ali Rose.  Larry added a family room, bedroom with walk-in closet and added a walk-in closet to our bedroom.  Later he added a garage and has re-done the yard to be so lovely.  He is pretty handy!

This past Spring we decided to remodel and enlarge my kitchen.  I don't know how I survived with six kids in the small kitchen that I had for years (Ali came after our two oldest had graduated high school).  You know, wherever mom is is where everyone else wants to be, yeah?  Even the dogs!  

My husband and I decided to use Lowe's Design Center in Sparks, Nevada to help us lay everything out and the sale on Kraftmaid cabinets (30% off) didn't hurt, either!  We are quite happy with our cabinets--we purchased Kraftmaid cabinet style Gentry Maple Square in Slate finish.  I just wipe them occasionally with a damp cloth to keep them neat looking.  Actually, as I was doing yoga today I noticed it's time to do that.....Yes, I do some of my workouts in the kitchen because I love it!

My husband and one of our sons did the demolition work--which I am sure they found awesome!

It was a long process, longer than I anticipated.  Wall moved, washer and dryer and hot water heater moved to a new laundry room, new granite counter tops, all new cabinets, new Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) flooring, new appliances (except for the fridge which was still in good functioning condition).
Our granite counter tops were purchased through Lowe's also and are Caledonia 3 CM Granite.  

My husband wanted to make sure everything was just so; the cabinet installers and the granite installers placed those items.  We also had a tile backsplash added and hired a tile installer locally for that.  My husband actually is quite handy--he has finished basements, built garages, added on rooms to our home but between feeling the pinch of aging, his long hours at UPS, and wanting to make sure everything was perfect, he opted to have the professionals install.  He did tear out our old Pergo floor and laid the Mannington Adura Max water-proof floor easily.  It will be placed in the main living areas and hallway in our home but not till Spring of this year.  I do really like it--it cleans easily and has a lovely, textured appearance to it.  I chose "Margate Oak" for the color and it reminds me of old barn wood almost--but not as splinter-y lol.  We purchased our flooring at National Flooring stores and felt we received a great price on it.

We removed a large window and replaced it with double doors, bought at Home Depot.  It's so nice to be able to walk out into the backyard rather than go through our garage as we have done for years!

There is a bit of an adjustment period, at least for me.  I was so used to my old appliances that the new ones seemed odd and not user-friendly to me.  For instance, our new range has a convection oven, which I hadn't used before.  I realized my baking times are different than with my old oven.  I am slowly figuring out how long to leave my chocolate chip cookies in compared to all the years before.  I do make really good chocolate chip cookies, so I have been told :).

Our range is electric and is a Samsung Smooth Surface 5-Element Self-Cleaning Slide-In Convection Electric Range (Model #NE58K9430SS).  We also chose a Samsung 1.6 cu ft. Over-the-Range Microwave (Model #ME16H702SES).  Our new dishwasher is a Bosch Silence-Plus 44dba.  It is much quieter than our last dishwasher.  Our backsplash was purchased through Lowe's and is American Olean Starting Line Gloss White Ceramic Wall Tile, 3" by 6".   
If you have any questions about anything you see here, send me an email to momandchicks@gmail.com and I will try to answer your question.

It is nice to have a new, roomy kitchen--once it was all done!