The heart of the home

There is one room that needs more work than any other, and that room is the kitchen.  It is very dated - the appliances, the navy laminate counter tops, the shades, the cabinets (which are growing on me since they look like they belong with the house's age).  Here's a reminder of what it looked like before we bought it.

You can see the white fridge on the left (ice maker is broken), the wall oven (only 24" wide, very hard to find), the cook top just to the right of the wall oven, and all the cabinets and navy counters.

Even though I just spent a ton of time talking about all the problems, it is a wonderful space.  I have almost 50 square feet of counter space, tons of storage space, room for our breakfast table, and a built-in china cabinet.  Here's the breakfast table again,

and the china cabinet displaying a few of our serving pieces.

We currently have 4 main projects planned in the kitchen to happen between now and the end of the year.  First, we have commissioned some work to install a regular drop in stove and open up that column of cabinets to create more counter space and an easier area to cook in.  I would try to to explain it in words, but it's hard enough to explain it while you are looking at it!  Secondly, we are planning to purchase new stainless appliances.  Next, we'll upgrade the counters from laminate to this quartz...

Friends from work, Todd and Jennifer, referred us to S&B Stoneworks which has the best prices we've been able to find in this area.  We decided to go with quartz instead of granite for two reasons: 1 - little to no maintenance, you have to re-seal granite every 3 years or so and you never have to do that to quartz; 2 - quartz has a lifetime warranty and I LOVE warranties :).  Lastly, we plan on painting the walls a silvery gray color (Classic Silver - Behr Premium Plus Ultra).  You can kinda see a small patch of it on the wall in the breakfast table pictures.

Nothing has been done yet, but I'll be updating you as projects get moving!