One Room Challenge - Cottage Kitchen Makeover Week 4

This week with the One Room Challenge kitchen makeover has been a slow one.  Which is good because it's giving me more than 5 minutes to put together a blog post, but bad because I have no real progress to post about!  But let's back up, the ORC, for those who don't know, is a biannual event, started by Linda, at Calling It Home, motivating people to finish a room makeover in 6 weekly posts.  It has evolved to feature 20 bloggers and design influencers followed by an opportunity for anyone with a blog to link up and share their challenges.

This is our fifth time participating.  We did an overhaul of our laundry room, opened up our front porch, created a more mature space for our son, and fancied up our master bath.  This time it's the kitchen's turn.  Not a gut job, but a major freshening up.  We have removed some cabinets to make room for open shelves, moved other cabinets to more logical spots, painted those cabinets and the walls, installed and painted a beadboard backsplash, begun building the new hood, and installed most of the new lighting.  We still need to get the cabinet doors and drawer fronts reinstalled with new hardware, hang the open shelving, switch out the overhead light, tile the floor (dreading this so much) and shine everything up.  We are really ready to have this done so our dining room can be utilized again but I am loving the light, fresh feel of the kitchen and how great it looks as it opens to the living and dining rooms.

Back to work!

Silver Linings

It's a rainy Monday here but would love to be having a cup of coffee in this peaceful yard, knowing I had already accomplished some laundry!

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Here's to a slow start and a productive week!

One Room Challenge - Cottage Kitchen Makeover Week 3

Thanks to the One Room Challenge our kitchen is getting a long overdue makeover!  And for those who don't know, the ORC is a biannual event begun by Linda at Calling It Home, motivating people to finish a room makeover in 6 weekly posts.  It has evolved to feature 20 bloggers and design influencers followed by an opportunity for anyone with a blog to also link up and share their challenges. 

We are doing our kitchen, and have, so far, painted the walls, and the cabinets.  Some cabinets have been removed and will be replaced with open shelving, we are working on a beadboard backsplash, and still need to change out our lighting.  We are also going to be building out a custom range hood and tiling our floors.  We still have a ton to do!  But we are moving right along.

So, back to work but see you in a week for updates!

One Room Challenge - Cottage Kitchen Makeover Week 2

So, the kitchen, the only room in the house that we still haven't touched 4 years later.  That's all about to change One Room Challenge style.  The One Room Challenge, in case you don't know, is a platform following 20 bloggers and design influencers as they make over a space with 6 weekly updates.  Anyone with a blog is also welcome to link up as a guest participant, that's me.  And it is a great motivator, you have put it out there to the whole world that you are going to be making over a space, might as well get it done.  It was dreamed up but Linda, at Calling It Home, and many, many homes owe her many thanks!

This is our fifth go round at the ORC.  Our first was a complete overhaul of our laundry room, then we reworked our front porch, our son's room got an update next, and one year ago we freshened up our master bathroom.  This time the kitchen is the victim.  It's being done on a somewhat limited budget though so no gut job this time, which is fine with me as we bought the house not intending for it to need a totally brand new kitchen.

So what's happening is:

A new floor, the old vinyl is nasty, and ugly, and impossible to keep clean so tile is coming in!  Probably something like this.

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The cabinets are staying but getting reworked and rearranged.  And then some open shelves will be joining them and everything, walls included, is getting a fresh coat of paint.  A nice, neutral gray on the walls, with white upper cabinets and shelves, and a subtle greenish grey on the lowers.

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The range hood will be getting a makeover, as will the lighting.

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And some overall inspiration pictures, I have a whole board of them here.

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And a little glimpse of the elements.

We have gotten a decent start so far and will keep plugging along.  In the meantime I'm going to be checking out everyone's progress!

Great Start

Nothing but kitchens on the mind this Monday morning!

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Now off to get painting!

One Room Challenge - Cottage Kitchen Makeover Week 1

So, the kitchen is one of the worst rooms in our house.  It has been since the day we moved in.  We had big plans to do something about it pretty soon after we moved in but of course things got away from us and almost four years later it's still untouched.  Unless you count the paint swatches on the wall.  And I don't.  So, this spring, for that exhilarating, motivational event known as the One Room Challenge, we will be tackling the kitchen.  Many, many thanks goes to Linda, at Calling It Home, for coming up with this concept that effectively lights a fire under hundreds of bloggers' tails, and to House Beautiful for being the media partner!  And for those that don't know, this is a six week, get 'er done, make it happen, catalyst for home improvement.  One room, made over, in six weeks.  Let's do this.

And the space in question?  I held nothing back, here is the true nitty gritty.

This weekend will be spent demoing out all that is unwanted and next week's post will contain an update and plans for the overhaul.  And if I can find time while surviving Spring Break, I'll be checking out the other participants, both the featured design influencers and the linking participants!