The renovation is over!
Painting, cooking, soothing 4 month old William
What a last 5 months that was, yes it took five months of hard work, persistence, elbow grease, help from family and friends, finding the right contractors and listening to opinions and choosing which to apply.
Was it worth it? A hundred times yes! In the end, this kitchen is a kitchen for me, I have added my own personal touch to the design and elements which I guess makes it mine. I needed expert advice and found it close to me, listening to make sure when it was time to make crucial decisions, I was doing so out of good sense and logic.
Budget was always the thing, as it is in most renos, and I know I blew mine by a few thousands, but not enough for me to go crazy, most of those costs were paid out of pocket, which means, I am not having to remortgage the house! lol
I feared to have regrets, the appliances were bough sight unseen, from catalogs or pictures, and the fridge was so large, I was scared of it for a few days! But no, I love the gas/propane range, it has two ovens, something I cannot do without after having one previously, my dishwasher has 3 drawers, a compromise for not having 2 dishwashers.
I am in love with having a hardwood floor as opposed to tile in my kitchen, no more sore feet after a few hours of cooking! Also, it looks gorgeous and makes the space look endless due to having no delineation of different materials.
I wasn't sure I would like having beams in the midst of it all, but in the end, I love them! They had character and architectual beauty to the whole space. We basically covered the beams with plain pine planks and I used a mixture of rusted nails in vinegar to create a solution to stain them, bringing out lovely tones of wood of all shades. I then gave it several coats of varnish and voilà!
Throughout the reno, I still saw plenty of my older grandsons, both under two, and what fun! They were not scared of the tools at all, sometimes I wish they had been, Caleb always had a drill, saw or hammer, banging around with his father, my dad and Dan, what a number!
While all this happened, two new grandsons were born and that is the best thing of all, summer and fall came to pass and now in one of the coldest winters I can remember, I am within the cocoon of my kitchen, able to bake, cook and feed my family in a space I consider to be a happy one.
I know I made you all wait for more pictures, I hope there are enough in this blog to compensate, speaking of compensating, I also have a video for you all to watch.
I wish you all the best, a wonderful new year, plenty of smiles, laughter and family.
