Kitchen Musings

We are still engrossed in the Shelly Project, with clean out and demo taking up more time than anticipated.  (So far, two and a half 30-yard dumpsters…thats 75 cubic yards of trash, not including what was recycled, FreeCycled, and repurposed)  The multiple multi-day heat waves and the bizarre wind storm/power outage set us 10 days behind schedule.  I would say ‘so far’ after that, but I don’t want to be negative…10 days behind is the MAX, and we will play catch-up from now on!

When I am not pondering the strange decor of the 70′s (plastic white brick panelling over everything…really?), I am looking forward to starting the kitchen reno at Shelly.  The cabinets are on order, the layout is tacked to the wall, and as soon as the drywall is patched, the tile floor can go down.  From then on, it’s all excitement for me, as my favorite room in the house comes together.

The kitchen at Shelly. Definitely ‘Before’. And from a flattering angle!

We are going with the cinammon-glazed maple cabinets that we used in Reece.  Everything about that sentence sounds delicious, doesn’t it?

These maple cabinets have a great clean, contemporary style, but are still warm-looking with the cinnamon glaze. Yummy! (Reece Project)

We don’t need any fancy lights in this room…when we pulled down the metal-grid/foam dropped panels, we found a 20-foot tall cathedral ceiling.  Amazing!  (Again…what was going on in the 1970′s?)

And luckily, the original floor plan was really functional, so the new stainless appliances will just go right back in the old spaces.  Since we won’t be doing any expensive replumbing or rewiring, we can indulge in granite countertops.  According to this article on budgeting for kitchen renovations, natural stone is a splurge that is not necessary.  But it turns out that we are doing a lot of the cost-cutting measures recommended, so we can justify going high-end on this.  And…well, do I really need an excuse?  The Giallo Ornamental looked so beautiful in Cresston and in Reece, that I am eager to use it again.

Giallo Ornamental granite looking lovely in light pools cast by the undercabinet halogens. (Cresston Project)

Unless I find another color I like even better.  I’m like a kid in a candy store when I go to the granite showroom!