dedication

It just stopped raining and it's only 50 degrees out. (I swear it feels colder though - darn desert turning me into a wuss.) Todd's out there digging a hole for his precious blood orange tree that he called all over the city trying to locate. Since it rained half the day already, you'd think the ground would be nice and loosened up. It was...for about 3 inches down.

I'm definitely impressed by his planting gusto. This will be his 7th large hole dug. If only we had two shovels, I could help out... One more big plant to go and then lots of little guys. And then we sit back and watch everything grow!

backyard war zone

Chaos and destruction are in the works for tomorrow. The targets of this deadly mission?

Overgrown mangled Texas Sage hedges. From another angle:

 Insane quantities of rosemary and more Texas sage:

Don't forget the half-dead bottlebrush tree monstrosity. I hope to hear our next door neighbors clapping when that thing comes down.

In the next few weeks after the epic battle, the plan is to create a beautiful low-water low-maintenance desert garden. (Designs by Todd, "Helpful" Suggestions by me.) I hope the cheery new garden will help me get past the guilt of ripping out some perfectly fine plants. That poor rosemary doesn't know what's coming.

now we're cooking with gas

Just a few more details to finish up the cabinets today. And the granite guy is currently creating the counter top template.

Also, my propane tank mocked me yesterday by going out right in the middle of grilling dinner. On the bright side, I hadn't put the salmon on yet and the grocery store is a minute away. And the wild-caught coho salmon with Autumn spices was delicious!

island in the sun

I'm in love with my new island. It's going to be the perfect place for Pyrex or Jadeite or pottery...

they're heeee-rrrrrrreeee

Our cabinets arrived yesterday! I was so nervous despite having seen samples in the cabinet showroom. Never fear; they turned out gorgeous. The cherry is warm and has just enough variation to appeal to my taste in rustic-ness...if that's a word. The uppers and crown molding were installed yesterday and the rest will be installed and leveled by Monday. Then the granite folks can swoop in and make their counter templates. It's a tad behind the original schedule estimate, but I really wasn't expecting a completely smooth process. 

Speaking of which, our handles and knobs are on back-order, the tile back splash layout appears to be exceedingly tricky, no one can figure out if our under-cabinet lights are dimmable, and I'm still waiting on my RO faucet to be delivered. But enough about the reasons behind my eyelid twitch; onto the pictures!

I really didn't realize our whole home would be coated in dust, but the following pics make up for the mess!

demolition day!

Within a few short hours today, the kitchen turned into an empty wasteland and the rest of the house acquired an oh-so-annoying layer of dust. Why did I even clean last weekend? Take a look at the remodeling progress for day 1, but first a few last glimpses into the past:

My arch-nemesis - the water would NEVER stay on unless you tilted the handle to full-blast:

Cracked tile counter and dirty grout: 

Major water damage under the sink - probably because the reverse osmosis system is ridiculously complicated. We've already had at least two floods since we moved in last summer:

At the beginning of demo day:

At noon on demo day (cabinets out but soffit still needs to be cut up):

 

At the end of demo day (soffit cut away to make room for taller cabinets and so that I (and other people shorter than 5'4") can actually see through the pass-through):

Dinner on day 1: Chipotle! I promised myself I'd figure out how to heat up leftover stew tomorrow...

kitchen: phase 3: the deets

So, we've picked out the materials, the bits and bobs that will make up the kitchen. Now we just have to wait and see if it all works together. (I sure hope so!)

CABINETS: Medallion seems to be a popular and well-liked brand, according to GardenWeb's online forum. The price was right for our budget so hooray! I love the look of rustic woods like alder but in the end, we chose cherry because of its durability.

Medallion Lancaster doors (drawers will be flat-front)

cherry wood in pecan stain vs. current oak cabinets

HARDWARE: Even though our appliances are stainless steel, I didn't feel that the cabinet hardware needed to match. I have an affection for oil-rubbed bronze hardware (it just dawned on me that most of our wood furniture shares this feature...) Enter Amerock handles and knobs - thrown in for free by the cabinetry company. Gotta love free stuff!

Amerock Revitalize handles

Amerock Allison Value knobs

COUNTERS: The most difficult decision! We at least knew we wanted granite from the start. After at least 3 trips to Arizona Tile's granite warehouse, 1 misguided trip to a fancy-hat granite warehouse geared towards the rich and famous, quibbles about safe choices (me) vs. interesting patterns (husband), we settled on some lovely Colonial Cream slabs. The first slab they pulled out for us had a giant brown vein right smack in the middle. I was scared that the vein would stick out too much, but luckily the next few slabs were easier to work with.

our very own slab #9 (didn't get photos of his pals 7 & 8)

vein of doom = didn't reserve this slab

BACKSPLASH: I've coveted white subway tile for quite a while now so of course we're making that happen! Bonue: Daltile Rittenhouse Square 3" x 6" subway tiles are cheap. Actual white tiles looked too stark, I thought, so I decided on the color almond. They're a bit more expensive than white (40 cents vs. 25 cents each) but that's still really cheap compared to most other tile options.

PLUMBING: Going with the reasonably priced Kohler Simplice model. I was swayed from my initial pick, Moen Annabelle, by the shiny "Consumer Digest Best Buy" sticker on the Kohler display in Lowe's. And you already know about my RO faucet indecision.

pretty pretty Moen faucet...

...but the reviews for Kohler were more favorable

LIGHTING: Right now, I do practically all my prep work on my small island, but if I had under-cabinet lighting, I'd utilize all that neglected counter space around the edge of the kitchen. I'm leaning towards the ubiquitous xenon puck lights, but the energy-efficient LED strips are tempting. If only they were dimmable! Still going to sleep on this one some more.


Now I'm off to figure out how to empty the kitchen without any moving boxes...

faucets faucets faucets everywhere...

I can't decide on a drinking water faucet! (Phoenix water is gross - a reverse osmosis filter system is pretty much a necessity around here.) Of course my husband's favorite doesn't match mine. Here are the three options next to the main sink faucet I just bought. Care to offer your opinion?

kitchen: phase 2: planning

Since we got back from Christmas traveling, we've been thinking of nothing but kitchen remodeling. It finally seemed like the right time to dive into our first ever home improvement project (minus painting rooms in our first home). Bye-bye 1988 kitchen! It was tolerable living with you.

First, I gathered up lots of ideas - from the internet, library books, and cabinet brochures. Then we got estimates from four cabinetry companies/kitchen designers. And estimates from three general contractors. And then we did tons of research. Just a helpful hint if you're doing any home improvement: the forums on www.gardenweb.com are awesome - lots of helpful advice and pretty pictures.

Which brings me to the pretty picture segment of the show.

Inspiration and ideas:

#1 from The Kitchen Book by Bill Partsch

#2 from The Kitchen Book by Bill Partsch

#3 from Mid Continent Cabinet brochure

#4 from Mid Continent Cabinet brochure

#5 from GardenWeb

#6 from Sunset.com maybe

#7 from GardenWeb

#8 Don't remember the source

#9 from GardenWeb

#10 from GardenWeb

#11 from GardenWeb

#12 from GardenWeb

#13 from GardenWeb

#14 BHG Kitchen & Bath article I've been saving since 2007

#15

#16

 

#17 from GardenWeb

#18 from Kitchens by Karen Templer

#19 Pioneer Woman's Kitchen

#20 Pioneer Woman's Kitchen

#21 from Kitchens by Karen Templer

#22 from Kitchens by Karen Templer

You can see where we're headed with this remodel. Hopefully our dated orangey oak/tile counters/mauve miniblind kitchen will turn into something warm, casual, timeless and inviting. I'm excited for the work to begin...next week!