Come On In: Same Home, New Kitchen!

Who doesn't love pink oak cabinets in 2015?
Umm. Me. Us.
(Actually, I don't know anyone who likes them!)

We never liked the cabinets, but we made the best of it...for a long time. Ten years.
I decorated around them, on them, and over them. (Looking back at the pictures, I thought I could decorate, but I think the kitchen was worse than I thought-)
Until this spring, when we finally decided it was time to make some big changes.

What I love (insert sarcasm here-) about remodeling projects: You try to start out small, but get your ideas, and plans get bigger as you go along-.
At least, that's how this project went...

First, the plan was just to top off the pink oak with some granite counters.
(But it was decided the existing cabinets were not nice enough.)

Then, we decided to just go to Home Depot for cheap cabinets, and top it with granite from there-an all in one, one-stop-shop.
(But we got cold feet. That was a lot of money for poor quality stuff!)

Finally, we talked to a friend who is contractor. (Why this wasn't our first step, I don't know either-)
He became our contractor, and subbed out all the work to subcontractors that he has used on previous jobs.

Painting, wainscoting wood work
(because we decided to make the kitchen project bigger, of course-), semi-custom cabinet company, cabinet installer, new appliances (that was not in the plan either!), and granite: granite showroom, granite fabricator, granite!!!(Looking at multiple, multiple slabs of granite was pushing me over the edge...I never want to pick out granite again! Too many choices! Too many colors! Too many variances within the same pattern!!! UGH! ...Well, don't quote me on that-give me a few years, and I may change my mind...)

Anyways, it was all subbed out with the help of our contractor, Fred. (Fred wasn't even his name! That is what my husband called him, however. He thought this whole time his name was Fred...but that is another story...)

Wait. What? Were you talking to me? Sorry, I was so busy telling you all about the process, I completely missed what you were saying.
Oh. Stop talking and get to the pictures?
That is actually a great idea:
Take a look.
(And please don't judge me on the before kitchen. I thought it looked okay until I saw the pictures!)

After starting work on the kitchen, our plans kept growing. We moved on to the laundry room:

And even repurposed some of the kitchen cabinets to the lower level to the movie room:
(No longer pink, of course-)

Then, we had the main floor painted, bathrooms and main stair banisters painted, and even had the living room furniture replaced:

(See what I mean? Kitchen renovations cost way more than you originally planned...)


(Who doesn't cook, but does make the kitchen decorating decisions around here!)