Friday, January 22, 2010

Remodeling the Kitchen Wall


 Unfortunately, I forgot to take a before picture of the kitchen wall, so I had to go way back into my archives and found this picture of Michael and Josiah. This was the best picture I could find that showed what this wall used to look like. I had a baker's rack up against the wall that held all my cookbooks and such. You can see the ugly hallway, too. See several posts back for its remodel.


Not only did we replace the paneling with drywall, we decided a pass-through would really open things up between the kitchen and dining room. So my handy, dandy man (with his helper) was on the job.


Here are the end results. Can I just tell you how impressed I am with my husband's carpentry skills? He's never done it before and I was amazed at how he put this together. It wasn't easy. He made lots of mistakes along the way, but learned from them. Nothing in our house is square because it is an older house, but he made it work and was able to fix his mistakes. He even made me a 12 inch breakfast bar and put a shelf on top for my cookbooks. We painted this wall in the kitchen and plan on painting the rest of the kitchen at some point. Also, the reason why we didn't put trim up on the ceiling was because eventually we'd like to put a stamped tin ceiling in here with new lighting. I think it will be stunning.

I love that I can now talk to people sitting in the dining room while I'm working in the kitchen. Now I want to paint in here, too.
Here is my carpenter hero! Next, he's going to make me a sturdy bench the same dimensions as the breakfast bar that I can slide under it when the kids aren't using it. I love the idea that as the kids get older and they want to use the Internet, I'll be able to keep an even closer eye on them. This will also help me to see Josiah when he's homeschooling or he can homeschool at the breakfast bar and I can still be in the kitchen working on stuff. Love it!

By doing this ourselves, we saved so much money! We managed to remodel all three walls for under $400 and didn't put a thing on the credit card. It took us three weeks to get this project done, working on the weekends and after Michael got got off work in the evenings. We would stay up late priming or painting walls and then be up at 5am to get another layer on before the kids got up. This is why I've been such a bad blogger lately ;P Glad you all have stuck with me and I appreciate all your sweet comments not only in the blogging world, but on Facebook, too. Love you guys! I thank God for each of you and I'm so glad you're part of my world.

I did some rearranging of some other pieces of furniture in our house, that made a dramatic difference and I hope to post those pics soon.

God Bless,
Jackie

25 comments:

christy rose said...

Love the pass through! That was a great idea! Isn't is amazing how much you can do without a lot of money if you do it yourself? Great job to your hubby for being willing to get in there and figure stuff out. Mine is great at that too. Sometimes I am just so amazed at what he can do. :)

Anonymous said...

Jackies.. I love it too! See what great minds and some sweat n' blood will produce? I love the pass through. I bet it opens th kitchen nicely.

kiss kiss

with love,

Olivia

Camille said...

Oh it's so nice to be able to talk to your guests when you are still in the kitchen! What a great idea to open it up like that. Such dramatic differences...you must be so happy with it all! AND that you did it yourselves and within budget ~ isn't that rewarding?? :)

Blessings,
Camille

Catherine said...

The remodel looks so good! The convenience and newness will enlived your life too!

Connie said...

The pass through is a winner! I love an open home - makes them feel bigger.

Mary said...

Your home looks lovely. I love the pic of daddy kissing baby!

Anonymous said...

I'm all for opening things up. Both homes we've lived in have been open plans- Last year when we were looking at houses (in vain) we both leaned towards the more open styles. It just seems to work better with a family. Great job!

Bernice said...

I enjoyed this thread of remodeling. We need to do some painting ourselves but I don't have the drive. You may have inspired me enough to get out the paint brushes.

Catherine Anne said...

It looks great

Tina said...

Love all the remodels you've been doing lately. Looks great. :) (Love your paint colors too.)
In His love,
Tina

RaD said...

That's awesome! I love that you made it so you could keep an eye on the kids while on the internet. That's so important these days. I wish more parents were aware or more safety conscience about it.

Pedro Garcia Millan said...

I AM HOMESTEADING AT COOTERS DOWN THE ROAD FROM BILLY MYERS...DOWN AT SOUTHFORK NOW YA' HEAR? JUST PUT IN THE PORCH TODAY!

His bondservant said...

Jackie,

This is lovely! What a smart hubby you have to do something so beautiful for the first time! I just wish I were closer so I could drop by and see it in person!!!

Blessings,
Jackie

Sarah said...

Jackie what a great remodeling job! You surely have a very talented Husband! The pass-through is fantastic and really does open up the area wonderfully! I bet your children are having fun passing lots of things through it!

Mich said...

Just stopped by to say "hi." Always nice to meet other women on this journey called motherhood.

Love the remodel. I especially like the pass through.

My favorite was the picture of daddy and his helper. Priceless picture.

Stacie, A Firefighter's Wife said...

Love the pass through window! I can't wait to use it!!!!

He & Me + 3 said...

Thank you for stopping by my blog yesterday I am so glad you did. Your blog is so fun. YOu have quite the handy man living at your house. I wish...but every hubby has their talents. Beautiful job and paid for in cash & done so inexpensive...that is awesome. Love the new walls.
Following your blog too:)

H-Mama said...

thanks for stopping by my blog. ;) i love this handyman/helper picture. that is just priceless!!

Andrea said...

Jackie,
Thank you for dropping by arise 2 write and leaving a sweet comment. You have an awesome blog. I "LOVE" your header picture! I have joined to follow and look forward to getting to know you.
Blessings, andrea

Chris said...

At least your hubbie tries! LOL mine (God love him) will not even try, so I am the one who tackles jobs around the house! That is the ol'cowgirl in me, I was raised on a farm.

I love your kitchen wall and your living room (post before). This place reminds me so much of the house we use to live in about 15 years ago! I loved it, not squared, but it had character!

RaD said...

20 comments?! You sure are getting popular, congratulations! Are you following the rule you applied and visiting blogs if they comment because it looks as though you're going to be very busy.

Anyway, I posted pics on where we were on Monday but you probably already know where we were because Yohn already posted some on Facebook.

Freckles and Frogs said...

Hey! I just quit facebook, so I'll comment here about the great wolf lodge! It's about 5 miles north of Centralia, Washington, about an hour and a half north of Portland. It's so fun! We thought the rooms were kinda pricy, so we crammed cousins and all in one room. We brought a crock pot and all of our own food and it, so we wouldn't have to eat their over priced food. It was a blast!

Regina @VestPocketFamilyFarm said...

Looks good, Jackie, I love the built in breakfast bar, practical and good to look at.

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

Whoo Hoo! 23 comments, that's a record! Thanks gals! I sure appreciate all your sweet, encouraging comments. I'm very insecure about decorating and such and you guys have made me feel so much better about what I did.

And yes, Ruth, so far I've been able to visit everybody's blogs who commented on mine. Unfortunately, I'm not able to keep up with my blog list this way, but something had to give. I'm liking this system so far, as long as I can keep up with it.

So everyone, keep leaving comments and I'll leave a comment on your blog!

Love you all! Jackie

Angela said...

He did a fantastic job. Will have to share the pics with my hubby!! Your right, doing it yourself definitely saves you HUGE amounts of money. My husband just finished gutting our rec room area and made a new bedroom for our 20 year old and a VERY large back hallway for us (well larger than what it was),lol. We are still in the process of the finishing touches in the hallway and the rec room still needs to get done...slowly but surely

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