
Where we started. We did paint over the wallpaper many years ago.
The contractors came.

DH put the blue tape over the sink to remind himself that the water is off!
They took off the old ugly countertop.
One of our big hopes was that they’d be able to keep our fancy glass cabinet/tea nook (formerly microwave nook). They were.
Then the started putting the countertop on. This was one piece with no seam.
Here you can see the other part of the countertop came in two pieces. They matched up the seam really well and you honestly cannot tell here.
Here’s it all together with the sink put in.
There’s another seam in the middle of the stovetop, but you can only tell if you specifically know to look for it. After the countertop, they moved onto the stovetop, though they did not actually connect it.
The next day the plumber (eventually) came back and hooked up the stovetop for us. (Note in this picture and the next two that there is a drawer that no longer closes.)
He also put the faucets and garbage disposal in. (I vetoed a soap dispenser because I hate not being able to see if something is empty and I also hate cleaning soap dispensers, so they didn’t drill a hole for it.)
Here’s how it looks now.
We’re not done yet. We need to shorten or replace that drawer so it closes. We need to replace the gingham knobs and get new shelf liner. If it were just me, I’d go with brushed metal knobs and plain white shelf liner, but DH wants to be more interesting in our middle age and so we’ve ordered 14 sample knobs of various dark blue on ceramic from home depot ($51, but I assume we’ll be able to return the ones we don’t use) and a bunch of one dollar shelf liner paper samples from Houzz. There’s also some gold accents we’d like to replace with brushed metal. And that little water tap is dangerously powerful– if we had a party, someone innocently eating cheese and crackers would get drenched when someone else tried to get some tap water. I haven’t done a full accounting of how much all of this has cost, but for posterity’s sake, I need to note here that the plumber did $400 of additional work (on top of the turn-off/hook-up fees), adding and replacing valves before the countertop people came in.
So this is not the last post– a future post will have a final picture with better lighting and no green gingham in sight.
What do you think, grumpy nation?
June 19, 2019 at 7:19 am
June 19, 2019 at 7:27 am
It looks lovely! And I love your husband’s knobs idea! Could you link me to that faucet? We didn’t like the options our builder provided so we plan to replace that in a year. Hope you guys like the new stovetop!
June 19, 2019 at 7:41 am
https://www.homedepot.com/p/KOHLER-Sous-Pro-Style-Single-Handle-Pull-Down-Sprayer-Kitchen-Faucet-in-Vibrant-Stainless-K-R10651-SD-VS/206086636
June 19, 2019 at 7:44 am
Thanks!
June 19, 2019 at 10:06 am
Nice!
(The kitchen, not Trump)
June 19, 2019 at 12:46 pm
Hopefully it won’t take as long to remove Trump as it did to redo the kitchen…
June 19, 2019 at 11:27 am
Very nice! Also I have almost the exact same faucet and it is great.
Every time I see your old wallpaper I shudder though.
June 19, 2019 at 11:34 am
Thanks!
I’m just impressed how the previous owners went all-out on the green gingham. It isn’t quite as overwhelming without the wallpaper, but it’s still pretty impressive with the matching knobs and shelf liner. (I am tempted to do dark blue gingham for both, but that has been vetoed.)
June 19, 2019 at 12:17 pm
Lovely improvement and lots of ability to change accent colors as and when you wish. Very nice job!!!
June 19, 2019 at 12:45 pm
Thanks!
June 19, 2019 at 1:42 pm
Looks great! That drawer puts my OCD in gear, though!
June 19, 2019 at 1:43 pm
After these pictures we just took it out until it had been fixed.
June 19, 2019 at 5:06 pm
“gingham knobs,” ha ha, oh, sorry. I actually like your old counters fine (mine are orange, so pretty much everything else looks better), but your new counters are gorgeous. I do kind of want to paint your walls an intense color like teal, hunter green, or sunshine yellow–then you can have your plain brushed metal door knobs. You’re welcome!
But seriously, your new look is quite elegant and, like rose said, goes with everything! Congratulations and I hope you and yours are liking it.
June 19, 2019 at 5:26 pm
The old counters were fine until you had to clean them! It wasn’t about the overall look so much as not needing barkeeps friend to get them clean without leaving yellow splotches. These clean up with water and a rag(!)
June 22, 2019 at 10:08 pm
Yay!
October 30, 2019 at 1:03 am
[…] even noticed that I haven’t gotten annoyed by water pooling behind the sink since we got the kitchen redone. (This was one of my major annoyances with the kitchen prior to redoing the sink and […]
November 18, 2019 at 1:09 am
[…] over the past year or two we’ve bought two cars, renovated the kitchen, shared the expense for a new fence with our neighbor, and bought a new clothes washer. […]