New Kitchen -- at last!

Our dishwasher overflowed back in May and damaged the laminate flooring in a section of our kitchen.  Since we hated that floor anyway and it was clearly damaged, I decided to take a chance and turn a claim in to our homeowners insurance.  Two days later men came to look at the damage.  Flooring was torn up and, when a speck of black mold the size of a nickel was found between the laminate flooring and the layer of linoleum underneath, hazmat suits were donned and plastic walls put up in the kitchen as they tore out cabinets and more flooring looking for more mold.  What had we gotten ourselves into?  For the next week our kitchen was walled off and giant fans and dehumidifiers made our house sound like an airplane landing strip.  No dishwasher, no dishes and no kitchen sink.

Once the plastic walls came down and the fans were turned off, the contractor could begin the restoration and remodel.   The insurance company paid for new flooring throughout the kitchen, new cabinets because the existing ones were custom made and couldn't be matched, and new countertop as they had ripped off some countertop in their search for mold (which they never found, by the way).  Since our goal was to be debt-free by the end of the year, we decided to use the insurance money to pay off most of our debt and then use the remainder to update our kitchen and fix it without totally remodeling.   Down came the weird mirror above the stove and in its place went a range hood and crown molding above all the upper cabinets.

 

 

All the cabinets used to be flat but were trimmed out with molding.  Chrome hardware was replaced with oil rubbed bronze and everything was painted and glazed an antique white.  Also notice we lost the dark red backsplash. 

 

 

My favorite change by far was ripping out the awkward bar that sat on an angle with sharp angled corners and two different levels, neither of which was really wide enough to do anything at.  In its place went a huge 4x7 foot island with storage on both sides and dark turned legs.  I love it!!  And I love the dark countertops! 

 

The flooring is called fiber floor and is made of fiberglass.  It looks like ceramic tile but comes in big rolls like linoleum, only much thicker.  It is nice and cushy underfoot and hides everything!

 

It was a long four months of no useable kitchen and a giant fridge in the middle of the schoolroom.  There were lots of fights with the contractor and lots and lots of trips back and forth to my mom's with laundry hampers full of dishes.  But we are finally enjoying a beautiful finished kitchen! 

 (well, almost.  Kevin still has baseboards to put down.)