Hello, Sunnyside

When thinking of a kitchen layout, it seems that the default opinion is to always build an island. I'm learning in this process, though, that an island may not always be the most practical or aesthetically pleasing option. Mitch, our project manager, had the cabinet designer make plans for both an island and a peninsula. Those sneaky GCs have a way of saving you from yourself sometimes. I think he knew right away that the peninsula was the way to go but didn't want to be too pushy with his opinion. We haven't even started demo, and already I'm realizing the value of putting the pros in charge. I may think that I know what I want, and in most cases, that's fine. However, I'm so grateful to have people in place that can show me the folly of my ways when necessary. First, let's take a look at the original kitchen. Besides the fact that the 2007 granite is mildly offensive, there are serious issues with the layout. I won't name them all, but mostly it does...

It's been an exciting and exhausting couple of weeks. We haven't started demo on the house...yet. But, soon! I've met with the contractor and designer several times, and we have a door/window guy in place making plans, too. I couldn't make the meeting with the cabinet designer on Thursday, but the contractor and designer were there, and we'll get those plans back very soon. She will put together a couple of different plans for the kitchen, as well as plans for banquet seating and a mudroom/pantry. FYI, we're working with Princeton Construction  as our GC. They are really, really good at this. Greg with The Arizona Door Store  will be installing new interior door hardware and a couple of new interior and exterior doors. But his biggest project will be the entryway. This is a superimposed image of the door we picked (or one like it). The new door will be eight feet tall, which is a couple of feet taller than the original door. The windows flanking the door will ...

We had waiting for this week to arrive for a long time. On Monday, we signed the papers and did the final walk-through, on Tuesday the loan was funded, and by Wednesday the house was ours! Dylan was out of town, but I dropped off our first load of boxes on Wednesday with the boys. D got home Thursday night, and on Friday we met at the house with the contractors and interior designers. This was the day that I could finally feel it...I really felt like the house belonged to us. I could always see the potential in the house, of course, but I grew really excited as minds came together to formulate some really awesome ideas for the renovation. Final walk-through. I stopped by on Wednesday- the house had officially sold! Gavin took a bunch of pictures of me after our meeting with the contractors and designers. Our plans include completely re-doing the entryway doors and windows, new floors, interior and exterior paint, new kitchen, some work in the laundry room, building...