Before and After

Well, the kitchen is now 99.9% done so I thought it was the right time to post some before and after pictures. Today I grouted the remaining 1/4 of the back splash, I also grouted the rest of the granite and fixed some spots that needed it on the rest of the counter. I also finally picked a color for the walls (thanks Lauren!) and painted the walls. Jon scraped the ceiling and painted it. Now all we have left to do is put up the trim around the top of the cabinets and hang the corner shelves by the sink I can't believe we are pretty much done!! Tonight after finishing all the stuff for today I cleaned up and took my "after" pictures. My before pictures arn't very good, seeing as I forgot to take them untill AFTER we had already knocked a hole in the wall AND I didn't clean up first, AND I forgot some angles because while they are great angles in the new kitchen, they were not important in the old kitchen. I had to use some in progress pictures as my befores for the new sink corner. I really enjoyed this whole process. From creating my graph paper layout of my dream kitchen to cooking in it today it has been quite an adventure. I have a hard time believing that it is the same kitchen!

After decided that I was definitely going to renovate the kitchen this year, I had to figure out how much it was goin to cost so I created a graph model of my kitchen inch by inch. Then I researched different cabinet options and what sizes were available. Then I took those dimensions, plus the dimensions of my appliances and started designing. That gave me the approximate cost of the cabinets, counter tops, back splash and flooring. I estimated that I would need about $3500 to create my masterpiece. I got 2 great contracts at the beginning of the year, and by the end of May I had enough money to get started. You guys know the rest of the story and I am happy to report that I came JUST slightly under my budget!