Kitchen Chronicles

If you just want to see the final product of our kitchen renovation without hearing all the 'fun' we had while getting to our end product, then feel free to skip to the end of this long post.

 A little over three years ago, I went to a local interior designer regarding a kitchen update. He came to the house, we talked, he measured, we went and shopped several different times for appliances and granite and then once I received his quote, I got scared and put it on hold. I don't do well with change, and since my design sense is not the best, I felt like if I was going to spend a huge chunk of money on my kitchen, I better make sure I knew exactly what I wanted. So here it is three years later and I am sooooo glad I did not do my kitchen back in 2015 because it would not have turned out the way I truly wanted it to and I would have been settling. The style that I have loved, but was too scared to do then due to the huge amount of change it would have been, is exactly what I now did. I have apparently grown some courage over the past 3 years and decided I was going for exactly what I wanted, paint and all and I could not be more thrilled with the end result.

But let me tell you, it was not all sunshine and roses to get to the end result. What should have only taken a few months, turned into 6 months. That is partially on me since I decided to be my own contractor and find the people to do the jobs that needed to be done. Some were great. Others, not so much. But I have learned through this process and have met some great people who are great at their job and take pride in their work.

It first started at the beginning of August with having the kitchen cabinets painted. A friend of mine from church had her cabinets painted and the transformation from just the paint was amazing. She highly recommended the all woman team of Houston Faux that painted her cabinets. I contacted Triss, the owner, and after her coming out for a consultation and listening to her recommendations, hired her to paint the kitchen. While she was here, I told her my dream of having a kitchen island and asked her if she knew of any good carpenters. She referred me to a gentleman by the name of Paul Adams who she had worked with and had nothing but praises for him and his work. He came out, did some measurements and agreed to build me a kitchen island. While he was here, I asked him about doing a built in around the refrigerator and he agreed to also make that for me. After meeting with these two, I felt like I was finally getting somewhere!!!

By August 15th, my brown kitchen cabinets were now a beautiful white with a hint of gray in them. For the first time I now had hardware on my kitchen cabinets. It was absolutely amazing how much just the paint and hardware changed the look of my kitchen.

While we waited for the island to be build, I went looking for new appliances. Oh my gosh - after researching, looking, researching and looking some more, I finally decided in September on a Bosch microwave, dishwasher and range. As much as I didn't necessarily want another Samsung refrigerator, that is what we ended up getting. The appliances were set to be delivered on two different days because only the range and dishwasher were available at one time while the microwave and refrigerator were on back order. So on October 4th, the stove and dishwasher were delivered. I was thrilled - a definite step in the right direction. I was in love with my new appliances and everything seemed to be heading in the right direction (or so we thought).

On October 7th the new island was delivered and I could not have been more pleased with it. Paul did an amazing job and I can't believe I have gone all this time without an island in our kitchen. He had taken the island to Triss to paint it to match the cabinets and when he delivered it she arrived with him so she could place the new hardware on the island.  He decided to hold off building the refrigerator built-in until we had the actual refrigerator delivered so he could get the right measurements.

On October 12th the microwave and refrigerator were installed. We had no problems with the refrigerator, however unfortunately, the gentlemen that installed the microwave dented the side of it and did not install it properly. So I had to contact Best Buy regarding that and of course a new microwave was on back ordered so it would be the day after Thanksgiving before it could be delivered and installed.

 

But then the oven, oh the oven. Where do I begin. It was doing great. I had used the stove multiple times, but on 10/17/19 I finally used the oven. It was on a Wednesday and I had no problems at all, it cooked well and I was pleased. The next day, Shane and I walked in from work and the house smelled like gas. I called Counterpoint Energy where a guy came out and found the leak to be coming from inside the range area, not from the connection where the installer connected it. So he turned off the gas. I immediately called Best Buy and they said they would contact corporate and I should be receiving a call from them later that evening or the next day. Friday came and went and still no call. Of course, I didn't receive a call all weekend so on Monday I contacted Best Buy again and was told that the person that took my call on Thursday did not enter the information in correctly which is why I had not heard from corporate. Within an hour, corporate called and said they would send out a technician to check the leak and if it was not repairable they would bring a new stove. So the technician came out the next day and again saw that the leak was from the inside of the stove. He called and informed Best Buy of that, and after I talked with them and they gave me the option of having a diagnostician come out to see if he could repair the range or have a new range delivered I politely chose the new range since I have already missed work more times than I care to over appliances. He said someone would call me with the new delivery date, which they called and said they would bring it on Friday, October 26th. Well that was going to work because we were scheduled to get our new flooring in the kitchen that day. So I switched it to Monday, October 29th. Well don't you know when that day arrived, I was not pleased to see that the gentleman that were there to deliver it were the ones that delivered and installed the microwave, which you recall was dented and not installed properly. They asked me to it check the range while it was still on the truck (per their new policy according to the driver). It was obvious why they wanted me to check it on the truck because there was a huge hole in the box and low and behold when they took the box off, there was a huge dent in the door. So here I am again without a stove. They said they could deliver a new one Thursday, but I told them they would have to do it on the weekend as I could not continue to miss work as I had already left work 4 times due to appliance deliveries. Luckily a new stove was finally delivered and knock on wood has been working great.

On October 26th we had our wood floors extended into the kitchen and I love the end result!!! There was a bit of a scare with that because we planned on getting the same wood floors we have throughout the rest of the downstairs, but when I went to order it, I was informed they no longer made the same color but had one very similar. Dear gosh - really? I am not about to replace the whole downstairs. It was very close in color, but there was a slight difference. I felt we had no choice but to just go for it and hope and pray it would blend together well enough. Luckily, I think unless you know to look for it, you would never know they are different. I will say the amount of dust I had to clean up for days after wards was no fun - not only was it throughout the house, but it was inside the cabinets and drawers. So this would make the second time (the first being when they were painted) I cleaned the inside of the cabinets and all the items in them. 

On November 2nd the kitchen counter tops were installed, and that was yet another disaster. I honestly don't even know if I can relay all what happened, nor if I really want to recall it all. The main issue was that I wanted to get rid of the raised bar and flatten it out all to counter level. The guy told me that would be no problem at all - which after all the research I had done, I didn't expect it should be a problem. The only real issue they ran across was that the pipe near the sink stuck up taller than counter level, so he needed to have a plumber come in to lower the pipe. Well that should not have been a problem, however in the mix of it all, they somehow cut a wire in the wall and it was not noticed until they left and we tried to plug in the dishwasher and there was no electricity to the dishwasher. After days of living with the dishwasher in the middle of our kitchen so we could still do dishes by plugging it in a different outlet, they finally brought in an electrician who cut two holes in the wall to fix the problem and decided to just cover it with a face plate (like I would think that was OK.) They also did a horrible job of cutting the dry wall and left holes in the wall and left the counter tops a mess. The kitchen counter would move up and down if you put any pressure on it. Also, the joint where they joined the two pieces of quartz was horrible and discolored - the quartz looked yellow in spots and I knew good and well it did not look like that when I went to the place and picked it out. Luckily they were able to clean up the counter tops and fixed the joint, but I was appalled that they had even left it that way. Also, I had no idea that I should have removed my drawers so that drywall dust and pieces of formica would not be all in them, and if you know how fine dry wall dust is, you know it was everywhere. So once again I had to clean the house as well as the kitchen cabinets, yet again, for the 3rd time. On a side note, these people were also scheduled to do our back splash, but after the horrible job, he never contacted me and I sure did not contact him.

You can see the unevenness of the board they
placed the counter top on -  hence the reason the
 counter would move when any weight was placed on it. 

It looks good from afar, but then . . . .

We lived with the dishwasher out for awhile. 

Where they cut the drywall and left it just like so with
no plans to fix it.

Where they joined the two pieces of quartz.

On November 23rd the new microwave was installed without difficulty - thank goodness. Christmas was coming and as much as I wanted the kitchen to be done by then, December was a busy month. So aside from me ordering my under cabinet lighting, nothing really exciting took place.

On January 21st the under cabinet lighting was installed and I absolutely love how it looks. Of course once the backsplash was installed looks even better. I think Casen loves it as much as I do because he will just come in the kitchen and turn them on. 

In this picture you can also see the two face
plates they put on the wall after they repaired
the electrical issue.

On January 31st, Paul came and installed the refrigerator built in. I love, love, love it! He did an amazing job of matching the cabinetry doors. After installing it, he went ahead and took the doors to Triss for her to spray them.

On February 1st the backsplash was installed and I was in love!!! I about panicked when the day before I came in from work and the tile was indeed installed in a herringbone pattern as we discussed, but it was in the shape of L's instead of V's. Our guy gladly removed it and started over and never batted an eye. He and his helper did an awesome job and I am so glad we now have a tile guy for my future bathroom renovation. :) 

Not what I had in mind . . .

This is definitely what I wanted.

The finished product.

On February 20th Cesear, the painter we used several years ago to paint the interior of our home, came and patched up all the sheet rock, retextured the walls including where there used to be formica backsplash on the side walls and then painted it all to match. I tell you, he does such an amazing job matching the texture. I was so thrilled for him to tell me that since he painted our house 3 or 4 years ago that his business has grown from the 3 man crew that he was then, to having three separate crews that he keeps a close eye on. That definitely goes to show that someone who takes great pride in their work and makes sure it is a job well done does well. I know we have referred him many times over the years and will continue to do so!

The next day on February 21st, Triss and her crew came and finished painting the new enclosure as well as the underside of the cabinets and the quarter round at the floor that had been added since they painted the cabinets. I am in absolute shock of the transformation of our kitchen. Aside from needing some decorations, it is complete. Despite the headaches, misunderstandings, and unfortunate incidents with some of the work, it is all done and I couldn't be happier. From this, I have learned a lot. I sometimes still think I should have hired a contractor and maybe the whole project would have been easier, but if you know me, I will do anything to save a dime (or in the case several thousand dollars).

 

And now for some fun before and after pictures: