Our Farmhouse Kitchen Facelift

 

 Our 1886 farmhouse kitchen has undergone a renovation.  No walls were torn down; no addition was constructed; and no cabinets were replaced.  But to me, it looks and feels like I have a brand new kitchen.  

 

 If you recall, this is what our kitchen looked like a week after Christmas.

 

 Four days later after we moved everything out, the kitchen looked like this.

 

Here we are on day three of the renovation with painting well underway.

 

 Week two began with the white pine floors being sanded and broken boards replaced.

 

By the end of week two the floor was nearly finished.

 

As we entered week three, finishing touches were made, the new white cast iron sink was installed, and the floor received a second coat of polyurethane finish.

 

When everything was finished after two and a half weeks, our contractor and his assistant were kind enough to move the appliances and furniture back into the kitchen for us.  I was too afraid of marking up the walls and floor, not to mention that what took us three hours to move, they did in twenty minutes.

 

So this was before...

 

 ...and this was on the last day when they were finishing up.

 

Before...

 

...After (I love that this sink is twice as deep as the old one.)

 

Before...

 

...After 

 

A month ago, our very lived-in kitchen looked like this.

 

But today it looks like this.

 

Then...

 

...And Now.  I lowered the leaf in the table so there is much more space in this room.

 

Earlier this month...

 ...and at the end of this month.

This facelift was the best thing I've ever had done.  It is everything I envisioned, and this construction business was superb.  They took my list of what I dreamed of and made it a reality.  I wasn't sure how these old pine floor boards would look once they were stripped and sanded, but they're beautiful now---even with their lasting imperfections.  I'm not sure they'll make it through another refinishing project though.  Once the countertops were sanded, we opted for no stain or varnish, but we're coating them with oil instead so they are safe for placing food on.  Our contractor purchased the paint, stain, and satin polyurethane finish from Sherwin Williams.  The Kohler sink we bought at Home Depot.

I love this room so much that I often sit on that bench in front of the window and read a book or blog at the kitchen table.  It's become my favorite and brightest room of our house, even on these gray, cloudy days of winter.

  Now if only I could relax and not fret that my husband and children are going to destroy it every time they walk through.