Planning a dream kitchen isn’t as easy as you think it would be…you spend a lot of time, well, dreaming, and then when you have to start thinking about the reality of actually doing your dreams suddenly change 😉

Our concern numero uno is making sure that our new kitchen has a definite vintage vibe. I want it to feel like it is a part of the rest of the house.  Currently the kitchen is the only room with painted doors, laminate flooring, and new construction windows.  It is missing the charm that every other room in this house has. The space feels cut off from the rest of the house because it just doesn’t flow with the rest of the design.  All the original trimwork, for instance,  has been stripped off and landed in some burn pile 20 years ago.  Our goal is to give this room that WOW factor and incorporate it into the design plan of the rest of the house.

And, let’s be honest our second concern is $$$

Kitchen remodels are very, very costly.  The appliances alone can run thousands of dollars. Once you start factoring in other costs like flooring, countertops, paint, moldings, cabinets…well, you get the idea.  My tax return is disappearing before I ever receive it. Luckily, we will be doing a lot of the labor ourselves and for the tasks that we can’t do I am able to turn to my father DAN SHEETS HOME REPAIR.  And on another note, I am really good at budgeting and getting good deals (or having friends who know how to get good deals- shoutout to Inna!).  I am prepared for this remodel to take a few months…and I am mostly okay with that. Stretching this project out over several paychecks will make it a lot easier to finance.  For the past few weeks I have been steadily buying supplies in order to ease the burden of having to sink all my resources in at once. So far, it’s worked out pretty well.

That being said, I have been researching ideas for several months.  The best part about being out of college is that all my research is done on Pinterest.  It’s a lot more fun than reading peer reviewed scholarly journals 😉 I think you guys would probably agree.

Feel free to click on the picture below if you want to check out some of my pins.

We are leaning towards a well lit, open, airy kitchen.  I would like to have painted cabinets that extend all of the way to the ceiling. We will be installing a herringbone pattern floor and adding tons of molding to bring back the historic flavor. I also have a few surprises tucked up my sleeve.

I have wished on several occasions for a magic wand. It would make remodeling SO much easier. Alas, no magic wand yet. Although I do have a pointer finger and 2 men at my disposal. So, it’s practically the same thing, right?! 😉

Check back next time as we dive into the demolition process!