Kitchen remodel

Joe and I have FINALLY decided to remodel our kitchen. We've lived in this house for almost 2 1/2 years and we've had to deal with many challenges. The kitchen has met our needs, don't get me wrong. It is just extremely small and crowded, plus all the appliances are out-of-date and I hate that it shares room with the laundry. The wallpaper is completely ridiculous to the times and our orange counter top (and lack thereof) gives me a headache.

We've added a few appliances along the way. Our small fridge & stove that came with the house are still here. The fridge is used for over-flow and our stove/oven (3 burner stove!!) doesn't fit our cooking needs very well. We we're lucky enough to get a [new to us] fridge and dishwasher from my parents when they upgraded. See blog here. But we were still left without counter space above the dishwasher and the fridge is monstrous with no real room.

Anyway, the only real plans we have set already, is to put up a wall to separate laundry area from kitchen and we'll knock out a wall to create an opening to the kitchen from the living room. (We have a closet under the stairs that we are going to cut into and make it a walkway instead.)

My mom & stepdad Kelly are helping us with the major projects. Kelly is going to be helping us in his spare time from work, so it will take a little longer than usual. I'm okay with that because I know it will be done right and he has a few 'connections' that will help us with some obstacles; like drywall, ducting and possible wiring.

Its going to be A LOT of hard work and inconvenience for both us and our room-mates, but I'm hoping it will be worth it. Not only to be better for us, but to help increase the value of our home for when we decide to sell. And since we are still NOT pregnant, I need something else to focus on. I'll be posting updates (pictures) as the time goes on. I'm posting pictures on facebook as well, so please excuse the repeats.

Here are a few pictures of the progress. Sorry the pictures show my messy kitchen.

Our kitchen as of Friday 3/4/11

Our 'smaller' fridge is in the corner - that's where the new kitchen entrance will be

This is the view from standing in between both fridges

And the view from in front of the dishwasher.

And this is our kitchen as of Saturday 3/5/11 - All Joe's hard work!

The new "wall" separating the 2 rooms, will be where the stove is now.

It will shorten the kitchen, but I think it will be worth it.

And this is my temporary kitchen. Got my fridge, microwave & toaster all hooked up and the fridge is stocked. All the bins are holding pots, pans, food storage...anything that was inside the kitchen cabinets.