Poor hubby, even though I've always loved my kitchen, which he designed and built when we built the condo, I've always hated the fact that we have a bar that is unusable. The cabinets were in the way, if you sat at the bar, you had to peer underneath to see whoever was in the kitchen, nobody ever used it, and so I whined, for years I complained! I told him I would like to do a whole redo, combining the kitchen and dining room into one big room with a long bar down the middle so people could gather round'. Well, that wasn't going to happen and I knew it because the cost would have been hideous, entailing purchasing more cabinetry and new granite, so I just sucked it up, but I whined, often!
So a few weeks ago, we were in the car, on our way to Lexington to visit our youngest son Ryan, and his family , poor hubby was my captive audience, as he couldn't get away from me, and once again I started complaining about the kitchen and how non-functional it was for our lifestyle. When people are over, where do they congregate? The kitchen, of course, and it was so crowded we were always packed in there like a bunch of sardines. So once again, I talked to him about ripping out some of the cabinetry, and I guess I got him at a weak moment, because he was actually considering it. I stressed that at our age, functionality and practicality was more important than the way it looked.
And in the meantime, as we were driving along, my cellphone rang. It was John, our oldest son, the timing was perfect, and I posed the question to him. I said, "Johnno, what do you think about us ripping out some of the cabinets in the kitchen to open it up?" And to my surprise he said, "That's the best idea you've ever had, that kitchen is positively claustrophobic," Well hot damn, this was progress, somebody agreed with me! FINALLY!!! So when we got to Ryan's, I talked to him about it, and his response was "Go for it."
So by now, hubby was getting excited, well as excited as somebody can get when he has a big job ahead of him, but he was seriously onboard. So we came home on Sunday, and Monday morning he started ripping the heck outta the cabinets. Those things were heavy, so he had his friend Juzar come over to help take them down, they removed three cabinets, and then they put back up the end cabinet as it had the decorative roping.
And this is the result. I love it, I seriously love it. Even hubby is a fan. Now people can actually sit around the bar, the kitchen is so open, it's wonderful. So then we moved on to the dining room, taking out the sideboard, moving it to the living room, opening up the table, so it isn't so crowded. This was the best thing we've done in years! And the best part, the cost. Nothing, nada, zilch, el zippo. It cost nothing to do this, just labor. Well, I did buy a couple more bar stools, and a shelf for the dining room wall, but that was it.
And I have to show you one of my favorite things, my big fat market pig. I love French Pigs, I have several of them and this one is my fave. I even like pigs more than I like roosters. And I'm a big rooster fan as well.
This is the sideboard that was in the dining room, I ditched the sofa table and replaced it with this sideboard. Yes, I know it has a lot of "stuff" on it.
This is the way the dining room looks now. People can actually walk around the table, my family will be thrilled, they always gave me grief about how crowded it was every time we sat down to eat. Well, the table still has to be dismantled to eat, but they will have to continue to deal with it, I'm not gonna give up tablescapes. :o) I'm a nester, I like lots of "things." Works for me...
So I'm a happy old(er) girl these days, I got what I wanted, my poor long suffering hubby won't have to listen to me whine anymore, and everybody can gather 'round the bar. Why didn't we do this years ago???
