Restoring Our Old Farm House No 2 - Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of the home so that's where I'll begin our remodeling tour. I must warn you the before pictures are pretty scary and if you think it looks bad, you should have smelled it and felt it. It was July in Texas!

The bottom cabinets had red Bakelite handles, which I salvaged.

This photo was taken standing in the kitchen looking into what is now the dining area. We removed this wall and the low ceilings to open the kitchen and dining into one large room with vaulted ceilings. I wish I had taken a picture the day we pulled the ceilings down. You cannot even imagine the mess it created.

You'll notice a lot of time passed between the the first set of pictures and the one above. There was a lot of work to be done before we could begin the pretty parts. All new electrical, all new plumbing and septic system, all new water lines and gas lines, central heat and air, insulation, new roof, all new windows, two layers of old exterior siding removed, new siding installed, walls and doors removed, ceilings torn out...

 ...old sheet-rock torn out, ancient wallpaper pulled down, new sheet-rock installed and new wood floors installed. You should know that we are 30 miles, one way, from Home Depot.

It was very exciting when things began to take shape.

We installed pine plank ceilings throughout the house and adapted galvanized barn lights to be used in the kitchen/dining room.

Here Mark is laying the new wood floors. He started in the farthest corner of the house and worked his way to the front door.

We planned the cabinet layout and purchased the units individually and assembled them ourselves.

I chose to use drawers in all the bottom cabinets and ten years later I still love them. I also used a sheet of galvanized metal as the back splash for my stove which works great! Rather than upper cabinets all the way across, I chose to have windows on both sides of the stove. I love to be able to see outside!

Bead board fills the space between the upper and lower cabinets.

Here is a current picture of the same area. I've added an island using an old table with casters and a wine rack from the springs of a baby bed (we'll save that for another day).

Here's a Heart Rock for your pocket:
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

Wishing you God's best,
Elaine

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