The heart of the home

Years ago, when we were first looking at houses, I remember seeing the kitchen and thinking... 

Quaint! 

"Wood" Formica countertops. And off white cabinets.  It was a snap to clean!  There was only one counter!! The fridge was small, but held the necessary 4 gallons of milk. The oven was older, but 3 of the 4 burners worked and I got very adept at cooking things in order of importance. ;-) 

This is the before. 

Loved that red rug!!!! 

Here's the pic in the middle of the project.

 Scary!!!! 

Our home supervisor sent me this pic when we were in the hotel.  

Her caption was, 

"Guess which room this is!" 

Ha ha ha. Her mom says that it was at this point that they all looked at each other and thought "Now we HAVE to finish!!" ;-) 

When we left they had a pile of used cabinets in the garage that they were planning on using.  Personally, I thought they had potential... A little sanding, a little paint... But can you imagine sanding/painting/priming a whole room of cabinets?  They did not have that kind of time!!  So Tony (Carnesi) pulled off a little magic. :-) 

He raised some $$ and called his cousin Rochelle, (who by the way, makes an excellent Jalapeño Popper casserole!!! Maybe if we ask nicely she'll post the recipe in the comments!!!! Pleeeeease?!?)

Rochelle worked for a local home improvement store and worked a little of her own magic to get us a killer deal on these BEAUTUFUL cabinets!!!! 

Looooove them!!!  And without trying they match my buffet cart perfectly!! 

For the final piece of this story we have to go back a few weeks. 

The realtors were going to be descending again.  But before the realtors came Miss Shirley comes on the front door with Ken and Sarah.  I had no idea who they were with, but they went directly to the kitchen to take done measurements.  (And I had learned quickly that you just smile, nod, and be welcoming. Mostly because there would be no way to remember everyone by name!!)  After they took their measurements they asked if they could hang out a bit!  Pretty soon Ken had found the reclining rocker, and Sarah had a certain 3yr old in her lap.  We really enjoyed them!! 

Ok, fast forward back to Red Day, they delivered my gorgeous, amazing, magnificent appliances!!!!! 

It took me a few weeks to figure out which little beeps, and jingles were coming from which machine!  They are all GE stainless steel, top of the line!!! And I couldn't be happier!!!! 

Ken Jensen from BAC Appliance Center & GE.  Thank you so much!!!!  You and your team have made my whole life so much easier!!! 

My new oven holds 4 pizzas!!! 

All 4 beautiful ceramic burners work perfectly!! 

It has a deep/wide drawer underneath for storing my new pans, that were always too big to use in my last oven! 

(I tried to wipe those little fingerprints away, before I took the pic, but she just kept touching it immediately. Posterity.)

The dishwasher holds not 1, but 2(!!!!!) meals worth of dishes!  It also sanitizes or just steams for those bottles and paci's that pile up. 

The piece de resistance, is the refrigerator!!! 

 Everyone that comes to the house is drawn to it. 

 Like moths to a flame, we all stand around and gaze lovingly at it!  ;-)  All the drawers and shelves are adjustable. There are TWO ice-makers one up top, and one in the lower freezer drawer!  Right now it's holding: 

A flat of bottled water

2 boxes of Capri Suns

2 gallons of milk

2 qts of soy milk

1 jug of sweet tea 

And a cherry Pepsi from my hubby.  And those are just the drinks!!!  

I'm tellin ya!!! It's a thing of beauty! 

Here they are working on installing that dishwasher I was telling you about.  

Thank you guys!! 

We couldn't be happier with our new kitchen, and honestly even doing dishes doesn't seem like such a chore.  It's a joy to be in our kitchen, and it really is the heart of our home! 

Since we moved in 3 yrs ago there were wires hanging (not so subtle-y) from the ceiling over my sink.   You should have seen the pride when they found this beauty of a light fixture!! 

 This little thing seems small maybe to you. But I often turn it on, enjoy the glow, and then walk away with it left on.  (My gift to anyone happening to drive on the dirt rd behind us that might happen to look up at the stately gray and white home on the hill. :-) 

Aren't the cafe curtains lovely?!?  My Life With Style strikes again!!! Sweet Miss Kathryn, these touches make me feel so loved!!  Love you!!

There are hidden treasures in our kitchen as well.  Like a "lazy Susan" cabinet for pots and pans. A deep corner shelf for food, nearly twice the amount of counter space! And deep drawers next to the dishwasher so that our littles can help put away their own dishes straight from the dishwasher! 

I hope you enjoyed seeing our new kitchen as much as we have enjoyed living with it!  I spend 75% of my day here, and it is a joy to serve from!