oh so thankful

Colossians 3:15-17

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

so many reasons to give thanks to God.....

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrating with family friends!

the cabinets are up

Things have been a little slow moving in the kitchen but the cabinets are up so at least it is starting to look like a kitchen.  Hopefully things will get moving after Thanksgiving - the holidays seem to be slowing down our orders and the contractor's schedule.  No complaining here though because I am just so thankful that I get a new kitchen.  And I really don't want to lose sight of how special this is.

So please let me share my new cabinets......

i never thought i would be able to get slow shut hinges - they come standard with Ikea cabinets and they are amazing....i honestly just stand in the kitchen opening and shutting the cabinets and drawers.

Thanks for stopping by!

granite city

This weekend we finally got to explore the stoneyard and start the process of picking out the granite.  I have been looking forward to this since Brandon told me he wanted granite over butcher block.  I love exploring all the different stones.  They are just beautiful.

Our granite playground.  They just gave us clipboards and pens and told us to have fun exploring.  Just us and the granite.

So the point of this first visit was to choose which type of granite we like.  Then they give us a quote for each one.  We choose the cheapest one and then get to go back and pick out the specific slab.

Here are the types of granites we are interested in.

Here are some fun examples of ones we did not choose.

That is real granite, with real fossils.

This granite is crazy.  I feel like I am looking through water at pebbles at the bottom of a slow moving stream.

Just interesting.

Also just interesting.

I kind of was intrigued by this marble for the kitchen.

Hmm...which one will it be?

the non-kitchen post

In case you are getting sick of hearing about this silly kitchen here is some comedic relief.

Cousin Finn

I'm no angel, Mom

Our big, bumblin' bee

just a peek

Well I hate to only fill you in on the kitchen but unfortunately my life is consumed with work and the kitchen so assuming you don't want to hear about my day to day life at work here is a quick kitchen update - plus I know you are wondering how we laid the tile.  So not to keep you waiting here is a peek at the unfinished floor.

So we went with the traditional brick.  Thanks for all the input.

I love that it is laid with very small grout lines.  Easier clean up for me given that I have two large dogs.  The grout goes in tomorrow so I am excited to see the finished look.  I anticipate that it will look similar to this though since the grout is darker.

Here is another peek at the small walls we torn out to open up the space and remove the arch.

Now

Before

A side by side always helps.

It still needs some work and the photos aren't that great so you will just have to take my word that it is larger and more open.

Here is another view.

And the side by side again.

So there you go.  It will be my goal to post a non-kitchen entry next.  Only Saturday we are going granite shopping and that is always fun and I will definitely want to share that experience....so we will see.

Thanks for stopping by!

what do you think?

My dear blog friends, I need your help.  You all have been so kind and encouraging with this kitchen remodel, ya'll are just great.  So considering your greatness, I need your design advice.  We thought we knew how we wanted to lay our tile floor for the kitchen but we don't.  There are just too many options and we kind of like them all - a good problem to have but a problem still.  So please chime in and let us know your opinion.  We would love to hear from you!

So here are the three options we are wavering between.  Don't mind my inaccurate design lingo.

Angled Herringbone

Straight Up Herringbone

Traditional Brick

Oh and here are some kitchen details to hep you form your opinion.

It is a square with L shaped cabinets.

Here is the design scheme.

So now please help us!  What do you think will look best for our tile pattern?  Thanks for all your help!  You are the greatest!  

we be tearin' down some walls

some very small walls but walls none-the-less.  The kitchen remodel wasn't going to be anything structural.  The plan was to keep the same layout but with new everything.  As you can see from many of the pictures.  New was necessary as most of the old was completely rotten or housing decaying animals.  However, some couldn't get enough demolition so it was suggested that we knock out about 18in. of wall and open up the hall leading from the kitchen to the living/dining area.

It is only 18 inches but I think it will open it up so much and make a huge difference - especially with two large dogs!  I am excited to get things moving, which is officially Monday now!  Soon I will be posting about all the details going up - hopefully.

Here are a few more demo pics to leave you with.

So the flooring was ripped up along with ALL layers of the subfoor - all 4 inches - due to major, major rot.  So glad we did not fall through the basement.

Our new kitchen.

No floor!!  And once the wall to the right of this picture is torn down you will be able to see so much more of my kitchen!

This was the bathroom!

Our bare floors with a peek at the new tile!  It is 12x24 and I love it!

See you all next week and hopefully with a report of some good kitchen progress!