Tuesday, October 31, 2017

This has to be the best play kitchen...EVER

Oh my goodness, look at this? Is this not the cutest play kitchen. This gem popped up on my Amazon home page, I DO NOT need another kitchen for E, but if I did...this thing is amazing, so I want to share. If you get this one (comes in other colors too) please tell me how cute it is in person! I mean, a built in fridge? I just can't get over how cute this is!






Wednesday, October 25, 2017

3 years later - Play Kitchen Makeover

I've gotten a number of questions about Ellie's play kitchen that I did a mini makeover on, so I wanted to give a little update about how its held up almost 3 years later.  So if you missed the original post here it is: Play Kitchen Makeover

So, there are two parts to how it's held up, the kitchen it self and the paint.

First, the kitchen has held up really well, for the price I'd definably recommend it.  If you look at the link below, it was silver, and I needed gold, so I did spray it my self, the paint has not chipped at all, but you can kind of see in the pictures there is a little variation in the gold paint, I'm guessing from oils on your hands.  At first it did bug me, but never enough to repaint. I'm guessing if I repainted and put a clear top coat over it, it may help.

The faux marble backsplash still looks brand new, overall, if you want to change the color do it!  I linked the exact kitchen I purchased on Amazon.  It does also come in pink and purple, instead of white, but always silver.





Look back at Ellie at 3


As I posted Ellie's 4 year old session, I realized how much catch up from the last year I have to do! So here was Ellie turning 3! I'm still beyond obsessed with buffalo plaid... Just wait until Christmas.  Of course photo credits to Jennifer Grant!




























Kitchen: Part 1

This post may be a little massive, but a full kitchen reno is kinda a big deal.  So incase you did not see all the before pictures, here is a little reminder of my kitchen on move in day.  Complete 1979 builders grade, including the faux butcher block countertops.  Why?  I don't get why they were ever a thing?  It's had to tell in this picture but that is a 8 foot wide doorwall that makes my kitchen always bright and cheery which is one of the reasons I choose this place.

Not a huge kitchen, but also not tiny, just really poorly laid out, along with like NO counter space. 

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I knew I wanted to do an Ikea kitchen, it was easy to design, no lag time on waiting for deliveries, totally customizable and I'd had great luck with Ikea kitchens in the past. 

I wanted an all white kitchen, I designed this place to be light and bright as opposed to some of the darker colors in my other houses.

The whole first floor is Benjamin Moore Simply White.  If you have a lot of painting to do, let me tell you its much easier with light colors...

I choose the Grimslov doors in the "Ikea White" which is really a soft white.


I knew I wanted glass doors too and liked the simple style from this line.


Okay, if your going to do an Ikea kitchen, please trust me and use their design service.  I believe its $150 (which you get credited back when you buy your kitchen)  They come out, measure and give you 3D drawings.  Do not sit in Ikea at their computers for hours, love Ikea but their kitchen design software needs work.

So I had a few ideas, first I thought about getting a cooktop and a wall oven, I had a wall oven at my last house and loved it. 


Then I could of put in one of these fancy built in microwaves, but I didn't.  Two reasons, first I would of had to put the cooktop on the counter and lost more counter space - also I didn't really want the cooktop on the counter with a toddler.  And second, was the cost was quite a bit more, and I just didn't feel it was work the design changes.


So I ended up with this over the range microwave which works just great.


So, here is my one regret in the kitchen, I didn't go with the dishwasher that had the cabinet panel front, I think it was close to $400 more total, so I just went with stainless, but looking back I should of went with it.


Here's my fridge, I do like it a lot, not a huge fridge, but for just me and Ellie its perfect size.  I really like that there is still a water spigot on the inside so the front looks clean.  Plus it reminds me of the Viking fridges that have the same feature.


Moving forward to demo/install.  We demoed our self, but had Ikea install.  Which was TOTALLY work it!  The Michigan crew was great, really good work, would highly recommend (if your in the area message me and I'll give you their contact info directly)

Before the Kitchen installers came, we had to install the floors.


This is a better view of the doorwall, it really opens up the kitchen.



Also, have Ikea deliver!! It's like about 60 bucks I think? and seriously worth it! Those flat packs are heavy...very heavy


I'll talk about floors more later, not the greatest picture, but I went with dark bamboo hardwood from Lumber Liquidators.



Install took like 4 days, plus they did the bathroom.  Again, totally worth it!  It would of taken us 4 days just to assemble the cabinets


Besides the upstairs bathroom tiles and a few little things, we did everything our self (me, my saint of an uncle and my parents) so to come over after work and see progress was wonderful.  There were definably some emotional breakdowns wondering if it would ever get done, so watching things come together was so worth it.

I think this was the end of day 2.



Back to my kitchen design.  The original layout had a space for a small table, but there is a dining room like 20 feet away, so I though it was silly to have two tables in 20 feet of each other, plus I love my dining room table, so that was not going anywhere.  


I ended up going with a peninsula, with a ledge for two stools. It also gave me two more large base cabinets.  If I remember correctly I have 16 cabinets in this little kitchen so really a ton of space.  



Not the best of pictures, but you can see the layout better.



The next are a few pictures after the kitchen installers left.









Ikea also, of course, has pretty awesome kitchen lighting systems, so I went with lights under the sink and in the glass cabinets.  I felt like it was an all of nothing type thing.  So I just went under the sink and in the glass cabinets.




Hardware I went with below, from Overstocked, price was good, but was kind of a pain to install but I do like the look.  (If you buy Ikea handles the Ikea installers will install them, included - just an FYI)


I ordered the counters from a local granite supplier, Sedona Stone in Commerce, MI.  They were well priced and you bought the stone per slab, so I ended up buying 2 - maybe 3. I can't remember- slabs, but I was able to do the kitchen, 3 bathrooms and the fireplace.

Of course I picked the most expensive color they had, but I didn't want one of the standard "8"


Of course, marble was out of the budget, so it still has a little more pattern that I would of liked, but that darn budget kept getting in the way...

My plan B was the Formica 180 in marble, its really cool, but was not "that" much less and granite sells better.