San Juan Capistrano, California and yes the Swallows do really come back every year. They arrive around March 19th and the whole town has a party and parade to celebrate their arrival next weekend!

Redoing a 12 year old tract kitchen that has way too much
Black Galaxy for my taste! DH loves the kitchen the way it is but has finally agreed to let me make some changes! I just picked out my new quartzite slab for the island. It's dreamy. It's called Alpinus. It's creamy white with brown and black veins and large translucent crystals. I've never seen any granite called this on GW. I'll post photos when I figure out how.

Central RI here remodeling a 1980 colonial one room at time since we've purchased it in 2003. Kitchen hopefully will be done by June since it's all a DIY.

Hi all, we are in a suburb of Atlanta . We are starting a new build! So much fun

San Diego getting ready to remodel and add to a 1930's ranch (old for San Diego). Currently we are waiting for coastal approval before submitting for our building permits. Hope to start in late May/early June so you will be hearing from me a lot in the coming months.

Wow, fivefootzero! That's a transformation!

aokat15, my husband is from western MA (Greenfield) and we live outside of Dayton.

Another PNWer here, moved here 3 years ago after living for 37 years in Denver, CO. If you PNWers can't mke the Kitchen Tour in Portland, plan a trip to Port Townsend, WA, April 28, for the AAUW Kitchen Tour.
We built a new home and did the finish work ourselves. Still doing small things like a bathroom! LOL

Laramie, Wyoming here. Restoring a 1900 Union Pacific built folk Victorian. ALL DIY and darn proud of it.

Ne

Southern TN. We have been gutting a house for the last year and a half. End is in sight.

Here is a link that might be useful:

We moved to northern Utah about six months ago from the Chicagoland area. We are in the beginning stages of building a home on a lovely mountain bench in North Logan. We were supposed to break ground this week but I think we are at least a month away from that momentous occasion.

North Shore, Nassau County, Long Island. Knocking down our
64 year old brick and stone ranch, digging out the foundation,
and replacing it with a Federalist style colonial. Going from
1500sq. ft to 4400sq. ft.

Been here 32 years, and this project is 7 years in the making-
lots of starts and stops along the way. But, just got off with
our architect, and with the last of the design changes out of the
way, she's drawing up the final plans today.

This is a modular project, so if all goes smoothly, we should be
able to occupy the house by September.

Can't wait to have an eat-in kitchen, and use those soapstone
slabs M. Teixeira's been holding for us, going on 3 years now!

Breezy, it's a date - we'll go next year! Sure wish I could take pics to post and give you all a play by play of the kitchens I'll see.

btw, I think John was talking about a tour that featured older homes remodeled true to their roots. I saw press about it last year but wasn't able to go. (Wonder where John is these days, haven't seen him post in awhile.)

Hi to all the other PNWers here (including those just over the border, too)! Kalapointer, which AAUW Kitchen Tour are you talking about? I Googled it and found one in Walla Walla, Whidbey Island and Port Townsend (among other cities). Looks like the Port Townsend one is on April 28th. Is that the one you mean? I'm not familiar with this tour. Have you gone before? Tell us more about it, please!

Here is a link that might be useful: AAUW Kitchen Tour - Port Townsend

I used to live In Great Falls VA. I miss my friends there.

I now live in Southern NH
Finishing details of kitchen (or waiting for these details
to be finished)
Getting distracted with changing masterbath and closet.
not sure the kind of house... Maybe I should call it
Morphed Traditional, transitional, contempo/colonial wanna be?

~boxer

Outside of Charlotte, NC! I am surprised there aren't more of us Southerners on here! :) We completed our custom build last Fall. I am still slowly decorating this house...and loving every minute of it!

If you all love that front porch that fivefootzero put on her house, I can attest to how lovely it is to drink a margarita in the evening on that porch ;)

Five and I met here on GW, and we live in the same neighborhood in central NJ.

Love GW.

We live in Southern Ontario, on Lake Ontario, in an exact replica of a mid-18th century Colonial house. If you've seen the Apothocary's House beside the Peyton Randolph House in Williamsburg VA, that's what ours is like.

We bought it from the estate of the original owners and it had never been updated (or emptied out!) and are now in the middle of a whole house renovation which is mainly DIY. One year after purchase upstairs is done (3 bedrooms, two bathrooms, study) and we are now in the middle of the kitchen and butler's pantry installation.

Our kitchen design took a year to finalize as we wanted to get it right and tried to maintain the integrity of the house design but still end up with something to satisfy both form and function. Classic shaker style, sections built to resemble furniture, white perimeter, stone grey island, soapstone counters, calacatta marble backsplash, antique matte brass cups and pulls, antique brass faucets, antique glass in the some cabinets, limestone floor.

Living, dining and conservatory still to be renovated.

We're in Central Ohio in a 1939 house that we've been in almost 2 years. Last year we built a barn

This year we're converting the former attached garage to kitchen/powder room/mud/laundry room and replacing a small sun porch with a full size morning room. We're at the insulation stage.

I found it funny that although I have a million pictures of the barn being built, I don't have a single picture of it finished. I wonder if that happens a lot :)

New Castle, DE. 1960's ranch that we added 480 square foot addition. Gutted kitchen and bathroom and added a family room and laundry room. Just about ready to post before and after pictures. What a change. Learned so much from GW. Thanks to everyone!!

Boxerpups...we could have been neighbors in Great Falls!!!

Middle-of-nowhere, Ohio. My 1905 house is part Victorian, part Craftsman, part shingle-style (it was originally built this way, not added onto). It was totally gutted when we bought it, but we're slowly putting it back together as time and money allow.

Southern Ohio, surrounded by cultivated fields and great neighbors. I recently replaced an early 1980's kitchen in a 1920's bungalow/farm cottage (with my own unique re-muddling).

Suburb of Boston - Newton MA. We converter our 1825 two family house back into a single including the unsexy parts -new electrical, plumbing, HVAC, support in basement. We gutted and bumped out the kitchen and added a mudroom, half bath, pool plus a few other things. Main part of kitchen was completed in March 2010 but still have to build banquette, pantry shelves, paint various rooms, etc. Life just gets in the way. We have phase 2-5 to look forward to when we have more money - master bath, guest room suite,landscaping, wine cellar...but the temporary wine cellar is always well stocked :)

Bryan, Texas - updating kitchen and baths - at the same time!

I live in a northern suburb of Columbus, Ohio. Our remodel bulldozed an early 1990s kitchen in a 1968 house (during demo we found "beeper" numbers written on the walls behind the cabinets). It had peach ceramic tile with terra-cotta colored grout, honey oak cabinets, peach laminate countertops, and a dusky orange paint, complete with tiny maze-like layout.

We knocked down two walls--the one that the fridge and range are up against (behind that was a laundry room, which we moved upstairs, and a half-bath, which we kept, as well as our door to the garage), and the one you can see to the right hand side that was between our kitchen and dining room. That one was load-bearing. We moved the entire kitchen into the dining room area, with a little bit spilling into the area where the kitchen is in this picture--that bit of countertop you can see on the right is where our countertops start in the new kitchen. We now have a mud room entryway with the half bath and a new cubby system and drop zone. The area where the sink is will soon contain a custom-built banquette. Our kitchen has an island with prep sink in the middle, and a row of cabinets on the walls on either side--one has the cooktop and one has the sink and dishwasher. The fridge is at the top of the triangle between them. It creates two work triangle zones--a prep and cooking triangle on one side, and a prep and cleaning triangle on the other--perfect for my husband to help me while I'm cooking.

We also did a few other things--put a heated floor with tile in the sun room, which previously had white carpet, expanded that tile out to the foyer, moved the hall closet so we could open up the entryway, and knocked out a wall leading to our basement stairs so it would open up a bit. We started on December 15th, and hopefully by the end of next week will have a semi-functional kitchen.

I don't really have a good shot of what it looks like because it's hard to get the whole layout in one shot, but here's a general idea. Just off to the right of this picture is another row of cabinets where the sink and dishwasher are located.

I was during my first remodel in Atlanta,Ga then onto remodel in Austin,Tx. I am currently near NO ONE while I temporarily live in Bismarck, ND. What a change from the big cities!

Oakdale, MN (suburb of St. Paul)--hi jkoebrick and shelayne! Have a 1980's split entry that DH lived in for many years as a bachelor and it needs lots of work! We recently added on a dining room and small deck and then gutted the old dining room and kitchen and made it into one larger kitchen. Also removed wall between kitchen and living room. Absolutely love it!!! Now on to the rest of the house--both inside and outside--think it will take a while!

I'm in a burb North of Boston. The kitchen is in a 1990 faux-lonial. We're in the planning stages.

And we are all so wonderful!

Howdy, hmbk!! We are not too far away in Brenham....that is, until we move!!

I forgot to add that the new house in Kentucky is a country ranch(?), with more golden oak and mauve paint than is legal.. the golden oak and paint are fxed, tile in the baths and mudroom is going in as we speak, and who knows when the kitchen will be replaced!!

Nancy

Southwestern Ct - lower Fairfield County

Remodeled our 1930 Dutch Colonial 6yrs ago

I still love to visit here :)

Lisa A - The AAUWPT kitchen tour is in the Port Townsend area. There are eight homes on the tour. Tickets are $14/$18 and it is April 28 9:30am to 4:00pm starting at the Chimacun Creel Primary School. All the money raised goes to educational programs in the East Jefferson County schools and towards scholarships. It is a great tour. Come to Port Townsend and make a weekend of it. If you want more info let me know.
I hope this is alright to print this here, sorry didn't mean to hijack the tread.
Kala

North of Boston in 1680 Saltbox with a 1950ish site built kitchen that definitely needs a long overdue renovation but other projects always seem to get in the way... just to keep the old girl in one piece. Also live on an island off the coast - we commute for 9 months to secondary office. Cottage has a very tiny updated galley kitchen - with room for one ...and everything works!

Another North Shore of Boston here, and oh-so-close to the end of our kitchen/bath/deck reno in an 1884 Queen Anne house.

(In fact, DH is cooking his favorite dinner on the range for the first time in 6 months. He is so excited! :-)

--Lee

Another central RI here. We are rebuilding after a fire (we bought it after the fire) and the cabinets are scheduled for mid May installation. Found Uxbridge Cabinets partly from here and also from a friend rec, and so far am very pleased.

@fivefootzero - I am pea green over that beautiful porch.

@oldbat2be - I'm also a hockey mom- peewee- playing in the IJYL.

Wow renorman - your house is a beauty! Can't wait to see your pics when your done!

Southeast PA... about 10 miles west of Reading...remodel of 1995 kitchen circa 1875 gothic revival farmhouse....1995 model designed by a man who definitely wasn't a cook !!!!

Mama_goose - where in southern Ohio? I'm in Portsmouth. I have admired your kitchen since I first laid eyes on it. It's been an inspiration (especially your hood!)

Yet another Marylander, ensconced in a 100+ year-old Baltimore rowhouse, a few blocks from Johns Hopkins Univ. But I transplanted from a DC suburb (Arlington VA)just two years ago and still commute to DC for work.

In the last agonizing stages of a kitchen makeover that suffered from a criminally idiotic GC and has been in suspended animation for a year.

Hi all -- I'm in the Washington, DC metro area. My husband and I bought our house about a year and a half ago, and we're doing a complete gut reno/addition. The house was built in the early '60s and hadn't been touched...and the previous owners did not give it any TLC. We hope to be moving in the house in the next few months - yay! Right now, framing, windows, subfloors, rough plumbing, electrical, HVAC is all done; insulation, sheetrock to start on Monday....things are moving along :-)

Born and raised in Philadelphia - went from a brick row home to a 'Good-by Columbus' type house in the suburbs. Always preferred the row house!

Now I'm in NJ near Asbury Park and Bruce Springsteen country - had the big suburban house and have come full circle to something that feels a whole lot like that little row house... and I LOVE IT!

Westchester County, NY here. Bought and renovated a 1959 custom split a year and a half ago. Great bones, but hadn't been touched since 1959.

From scenic Nassau County Long Island.
English cottage style home built in 1923 of structural stone.
Kitchen gut reno-ed in fall of 2010.
New roof, windows, boiler, insulation and a few other things in 2009.
Thankfully, we're almost done.
Just 2 bathrooms and a finished basement to go.
Here's a not so great shot.

Another native of Western NY! My whole family is still there other than me and a niece and nephew who are in the military.

Like many former WNY'ers, I live on the NC/SC border. We live in NC, but I work in SC.

I am diggin' this thread! West central Illinois here. We are building a ranch with lots of room for our kids and their kids when they visit. This Mimi loves her grandbabies!

Bodhi - I have very good friends that live in Lexington, KY. Love that area.

Breezy - Your garden makes me swoon. I left that type of property and now must start over. Exciting, but overwhelming!

Boxer - Love your house!!!

Thanks to everyone that posted. This thread has consumed me several times today!

Hi Lisa a and other PNW'ers! Yes, Lisa I was hoping to go to the tour this year, but alas, I can't procrastinate any further - the only remodeled house I will see this weekend is my own! I am desperately trying to finish the stained glass windows and all those other little details of my kitchen. Have a great time- perhaps we can all get together at the tour next year?

I live in Oakland, CA, in a 1911 Edwardian. Midwifekim and I know each other; she's the one who introduced me to GW.

No one would ever guess I'm in Kentucky. Greetings to the other southerners, bodhi and springroz! I'm right by both of you. Nancy, you're going to love KY. Give me a shout when you get here.

We are updating our mid 90's kitchen. For everyone who gave me advice last week, I'd like to add that my DH finally understands I need more time before starting. Yay!!

House is in Houston but I am currently working overseas so I am remodeling from 5000 miles away with trips home every 7 weeks or so. Remodeling my whole house as you can guess from my user name, but the kitchen is just getting started. Have the flooring already and cabinets being delivered next week. Expect to start demo and electrial/plumbing work first week of April.

Haddonfield, NJ, a small Revolutionary War bedroom community about twenty minutes from Philly. We live in a very sweet, smaller 1890 late Victorian smack in the middle of the historic district.

We've been in the house six years. Last year we put a new roof on and had a complete historical restoration paint job on the exterior. They removed every bit of paint from the house. It was a long six month extravaganza and thank heaven we liked the guys because they were in very nook and cranny of this place! They did a fabulous, loving job and our long neglected house is now the showpiece of the street. Well worth the time and money

We also added a beautiful slate patio which looks lovely in our shady yard.

Now we are embarking on a kitchen renovation and planning to add a powder room and renovate a full bathroom as well.

We love our home and spend lots of time entertaining friends and family. Everyone is at home here - and that makes us happy!

Haddonfield, NJ, a small Revolutionary War bedroom community about twenty minutes from Philly. We live in a very sweet, smaller 1890 late Victorian smack in the middle of the historic district.

We've been in the house six years. Last year we put a new roof on and had a complete historical restoration paint job on the exterior. They removed every bit of paint from the house. It was a long six month extravaganza and thank heaven we liked the guys because they were in very nook and cranny of this place! They did a fabulous, loving job and our long neglected house is now the showpiece of the street. Well worth the time and money

We also added a beautiful slate patio which looks lovely in our shady yard.

Now we are embarking on a kitchen renovation and planning to add a powder room and renovate a full bathroom as well.

We love our home and spend lots of time entertaining friends and family. Everyone is at home here - and that makes us happy!

Bostonians and southern NHites ...

We need to meet in Boston for a TKO PARTY!!!