Just lovely. That kitchen is breathtaking. I remember the "in progress" pics you posted and I knew it was going to come out great. Great job.

Way to go Oak, I just love your kitchen. I really like your checker board floor and cabinets.

....Jane

Great job! I love your kitchen.
I have the same coffee table, but I bet yours isn't adorned with stick figures on the side-(handy work by my 5 year old)

Oakleyok, I love the new kitchen cabinets and the hardware you chose that is perfect for your beautiful kitchen. The pictures are an amazing transformation. What hardwood species, width and stain are your beautiful hardwood floors?

wow, pretty! I'd also love information about those gorgeous floors.

I'm just starting to read your post but - hey! don't worry about stuff around - just looks like home to me (well, a lot bigger and a lot cleaner really - lol!) I can even see furniture and floor at your place...

you went from 4 drawers to 23 - how do you like having more of those skinny top drawers? how many do you have now? is it enough? I'll be going from 0 to about 12 - hoping that will be enough. I will have 6 -8 deeper drawers too.

Wow, you must be in heaven! Everything is beautiful!

Time to enjoy : )

Wow--amazing transformation in your kitchen. I especially adore the hutch. BTW, I used to have the same wallpaper in my kitchen as you had in your "before" kitchen.

wow - are you gonna be loving that new kitchen and living room! look at all of those cabs! and drawers! sort of make ya feel like ya just came out of a cave? I know that's what I think I'll be feeling like...open, space and light! yeah!

and a laundry /utility room! how does anyone think a house doesn't REQUIRE one of those? I'll be so glad to have one also. I've gone 11 yrs w/o a w/d! ugh...or a space to put stuff (tools, garden things,pet stuff etc)

going back to look at kit pics again!

Thanks everyone! The floors are Anderson engineered, hickory wood with a brownish/deep reddish stain, it has different colors in it, and 5" wide planks. I can't remember the exact name of the stain though. We did bite the bullet and got the thickest they offered so it can be re-sanded a couple of times, but hopefully that won't be in my lifetime. lol.

Anyway, hickory is the best wood to get if you have a big and crazy dog like I do. heh

Desertsteph, I only have two skinny drawers, one on each side of the stove, oh, and one next to the washer. The one on the left side of the stove is for spices, I bought a drawer spice shelf where we can see them all. The other drawer is very wide, I was able to combine silverware and cooking tools together. The other drawers are in the cabinets below the counters, all are pretty deep. I actually have a few drawers and cabinets that I haven't filled up yet!

What I like the most is, in the utility room under the long counter, I can put all my kitchen appliances in the drawers. And there's a lot of room for thermoses, toaster ovens, etc. to be hidden and out of the way.

The irony of it all is I've lost all desire to decorate after this! Most people just build a new house. lol. But my dh and I did have fun living in the living room with all the food in there, along with the fridge. :)

Am, back in the day (the 80's), I did all the wallpapering myself. No problem, had a lot of fun doing it. Our builder which is also a "handy man" did the one wall for me this time. lol.

Polly, I LOVE my coffee table! My dog Grace (in the above picture) chewed three corners of it when she was a puppy. lol. It may not match per se, but I don't care. It's my morning "desk" after dh leaves, and I sit and watch the news, pay bills, drink coffee, and just try to wake up. I love the drawers in it, I can find anything you need in my drawers without me getting up. :)

Oakleyok - Love your re-decorating, especially your kitchen floor! What colors did you use on your walls?

Thanks.

Congrats to you!!! It's beautiful! You must be so excited! I love your cabinetry and the floors! And the hutch is gorgeous. Love it! Great job!

AJ, and to everyone else. I want to thank a special someone here that helped me on the wall colors. I can't take any credit except for general ideas. ;)

The "yellow" in the kitchen, DR, hallway, and UT is SW Tealight, via Benjamin Moore. I compare it to a stick of butter. In some areas I can't even tell it's yellow which I love!

The "red" is SW Redbud, via BM.

The "beige" is SW Bagel...by SW. lol.

Here's two pictures I forgot to add. The first one is the back of the new room. The floor space is massive and we'll need a VERY large area rug. The closet on the left holds our new ac/heat just for that room which is great. The double door closet is a storage closet and was specially designed for my Christmas tree and ornaments, and vacuum, etc.

Any ideas on what to put on top of the ledge? All suggestions welcome! I need COLOR though, that room is more on the Old World style and I need to brighten it up some, even though it has a lot of windows.

The second picture is my backsplash, it doesn't show the yellow diamonds though. It was only finished on Sunday so I still need to scrub it down.

{{gwi:1761194}}

Oops, forgot. The beadboard is SW Dover White.

Wow! Everything is just beautiful. I love your kitchen, especially the back splash. How long did the renovation take? Was it done one room at a time or all at once? I know what it's like to have your kitchen torn up, but can't imagine living through all that you did.

Very pretty! I've admired your kitchen before and everything turned out so nice. It must be such a relief to be done!

(p.s. - I'm quite jealous that you've reached the light at the end of the tunnel, while I'm confined to living in bedrooms because my entire living area is torn up - no walls, floors, or ceiling!)

Lovely! Can you share where you got your awesome light fixture in the kitchen? The one in the middle on the ceiling? I love it!

How lovely...you must be thrilled! :)

juddgirl and art, the total reno/addition began last November.

They took the brick off the front of the house, then built the new room while we lived in the "old" house. As soon as painting was done in there we were able to use it and the bedrooms. They kept my stove & sink in the kitchen the whole time so I could use it while they demo'd the front of the house.

AK, I ordered the light from Rejuvenation.com. There's a matching light above the sink which can't be seen in the pictures. Every light fixture was ordered online and I was happy with all of them!

Just gorgeous! I am sure after you are rested back up, you will start telling yourself,hmmm I think I have the perfect something for that spot, and then before you know it you will be hooked again! Your home is already beautiful though!

I'll wager you're very happy it's finally over. It looks very comfortable and homey.

Just love the checkerboard tile.

Gorgeous kitchen!!!

Congratulations...you must be thrilled! (and relieved that reno process is over:))

I am just loving that section of cabinets with the display area in the center...beautiful!! (I will save in my inspiration pics:))

That looks so great - you must be thrilled!

Everything looks just gorgeous! Nice work.

Just a fantastic transformation!! Honestly you should send in these before-and-after photos to Country Living!!

A gorgeous home -- charming, welcoming and elegant!!! :)

Well done indeed!! ((and I just love the dog!))

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Tremendous transformation! And the kitchen is like out of a magazine! You have an adorable doggie too!

What a fabulous transformation! I love everything you've done -- it's all so charming! I am especially enamored of your kitchen. I know you're enjoying it so much!

Wait, wait I'm salivating over those checkerboard floors...have you mentioned those and I missed it? Could be. I've had two glasses of wine and zoomed through the posts. Please tell me about them.....I want them!!!

BTW, almost forgot to say, what a wonderful transformation. Unbelievable really, and gives hope to so many who are bogged down in the reno trenches. Thanks for the pics!

pup

Beautiful job! Info please! Did you finish the house back off with brick or some type of siding? If you did brick, did you have trouble matching the original brick? I'm trying to decide on some work on my house next year and it involves taking the brick off of the front. Needless to say I'm scared.

Pup, the floors are Crossville. Link below, and on the side of the page is their whole slew of different tiles. It's funny really, we were getting ready to hire this firm to do the reno, and they showed me the tile in their decorating showroom, and I fell in love with it. We decided not to go with the firm, but I remembered the tile! This tile we used can also be used outdoors. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone using Crossville before. But we sure do like it!

Idie, we didn't get an exact match because they don't make our brick anymore, but we got a very close match. You can't tell the difference from the front of the house because it's now L shaped, but from the back of the house where it's long, you can barely tell. We live in the country so only cows see the back. lol.

Here is a link that might be useful: Crossville Tile

Wow! What a beautiful and amazing renovation! How much square footage did you add? And do you have before and after pictures of the outside?

Oakley,
It is gorgeous!! I hope you and your family have many good times in your beautiful new spaces.

Smiles:)

Beautiful kitchen!

Crossville tiles are popular here in TN, they are manufactured here.

tina

Wonderful job! Love, love, love your kitchen floor.

Tina, I bet you all can get the tile a lot cheaper than we can! The company is wonderful, they sent me a lot of free samples so I could choose my colors. We also have it in the entry way. We just love it!

Marrilyn, I think we added about 650 sq. feet, which is the new room only. After being cramped in that tiny LR, we wanted SPACE, even though it's just my dh and myself now. lol.

Here's the before picture I took at the end of last summer when I knew it would be "demolished." The wonderful memories of two little boys frolicking in the front yard makes me cry. :( From where I'm standing taking the picture, between me and the old house is the new room.

Before:

After, another picture below:

Left side of porch, we added some rock to it that we used on our FP.

Right side, still no porch furniture. :(

Here's a picture taken a couple of months ago at the beginning of my "cottage garden" which is an interesting experiment. lol.

I love the oval window in the front of your house. You'll have fun experimenting with your new garden. I think your kitchen is just charming, and I love the accent tile too! And your bar stools. Don't worry about the ashtray on the coffee table - and now don't shoot me gals - but a man's home should be his castle!

Beautiful! I especially love your hutch. I'm assuming you had that custom made? It's striking!