Cooking up a kitchen II

Right now all eyes are on the kitchen: it's pretty much the biggest overall project with refinished floors, new drywall, new electric and new plumbing. By the time you're reading this, I'm already itching to give you another update I'm sure!

[picture 1]

In this picture the kitchen project is already well underway: the floors are refinished and the electric panel has been flipped around so it faces the mudroom, not the kitchen. This was especially important since you cannot place cabinetry and/or an appliance within 3 feet of an electric panel. Not like that stopped the previous owner from having their dryer in that corner but we wanted to do it right.
Through the holes in the plaster and the wall to the right you can peek into the mudroom and adjoining half bath.

[picture 2]

Not anymore! No more peeking - the drywall went up and even though now all walls are enclosed, the kitchen appears bigger than ever. Yes, under all that dust and debris are those beautiful (semi) glossy hardwood floors - it has to get worse before it can get better. Really. Trust me. Trust your general contractor.

[picture 3]

So pretty! Here the kitchen is all drywalled, taped and mudded. There's even more dust now!

[picture 4]

Here's dear husband on paint duty cutting in the ceiling. The ceiling got a nice coat of Behr's Ultra Pure White. Nothing makes a room look as fresh and bright as a new coat of white ceiling paint (and a new trim job but we'll get to that later).

[Picture 5]

For the kitchen we wanted a cheerful sunny color since I expect us to spend a lot of time in it. I basically grew up in an eat-in kitchen - this is where we ate, where we did our homework, where we congregated for a snack, a cup of coffee or tea and a cookie, where we did crafts and where we simply hung out - and I'm really looking forward to having space for all of that and then some in my kitchen.

Overall I'm terribly fond of the Valspar National Historic Color line, and not just because we have a historic house. The colors are (obviously) timeless, classic and surprisingly versatile. For our kitchen we had our hearts set on yellow, but not just any kind of yellow. We didn't want an orange-y yellow nor were we in love with the lemon-y yellows. Not to mention the lime-y yellows with their hint of green.

Valspar to the rescue - their Homestead Resort Sunwash is simply perfect. It's a mellow yellow - bright and happy without being too loud or too weak, and it went on like a dream. We painted the small breezeway between dining room and kitchen to match and in the future you will catch a glimpse of sunwash from the living room begging you to come join us in the kitchen.