Tah-da!

Our kitchen has been finished for a while, but it's been a little too crazy around here for me to post these. So if you haven't already seen it, here's how all our hard work turned out. . .

This is a before shot. We didn't take a before picture recently (probably because we were in such a hurry to get started), but I managed to dig this one out of our old photo files. This was taken in spring of 2005, before we had painted anything, before new appliances and my blessed dishwasher, even before Eleanor (but she was cookin').

This is what it looks like now. Grant did a great job on the counter tops and back splash.
Here's our little desk area with the new counter top and small tiles around the back.
Doesn't it lighten/freshen things up? I'm loving it!

We used to have this blank space between the fridge and the end of the counter. It housed our garbage and brooms, and it looked rather awkward and unfinished. See, we had to take out the tall cabinet in the top picture that used to be to the right of the fridge. This was done so that the fridge could be scootched over so that the dishwasher door wouldn't hit it when you tried to open the dishwasher. So, a trip to Ikea took care of that blank space with this new cabinet, a cabinet which, as you can see, I have filled with all of our favorite health foods. I still should find a better place for the mop. If you look just above my can of flour (church cannery issued), you can see where we had to readjust the size of the cabinets to fit the fridge. But I think it's less noticeable now.

Here's what it looks like above the stove. Grant did such a good job. I'm so lucky to have such a talented, hard-working, (and brave) husband.

Special thanks to Duane, Gary, and Stuart for all the advice/help they were willing to give Grant during this big project.