It's been a great year here at El's Cards! We have been busy with some great new projects and getting organized for the show season and the holiday season to come. Not to mention, weddings are back and going stronger than ever!
For years, Bob had wanted to take the time to re-do our kitchen! Bob is a man of so many talents! Not only does he run the print workshop, ship all the orders, order packaging and paper, take care of the finances, schedule shows, and help me stay organized (to mention a few things!)...he is also really handy with the DIY projects!! So when it looked like we might have five minutes to breathe in February, Bob made me a new kitchen!
A picture is worth a thousand words, so I have some great before and after shots ! Bob literally redid every inch of it himself (with a teeny tiny bit of help from me)....and it's so beautiful! I love my new kitchen and look forward to making some great meals this winter for us to enjoy.
This is a good before...taken at my 50th birthday party a couple of years ago! Note the cabinet color-natural wood, and the island, and the floor.
Step one was to sand, prime, and paint the cabinets. This was definitely the hardest part of the project! We had sheets hanging everywhere to close off the kitchen and I did offer a little assistance on the cabinet doors. We painted those in the garage.
Here I am helping with the cabinets. My main job was to keep the materials coming in. I'm a messy painter ;)
It was a happy day when we got the beautiful pressed tin backsplash! Marty likes to be in on the action. The deliveries kept coming...and you know what that means. More boxes for playing/hiding!
Bob pulled off the stainless backsplash tiles to make room for the new vintage style backsplash. He pulled out the countertop to make way for the warm new butcher block counters.
This is the first of many great "after" shots! Bob installed the backsplash that brings so much personality. The butcher block counters went in beautifully. He had to cut a hole in the one surrounding the sink to get that piece put together just so. Measure twice, cut once!
Some more favorite features....the new floors. And the cabinets in the soft cream really make the room brighter and feel so much larger. The sink and faucet are new! We both love the fun faucet in brushed nickel.
On the kitchen island...note the pumpkin spice candle by Crafted New England! We love this great shop in Exeter (shameless plug....our cards are there!!). Kyle's candles are wonderful!
Here is a flashback to another corner of the kitchen, with the former cabinets. Note the window with the cat shelf! BEFORE...
And AFTER! The cabinets came out so great...and Bob even painted the insides the same cream so when you open them up it's like a lightbulb went on. My Mum and I made the valances with fabric I got from April Cornell. I love the yellow accents. So cheerful for a kitchen.
And did you notice the cabinet knobs?! This was a fun detail. I've always wanted a kitchen with different knobs, so that's what we did! They came from a great little shop in Dover, NH-Just the Thing! The colorful unique knobs are a special detail.
This detail is one of our favorites! The NEW coffee station! If you know us, you know how much we both love coffee. So we now have a full section of the kitchen devoted to the coffee area, instead of just one little coffeemaker. We have cups stored underneath and filters and teas in the drawers. The large basket has our bags of coffee handy. I also have a lot of pretty pottery and this is a great place to keep my vases, pitchers, and decorative bowls.
You can see how this piece really extends the kitchen into our dining area. And we have the Calico kitty canvas as homage to our beautiful Annabelle...our sweet girl cat who we lost a few years ago.
On top we have the sugar and creamer, and my electric teapot for tea in the afternoons. Coffee is for the morning to wake up and I love herbal tea later in the day.
Another great view of the coffee station.
When we first talked about our new oven, we wanted to go full retro in red or a color that would really pop! But practically speaking, the double oven was a much better choice for us. I LOVE this cool new oven. It's great for baking cookies in the top and roasting a chicken at the same time in the bottom.
We did go with a retro style microwave! It's so cute and in our signature kitchen color too.
Here's a full view of the best oven!
The hutches on the right and below were my Mum's and she gave them to me years ago. We had them refinished a couple of years ago to lighter wood to use in our new kitchen. I love to collect all kinds of pottery and we use everything you see on the shelves. The Thistle was from Mum, that was the pottery we had in my childhood. The Provence pieces are our wedding pottery. We use those all the time too. Why save things for a special occasion? It's much more fun to enjoy pretty dishes every day.
This is another cool vantage point of the hutches and also our new industrial style fridge. Not big on the ice cold drinks here, so we both loved the sleek look of this fridge.
And note the fun plate rack on the wall! This was a rare find when we were on the quest looking for our coffee station! We had some fun looking around for unique pieces to complete this room. The little island in the center of the room (we call it "old bricker") was a piece we had from when we first were together. It was in the garage and Bob remembered it when we decided we wanted a smaller island. He painted the legs and bottom shelf, added some hooks, and voila! Just like new!
A few things from the former kitchen...love the owl cookie jar and all my cookbooks. I am definitely a cookbook person.
