{renovate} kitchen update: sinks and islands

I feel like we're making some big progress lately, which is nice after have made so little progress for so long. This weekend friends came over to help (the same awesome ones that helped us assemble our cabinets on the 4th of July), and we got so much done!

Sink and Faucet

First, we officially installed both our sink and faucet. Our dishwasher and garbage disposal are also hooked up to the water -- but they still need to be wired before we can use them. We're close!

I am completely in love with this sink. It's IKEAs DOMSJO (no idea how to umlaut!) farm sink. We went with the 36" version and it's so awesomely huge. It's also solid, heavy and feels like really good quality ceramic. I'm completely in love. Oh, did I already mention that? :)

The faucet is Danze's Parma faucet, which we ordered from Lowe's. Isn't it amazing?? You might remember it from my original kitchen moodboard. At first I was a little surprised by how HUGE it is, but it the scale is actually quite perfect for the big farm sink. They live together gloriously.

The nozzle lives for the most part in the little arm clamp (right). But it also comes out and moves any direction. Love.

At this point though, for me, the most exciting thing is WE HAVE WATER! Seriously, not having water in the kitchen has been the hardest part of this remodel, by far. It's never bothered me that we lost the stove and oven. But, not having water in that room for three+ months? Saying it bothered me is an understatement. Anyone else who has been through a kitchen remodel -- do you agree??

We had a plumber come over and hook up the faucet, garbage disposal and dishwasher. Friends it took about an hour. That's the best $85 dollars I've ever spent. And, I'm pretty sure that figure included a couple parts.

Kitchen Island

Next, we also installed our island! Which means that ALL the cabinets are officially installed!

Instead of going with an standard IKEA island, we installed three IKEA base cabinets together to make a custom 6-foot island. Our stovetop will go above the middle cabinet.

For now, we have a piece of plywood serving as the counter. We did this for two reasons. First, we want to use the island! But, most of all, we're trying to decide how wide we'd like our overhang. We cut the plywood to the largest it would be -- a 12-inch overhang. I think it's too much though. Anyone out there have thoughts on island overhangs?? Is there a standard? I'm thinking for the width of the island cabinets, an 8" overhang would look more to scale. We're trying that next. :)

The chairs are from World Market. They were also on my original moodboard. I LOVE them. But, sadly, they're bar height, and we need counter height. So, back they're going. Sob. I have to start my stool search again. And tips on affordable, counter-height stools ... that are awesome?

We created the base the same way we created the rest of the bases, but from this angle, it looks quite skinny and almost unsteady. We'll be bulking it up just a little and bringing the base out so it's flush with the cabinets on three sides.

It's coming together! Once we finish the floor, tile, finish the trim, hang the cabinet doors, install the island countertop and install the lights we'll be done. So, you know, by next weekend. HAHA! :)

I do want to thank you all for hanging in there with us through this remodel. I'm sure you know it's taking us longer than originally planned, but you all have been so encouraging and I'm loving sharing our updates. Thanks for all your kind words friends! :)

{inspired} a beach getaway and that "magic" hour

Happy Monday friends! Remember how I was sick a bunch in August? Well, strep throat knocked me out at the end of last week. I've had about enough! This weekend I had a heart-to-heart with my immune system about kicking it up a notch :). So, these photos from Labor Day are a little late, I hope you don't mind.

The plan for Labor Day was hanging at the Oregon Coast with my family. Those of you who've been around for awhile know that we headed down there quite a bit. Chris opted to stay home and work on the kitchen (husband of the year, I know). I debated staying with him, but there really was nothing I could help him with and the thought of relaxing for a few days was just too tempting!

It ended up being a GORGEOUS weekend. Perfect sun. Perfect temps. Just amazing. I left work a little early on friday to beat traffic and when I got to the beach was blown away by the day. It immediately put me in the mood for an adventure. So, of course I took the long way to our house. The super long way. It was so fun. It took me by a lighthouse!

My parents have an adorable yellow lab, Sophie, who not only insists on sleeping with me when Chris isn't there, but also insists on jumping on my head at first light to signal that it's time for a walk. In this case, 5:45. Sadly, it's been worse :). So we were up every morning and on the beach for sunrise.

I know photographers always talk about the "magic" hour of sunrise and sunset, but I'm far too lazy to really plan for either. This was the first time I've really experienced that hour, and I can absolutely say that it is magic.

Friends, do you adventure by yourself? I'll pretty much never pass up an opportunity to adventure and explore -- whether solitary or with friends/husband. But, I have friends who think I'm crazy! Have you ever taken photos during sunrise? Did you love the results? :)

{renovate} kitchen trim: installed.

Friends! How's your week going! As is typical of any short week, my days are completely off. I thought yesterday was Tuesday :). On the positive side, though, I mentally gained a day! 

Over the weekend my rock star husband passed on an opportunity to go to the beach and instead stayed home to work on the kitchen. (And insisted I go to the beach ... so sweet! :) So I thought I'd take a minute to brag update you on what he got done!

For the most part he worked on trim. Remember in my last update I was explaining how IKEA cabinets don't actually reach the ceiling (below) and this is annoying to me?

Well, someone commented on that post and explained that all IKEA cabinets are like that to take into consideration uneven ceilings and walls. Hmm. Makes sense! They aren't custom and so they need to be easy for everyone to install and they need to fit every room. This is a concept I totally understand because even with professional drywall, our ceiling and walls still aren't straight.

But, even though I understand, I still don't like. So Chris installed trim. I am loving it so much!

Please keep in mind that these are install, only: no caulking, no holes filled, no paint. But, even so, I think they're starting to look so good, and more custom. Yah!

He also installed trim around the ceiling in the rest of the room.

So pretty! Just imagine how great it'll look once we caulk, fill holes and paint. Progress, friends! No we need the doors and window trimmed out and trim will be done. I have to give Chris mad props. He is completely self taught at wood working and he does a truly spectacular job. So, it's taking a little longer because he's learning a TON as he goes along, but the finished product looks completely professional -- if not better :).

The other thing he finished up was the floor. When we removed the wall between the living room and the kitchen, we had a big hole in the hard wood where the wall was.

If you recall, this isn't our first time tearing out and replacing hardwood floors. In fact, in the find of the century, Chris located a bunch of original Douglas fir floor boards in a TRASH pile at a house renovation site in our neighborhood. With permission, he snagged a bunch for projects like this. Not only does it match perfectly, but it's ended up saving us a lot of money in the long run.

So much better! It's a little weird right now with the floor boards facing different directions, but with what we have planned, it'll end up look great. :) Also, the sink won't be on the floor after Saturday! Keep your fingers crossed for us that both the sink and dishwasher will be installed then. We've had to reschedule with the plumber a couple times and I am very anxious to have water again! After that's done, we'll install the island cabinets, which means STOVETOP! 

I'm excited and I feel like we're getting close :).