A Home-ly Anniversary

Four years ago today we closed on our first house.  In honor of that, I thought I'd spend some time reflecting on what has changed since October 24th, 2008.  In gathering some of these old photos, and due to a increasing demand for houses with open floor plans, Nate and I have gotten the remoldeling itch.  Is there such thing as a 4 year itch? 

So here is what our kitchen looked like before we moved in.  The pics are tagged, "Northstar MLS" because they were the photos when the house was on the market.

In about 3 months time...our kitchen went from this...

...to this.  By our my own two hands.  Things have changed slightly since this picture, like the microwave cart in the lower left of the picture is now next to the microwave and the coffee maker is in the other corner, but for the most part....same.

Here is the view from the living/dining room into the kitchen.  We immediately got new appliances (some of the old ones weren't really working) and while we were at it we got new appliances and countertops.  That all happened in the first few weeks.  Then I tackled the floor--my first tile job.  I'm not going to lie, it looks pretty good but it hasn't withstood the test of time, or the test of Cooper's slobbery water dish.  I sealed the grout just like it recommended, three times, but still water stains have crept in.

Then, I took down all of the cabinet doors, gave them a fresh coat of paint and replaced the hinges and pulls.  That made a world of improvement, but the longer we have used them, the more we realized how much we wish we would have gotten new ones.  So that is what started the "new kitchen" ideas.  Finally, I did the backsplash.  Plain, white subway tiles.  It looks great and has held up great.  But, in order to get the granite off to replace the cabinets, the backsplash will be destroyed.

So, in about a week, we will be demo-ing our kitchen and taking it apart just to replace the cabinets and open the wall between the living/dining room and the kitchen.  Stay tuned for kitchen progress as well as a run-down on how other areas of our house have progressed in the last 4 years!