Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Kitchen Reno: The Final Product!

Before we get to the 'unveiling' of our final kitchen renovation, I realize that my 'sneak peek' left you at day four, with the fact that we had running water.  So, here are the subsequent days of installation at the end of August...
Much to my dismay (but I think Captain America had had enough), this is how we left our kitchen for the rest of Fall.  Our goal for Christmas Break was to completely finish the kitchen....and we did it with about two days to spare!  Our final steps were the finishing pieces: cut and paint the trim under the butcher block, create trim around the face of the sink, make a ledge-type 'box' behind the sink and then a last-minute decision to insert a Douglas Fir trim/blacksplash along the walls.  Et voilà...the finished product!
 
When I look back at all of the pictures, I can't believe we actually did all of that.  Did it turn-out better than we expected? Definitely!  Did we learn more about each other through the process? Absolutely! Did we surprise ourselves? Yes.  Did we have opposing ways of facing the different tasks? For sure.  Did we learn tricks and things not to do next time?  A million times over.  Do we have a finished product that is personal to us and demonstrates team-work? Most definitely.

As people, I think it is good to stretch ourselves, to create big plans, AND to follow through with them.  I know that not all of those components are always possible but every once in while, go ahead, surprise yourself and tackle something that seems a little 'big'.  I remember after taking-out all of the ugly, green and brown backsplash and then the old laminate countertops, that it became real to us that there was no turning-back.  We were in deep and we had to finish with the master plan.  In a way, that was a great place to be.  It pushed us forward and helped us in following through to our finished product, together.

So, with this new year upon us, my transcending thought from this project would be to stretch myself, dream big, and follow through with it!
~Andréa

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