This has been a crazy couple of weeks. In addition to it being the holiday season, which for us means I’m gone on week nights a lot more at networking events, at work we finished 5 projects in the space of 3 weeks. I’m tired! But also feeling more energized about the house. Especially since the electricians are flying! No plumbing yet, but I’m hoping it won’t hold us up too much.

Somewhere in the last couple weeks I started watching YouTube videos on how to install replacement windows. Our subs at work that do this kind of install are really really busy. And I was tired of waiting and also game to try to do the install to save money. Chris, Hawthorn’s VP of Operations, was encouraging when I told him my plan. He was also on standby today to answer some last minute questions. After about half a day and two trips to the hardware store, I got 4 of our new windows installed with some help from my BIL Eric. Only 30 something to go, Ha!

Happy New Year Readers! 2018 is going to be great!

This is going to be our kitchen? Is what Paul asked when I showed him the above picture I made for this blog posting. I take for granted sometimes, that because I design all day long and I have everything tucked neatly inside my head, that he can't read my mind. This overflows into other aspects of our marriage ha!

Things are finally moving at a little better clip at the house because the HVAC and electrical is underway. For those of you that live in/near Medway, we hired Burroughs Plumbing and HVAC and Castle Electric. Both companies live local and I was very impressed by both their positivity and interest in the project. Through Hawthorn (the firm I work for) I have learned that having a good team is essential. 

So back to the kitchen. As someone that has designed probably 100+ kitchens, it is sooooo weird to design my (our) own. I also cook and we spend a lot of time in our kitchen since its some of the only time we get to spend with the kids after work and school. I have always dreamed of having an island which is a big reason why the chimney came down. But other than that - I don't need fancy things. I have been cooking for 15 years and I've never wanted a double oven. I also don't need a huge refrigerator. We shop weekly and don't keep a lot of freezer items. But we have a commercial grade freezer for the barn. The big must-haves are a great dishwasher and a beverage refrigerator for drinks and wine. I also want tray dividers and some good spice storage. Since we are not going to have a kitchen table, I wanted the seating on the island to be on three sides so if we end up eating dinner here, we can look at each other.

As for style - we are tiling the floor for practicality and because there is not enough of the original floors to put it in the new kitchen. I like two toned cabinets and have always liked black. I have also had or made open shelving for my everyday dishes in the last two kitchen's we've had - so I know I like the open shelving. Those were the basic design ideas. The above is just a quick rendering of what the look is going to be - so you will have to keep reading this blog to see how it turns out in real life!