the doma diaries: the kitchen hutch comes to life!

The kitchen is slowly but surely coming together.  Every time I walk in it, I feel so excited to think of what's next.  This past week, our contractor built the new hutch that replaced an old desk area.  To refresh your memory: 

Bye bye green countertops...

The best pic I have of the desk gone {far left}.

After many discussions with my madre of things she liked/didn't like as far as a hutch went, I came up with a game plan.  We've pretty much stuck to this design from the get go with only a few minor changes along the way.  

my very rough, original drawing

There were some design points that couldn't be changed or sacrificed in my opinion.  And, there were parts of the design that were dictated by the original kitchen cabinetry.

• I wanted the hutch to have a different height countertop from the rest of the kitchen.  This kitchen has a lot of counter-space at the normal 36", so I made the hutch's countertop height 42" tall.
• I didn't want the top cabinet to be in line with the crown molding on the rest of the kitchen's upper cabinetry.  
• My vision for the hutch was to make it look more like a piece of furniture and less like a kitchen cabinet.  
• The height of shelves in the upper cabinetry directly corresponds to the plates and pieces of serving ware that will be displayed in it.
• The depth of the base cabinetry allowed for the existing air vent {on the floor} to remain in place, yet still hide the original desk's depth.

Let the framing begin!

I sent this pic to my mom and brother when I walked into the house and squealed with excitement.  There's nothing like seeing your designs come to real life!

lovely iPhone pic...

The brown outlines on the wall were a rough sketch of how the upper glass cabinetry would look.

From the other side

Close-up view :)

Upper framing begins!

Still squealed when I saw this...

Maple wood...smooth as buttah.

Rick, working his magic!

Two drawers in...six to go!

The lower drawers were made specifically for all of my mom's small appliances.  I literally measured every item to know how tall to make the drawers {including popcorn machine, waffle maker, blender, crockpot, deep fryer, etc.}.

8 drawers--ready and waiting!

Ta-DAAAAA :)

Obviously she still needs doors and drawer fronts, but she is coming along!  And just for funnies, here's  where we started...

and here's where we are:

I could stand and look at her all day!

the doma diaries: Lena's new island!

The kitchen in the new casa is pretty massive {I forget how big at the moment and my drawings are at the other house right now}. This meant that my mom got to have a pretty massive island...think 3' x 7'. It's got a bookcase on one side and a nook for her bar stool and BIG drawers on the other side.  I'm in love, and I think she is too.

the base of the cabinet {with electricity!}

During every part of the process, I squealed as soon as I saw what our contractor had done.

Before Rick could keep going though, we realized the floor slopes in the kitchen...by like 1/2" to 3/4".  He had to shave off a few parts of the cabinetry to make it plumb.  The pic above shows how far off it  was!

The bottom left hole will house the mixer with a shelf above for other things.  The right hole is for drawers!

Mom's little nook

Super excited.

She was pretty stoked once she saw just how much space she has on this thing...

I was pretty stoked to see the bookcases for cookbooks! The electrical outlet is in the top left bookshelf.

Pretty trim work, Rick!

The drawer/cabinet side of the island in progress...

With a few more drawers in...

Voila!

So. Many. Tools.

Isn't she pretty?? :)

the doma diaries: kitchen progress

I've been absent for a while now.  Like, over a month.  Whoops!  I've been busy and uninspired to write.  I also need to change my blog around and I haven't felt like tackling that {major} project because HTML codes and stuff like that are way over my head.  I was also gone to Toronto for 10 days.  And then I had a two-week time period where my group of friends all came together for pool days, fun evenings, cookouts, and good times because Bert {remember Bert?  He lives in Japan.  More here.} flew halfway around the world to visit OK for the first time in two years.  So, while he was here, the twins {background here} came to town too. And Rose's boy Mattchik {my Ukrainian name for him} came too.   Excuses, excuses.

I also have another convenient excuse right now.  My brother is here!!!!!  I hadn't seen him in one year and eight months...LONG TIME.  Why's he here?  Because on Tuesday, he and I are getting in a rented mini-van and driving 1800 miles to New Hampshire...with all of his childhood things in tow.  Then I'll get to see Tina {sis-in-law} for the first time almost two years and Jill too!  Excited doesn't begin to cover it.  We're still working like mad people over at the new house...and I've been documenting things like crazy! Just not putting them on the blog.

Here's how the room was the last time you saw it.  

Before, the awkward peninsula/chimney only had electricity coming from the ceiling.  We needed it to come from the ground though...which meant that our contractor Rick had to get very handy!

First, he drilled a hole {probably 6"x 8"} in the FOUNDATION.  This is over on the left side of kitchen where the new hutch will go.

Then, he drilled another hole in the center of the kitchen.

See the PVC pipe?  Eventually, it made its way under the foundation {through good ol', red, Oklahoma dirt}.  

He then hooked the garden hose up to PVC pipe to flush out the remaining dirt and make way for electricity.  

These pics are making it look super easy...I'm going to go ahead and bank on the fact that this was not an easy-breezy part of the project :)

ta-da!  Electricity threaded through!

The last pic for tonight's post shows a preview of what the island will look like! Some of you may have seen it on facebook, but this will keep others curious!  Toodles :) 

the doma diaries: kitchen demolition!

I'm gearing up for the mission trip as I type this {doing laundry} but wanted to get in one more post before I leave tomorrow morning!  I mailed off more Peace Corps paperwork today...remember the application process and how it never ended?  Well, the COS process {close of service} is just as intense.  I'm super excited to leave tomorrow and get on the road.  But first...

It's time for some kitchen demo pics!  

Remember what the kitchen looked like before?  

the awkward brick column in the middle...housing the double oven.

and a cute little desk area {complete with locking medicine cabinet} 

and the really old {space-age} cooktop...

Time to say goodbye to the column!

The Jetson's called.  They'd like their oven back.

Doesn't it feel more open instantly?

If you look at the ceiling, you'll see two different types of texture where the brick column went up.  Very interesting...

This is Rick, the jolly green giant :)  He's the one doing all of this handy dandy construction/demolition work.

So. Old.

Remember the original cooktop?  I'll refresh your memory...

Before...

After! {a new slide-in range will go there, along with a hip new vent hood}

Before...

After! {notice the bottom part of the upper cabinetry}

Before...

After!

Ta da!

Time to go start packing now.  Good thing our luggage didn't have to be at the church today! :)  Not sure what internet will look like on the trip, but if there's time, I'll try to throw in a blog post or two.  Happy Wednesday!