This was to be my real “TAH-DAH!” moment, complete with video tour, but for some reason my six-minute video refuses to load to my computer. Others have, but no, not this one. I started to get into my “I’ll conquer this one” mode and then remembered how I am trying to simplify my life after being held hostage by this kitchen for so long and gave up. Photos will have to do.

We are 99% finished with Smuffy’s grand kitchen makeover! It’s been a long, long road – years in fact. I won’t count them because every time I do it makes me cry.

Here are some photos of how things turned out.  Due to the lighting, the cabinetry appears at times to be more yellow than it actually is. They are a creamy white with antiquing.  Actual paint colors, along with the process are explained in the links below that cover the journey through this whole process, so be sure to click on those to see the “before” photos to appreciate what miracle Smuffy performed and the “during” photos to see what we endured!

I’m sure if you look closely, you’ll see areas in the trim and such that still need a little work. I’m happy to say that most of those are completed now. I just keep telling Smuffy that I’d like to have the final touches all finished before something actually breaks.

This photo is a straight shot of the kitchen through the double archway of the dining room.  I wanted a homey look where I could display some of my farmy and shabby family heirlooms without them looking out of place.  I think I’ve achieved a look I won’t get tired of anytime soon. The sink base is my design. All the beautiful walnut backsplash is from a tree Smuffy dragged home from the woods and he did the whole thing himself. I chose to add travertine tile down the middle as an accent. I think it’s the highlight of my new kitchen. That, and the furniture-style sink base cabinet which I got to use my artistic talents on. All the cabinets and pull-outs are designed by me and built by Smuffy from scratch and the painting and antiquing is all done by me. Since this photo, the pull-outs you see through the mesh doors have received a dark wood tone so they now “disappear” into the recesses. Did I mention that Smuffy replaced the windows and added all the beautiful framing on them? Yes, he’s pooped. As you can see, Phoebe June is nodding off because this story isn’t about her.

This is a look at the east wall where you can see Smuffy’s custom pantry and the roomy drawers he built.  I love this door which is actually a casement window out of an old house that we stumbled across in an antique mall.  Smuffy made all the adjustable U-shaped shelves and I wallpapered the inside of the pantry. Getting all the shelves and contents in there just right took me an entire day! The pendant light you see here is my mom’s old milk strainer from down on the farm.

Here’s the west wall with the refrigerator, wall oven and dishwasher.  Not many people put their wall oven above their dishwasher, but necessity is the mother of invention, is it not?  I almost wore a hole in my graph paper trying to figure out the appliance placement problem.  There ended up being a compromise between my grand design and Smuffy’s “do you want me to be 105 when I finish this kitchen?” exclamation and that pitiful puppy dog look in his eyes.  At the far end of this west wall is valuable counter space with Phoebe June’s Diner below and cookbook shelving above.  This is a fabulous step up considering this area used to be an exit to the side entry of the house, making it unusable as kitchen space. I have the doors closed in the photo, but above the wall oven is a fabulous built-in Smuffy made which has square cubbyholes that can hold rolling pins, bottles, drying mats and such and above those are tall slots for all the cookie sheets and baking pans. Being a tall cook, having all that up there is perfect for me.

Here’s how things look at night when I can turn off the ceiling light (and yes, that is a “fandelier” up there, but somehow it looks way oversized in the photo) and turn on Smuffy’s under-cabinet lights along with the lighted glass upper cabinets.  He has those all wired to switches just as he’s done in the pantry so that not only makes the kitchen look really nice at night, but also spotlights the work areas!  I must also brag on another of his hand-made pendant lights.  I handed him the old pulley from our barn along with my mom’s old colander and showed him a ton of Pinterest pictures.  I think they turned out great and I think Mom would approve of both her contributions to lighting. Smuffy also made the walnut shelving you see on each side of the window. On there you can see the little blue metal box which is my mom’s lunch pail from her one-room schoolhouse days. Also on display are my grandma’s butter churn and mom’s old cookie jar. That little mug goes way back also. I remember being so little I could hardly lift it to drink from it.

My kitchen is a working kitchen. Practicing clean eating and being a certified coach with Trim Healthy Mama means daily meals prepared from scratch. The counterspace I gained has made a huge difference and oh! the joys of getting to have a gas cooktop! I also chose a dishwasher with bottle jets and a third rack and am asking myself where this marvel has been all my life. And the refrigerator! I hear a lot of folks complaining about Samsung refrigerators and felt squeamish about getting one, but when I saw this baby with French doors on both top and bottom, the design won me over. Plus, the lower right freezer section is “flex” and a push of the button transforms this from freezer to refrigerator and back again! I said a prayer when I ordered it that God would send me a peach and not a lemon. We purchased it locally so we could have hometown service on it and a good service plan and we’ve been happy with it.

Smuffy does more than just build things.  My Life With Smuffy page is loaded with stories that will make you laugh, cause your hair to stand on end and probably bump us up to the top of your prayer list!

The kitchen makeover chronicles include my embarrassing “before” photos in “Death of a Kitchen”.  After that, you can catch up with “A Glimmer of Hope and Stainless Steel”, “Birth Pains of a Kitchen”, “My Not-A-Kitchen Kitchen”, “A Trim Healthy Pantry and Some Plywood” and “Transition of a Kitchen”.  Be sure to check those out.

Leave a comment!  I’d love to know what you think of what our efforts have wrought and hear your thoughts after seeing the “before” and “after” photos.  Are you planning a kitchen remodel?  What great ideas are cooking in your brain for design and function?