Hello and Happy New Year! Are you back from the holidays? It’s time for another kitchen update: I’ve been getting a lot of emails asking when I’ll reveal the finished kitchen. I appreciate your excitement and patience—so do I. A few readers worried they’d missed the big reveal, but it isn’t ready yet.
Even though this started as what I thought would be a small remodel, it’s taken longer than expected. Right before Christmas most of the cabinets were painted, along with the family room walls, trim, and part of the horizontal planking in the little hall. One open cabinet in the kitchen still needed internal finishing before it could be painted, so it held things up.
We completed the cabinet work and installed the hardware, but then the holidays delayed the final paint. You can spot a peek of the lower cabinets in the photo above, which I also shared in the post about the new wood floors. It’s all coming together, but it’s one of those projects where each step depends on the last, so the finish line keeps moving.
The good news is my painters are scheduled to return Tuesday to paint the remaining kitchen cabinet and to finish caulking and painting the wainscoting through the entry. We simply didn’t have time to complete all the wainscoting before the holidays. Sorry about the not-great photo of the wainscoting and the limited update images, but you get the idea: there’s still finish work and paint to complete before these areas can be considered done.
So what remains in the kitchen besides paint?
– I still haven’t decided what to do with the kitchen island. I’m working with limited funds and what I already have, so I’m taking my time to reconcile my ideal design with practical options. Waiting until the kitchen is painted has been helpful—I want the island to fit the overall vibe of the kitchen and the house, not stand alone.
– I’m installing two new ceiling lights in the kitchen that I’m really excited about. Hopefully I can share them with you soon, maybe this week.
– Blinds for the kitchen and family room windows are ready to be installed. I’m also likely to look for curtain panels for the family room to add warmth and color, and I’m still thinking about furnishings. I’d love to buy two new chairs for the family room, but that will probably wait for a while.
Right now I’m mostly puttering with small tasks, which I actually enjoy. I had intended to get more organized, write my Home Goals post, set up a command center for the new year (we recently rehung it in the kitchen hall), and photograph a few new things around the house to kick off the year. I was a bit too ambitious.
My son went back to school today after a long break, and I imagined I would dive into all these plans. Instead I spent the day cleaning up Christmas, dealing with leftover remodeling clutter, and—let’s be honest—watching Downton Abbey.
Are you back to routines and schedules after the holidays?
I’ll give myself a little more time to get back in the swing of things. There’s always tomorrow, right?