Wood Awnings

January 26, 2015February 2, 20152 Comments

As I was perusing Instagram I came across a beautiful kitchen designed by HGTV’s Joanna Gaines (which looked very similar to our kitchen!).

Love the wood awning!

I loved the wood awning that she incorporated above the window. I asked Kevin if he would build me something like that for our kitchen, because our windows look naked! He agreed and built me them in 1 day! I’m always impressed with his can-do attitude and his ability to get it things done so quickly.

Before he began, I wanted to do a little tweaking to the original inspiration. Instead of having the raw wood look, I wanted it to have more detailed moldings, like the rest of our house. Kind of like this range hood here:

Nevermind that it is over the range… this will make the perfect wood window awning for my kitchen!

Our turn…

A wise man once said… measure twice, cut once.

Notice our naked windows… Kevin first created a mock up with cardboard.

Perfect fit!

Wood Awning Frame 1

Wood Awning 1 with detail pieces added. Goodbye naked window!

Wood Awning 1 Close Up

Both wood awnings completed!

Now I need to decide what color to paint them. I’m thinking of a rubbed dark gray so that the wood grain is still visible. What do you think? I also want to install a pull down shade underneath for privacy. Pictures of that project to come!

First Family Gathering

April 20, 2014February 4, 2015Leave a comment

We’ve made it! The day has come. Our house is finally presentable enough to host a family get together. We were delighted to be able to invite our families over for Easter today. The only thing missing in the kitchen were the doors to cover our laundry-island.

The table is set and ready to go! … we need to replace the folding chairs eventually

The island makes the perfect buffet!

First family gathering at the Rietze residence!

Enjoying the afternoon on the porch!

Our last Easter without kids!

Day 158 | Back Splash

March 7, 2014February 4, 2015Leave a comment

Day 158

After work today, Timmy and Kevin began installing the white subway tile back splash. They worked so fast! They finished the entire kitchen and even started the grout. Something we learned about grout today… do not let grout sit on your tile longer than 30 minutes without washing it off. Do not. We thought we could cover all of the tile with grout and then go back over later with a wet sponge and smooth it all out. Well you can’t. At least not easily. It was a MAJOR pain and it easily tripled the amount of time it took to finish. We had to sit there with razor blades and chip away at the dried grout and the grout lines are not as smooth as I would have liked them to be. Live and learn.

HELPER: Timmy

Day 156 | Granite

March 3, 2014February 4, 2015Leave a comment

Day 156

Today our granite was installed! I am so happy with how everything is turning out. My dream counter top would have been a honed black granite (READ MORE ABOUT HONED GRANITE HERE) because it has a more casual feel but it was more expensive. However, I am pleased with how these polished counter tops look. We are almost done with the kitchen!

One final piece left…

Ta Da! We went with the color absolute black.

Day 35 | Appliances Purchased

November 3, 2013January 20, 2015Leave a comment

Day 35

The electrician installed the recessed cans for the kitchen and dining room lighting. We also purchased the fridge (HERE), range (HERE), and microwave hood (HERE) at the Sears appliance store here in town. We chose the Whirpool brand and will report back on how we like them once they are installed. We are purchasing our dishwasher through Ikea so that it can have a cabinet front that will match the rest of our cabinetry.

Day 31 | Starting the Kitchen

October 30, 2013January 26, 2015Leave a comment

Day 31

John and his guys accomplished a lot today. They moved the original hutch from it’s current location to the wall being shared with the bedroom. They added new framing and a new beam that spans across the dining room and the kitchen (because we removed a load bearing wall), and removed most of the framing separating the kitchen and dining room. Kevin is working on creating blue prints that will be used to obtain our building permits.

Framing the small pony wall that will eventually be a small bar eating area.

Framing this small wall that will hide the side of the cabinets and fridge.

Closing up the old door way between the family room and mudroom.

Moved the hutch to the other side of the dining room. The back of it now sticks into the second bedroom.

HELPERS: Uncle John + Crew

DAY 30 | Reimagining the Kitchen

October 29, 2013January 20, 2015Leave a comment

Day 30

Uncle John and his guys began figuring out what we should do with the kitchen/dining room. We met with him this evening to discuss kitchen layout ideas. Kevin then worked on rearranging the cabinet layout. We have decided to purchase all of the kitchen cabinets from Ikea, they are the most affordable option out there. Although you lose the custom appeal, they offer an online program that allows you to arrange your cabinetry to scale inside your space (check it out HERE).

We have landed on the idea of removing the wall between the kitchen and the dinning room and adding an island to separate the two spaces.

HELPER: Uncle John