A Labor of Love for Labor Day...

Well for those of you that have patiently waited and watched through this and this wait no longer...we have arrived so come on in...

POP THE CORK, IT'S THE KITCHEN REVEAL!

Oh and by the way, fair warning...this may be a bit picture heavy but you'll just have to suffer through it so pour yourself a glass of champagne and come sit a spell :O) Also I think I may have to post in phases because in the end there's a lot to see in this sweet little kitchen...well maybe not, I'm so excited to show you this it may just be one big long post :O)

First of all I'll get the text out of the way and let's just say this was a labor of love and as always it took a lot longer than we ever thought it would. But during the remodel we lived out of here for almost the entire time because of the kind of stuff going on you see in the picture below! 
This picture was taken during month six when the painting was happening and let me tell you, it was AWFUL...DID I SAY AWFUL? WELL I MEAN IT, IT WAS THE WORST PART OF THE ENTIRE PROCESS...stinky and messy all at the same time for 3 long weeks!

One of the main reasons the remodel took so long was because Mr.La Bella Vie did 99% of the labor...and yes he does work-full time folks at a "real job" but like my grand kids always say, he's "IRON MAN PAPA" and seems to be able to juggle things really well! 
He can build an island, rip out walls, climb mountains on 100 mile epic bicycle rides and yet still be willing to do a major kitchen remodel! So enough said, let's get on with the show!

But before we do, one more peek of what our 20 year old kitchen looked like prior to...7 months ago...

And what a beautiful new kitchen it is today taken from pretty much the same exact spot. 

Notice where the wasted, unusable space is under the counter on the island, well we changed that up by making it a bookshelf with lights to house all my prized collectible cookbooks and enclosed the end with the glassware, which you can see in the photo below. This not only allowed us to gain storage but by moving the bar stools to that end, we're able to open the refrigerator without knocking guests' off their chairs! 

(Click any picture to enlarge and toggle through for a better view)

 

Below is the view you see when you first enter the kitchen from the front door. Out the back window of the nook we have a great view Oregon's state tree, the Douglas Fir...

So keeping that in mind...

We chose a beautiful hand-made scenic tile coupled with ivory Subway tile from Pratt and Larsen for behind the Wolf cook range that would reflect our surroundings. It may be difficult to see the color of this tile but its sort of a Taupe/grey...

Below is another view from the other side of the kitchen. The first shot, again that ugly 20 year old kitchen. Oh and may I point out the "terrible awful" behind the stove...the only reason all the junk is sitting behind it was because it was sheet-rock and grease splatters wreaked havoc on it! 
Also, note the oven/microwave area in the left of the picture. That big hole was where the Ginormous old microwave used to live but died many years ago, so the Hubs enclosed it to better accommodate the new, smaller SS microwave that you see in the picture below.

and today...

The picture above and below is looking from the family room toward the kitchen. The hubs and I designed all that you see here and sketched it up on Visio a design program, the hood, the cabinets...everything. 

Which also includes the pendant light platform above the island. It used to be that when we turned on the over-head lights ALL 9 can lights came on which was like being in a suntan bed!

So we had to come up with a way to have only the island lights come on with a separate switch without having to rip out the entire ceiling and this was our solution...rewire but cover it up!

To the left of the fridge is the new beverage bar which used to look like this...kinda blurry but I was in a hurry to start ripping out walls!

 

and below once again the way it was meant to look all along...

The new beverage bar is a great place for this...my favorite Chardonnay!

So just as the title said, this truly has been a labor of love!

I hope you've enjoyed it and I'd love to hear what you think! 

Oh and there's lots more where this came from but that's for another day!

Linking up with my favorite blogs:

Top This Top That

Common Ground

Between Naps On The Porch-Metamorphosis Monday's

"Wow Us Wednesday's" at Southern Savvy Style

Sources: 

Cabinet paint color: "Vintage Ivory Cream" commercial source

Island paint color: "Galvanized" by Ralph Lauren

Cabinets and doors: Beaudry Custom Cabinetry, Newberg Oregon

Custom Tile: Pratt and Larson, Portland Oregon

Granite: "Portofino", Precision Granite Counters, Wilsonville Oregon

Hardware: Rejuvenation, Portland Oregon

Lighting:  Rejuvenation, Portland Oregon

SS Appliances: Basco Commercial Appliances, Portland Oregon 

Wolf Cook Range, Fisher-Paykel, Liebherr, Electrolux Icon, 

 

Kitchen designers and Labor: Mr. and Mrs. La Bella Vie

Sweat Equity: Mr. and Mrs. La Bella Vie

Staging and clean up crew: Mrs. La Bella Vie

assistants to Mr. and Mrs. La Bella Vie, Pearl and Emmy

Disclaimer: I purchased Visual Watermark but the site didn't recognized it right away so some photos may have a little teeny-tiny annoying little watermark of their own on it...just disregard it, because its useless information but I told you anyway...

A Sneak peek and and a journey...

OK so for those of you loyal, dear friends that have been so sweet to hang in there with me during this monumental undertaking of a 6 month kitchen remodel I just want to say thank you! 

You have been so encouraging about all the chaos and mess and have waited patiently for the final reveal when we finally finished this "little face lift"...which will happen but not just yet until we have our "reveal party" with our best friends and neighbors in August...sorry :o)

However until then here's little sneak peek at a little eye candy! The "Blue light special" on the floor is the light that comes on and shines down on the floor to let me know my dishes are done! Amazing how such a little thing can thrill me but hey this has been a long road with this remodel...technology has come a long way in 20 years and it boggles my mind and tickles me pink, well OK make that blue!

The other thing that just makes me want to smile is the inside the dishwasher...OK so other than the blue light on my floor when the dishes are clean, when I open the door magic happens, two L.E.D. lights come on inside the machine so I can see what's in there or where to put a dish! Maybe this isn't new to anyone reading this but it is to me and I love it!

The picture below was taken without a flash and the lights dimmed in the kitchen, that's how bright it is inside...oh be still my beating heart, I love this!

Another wonderful thing that has happened as a result of this major undertaking is "purging" yes you read right..."purging". 

When I had to live like this for months in a very tiny laundry room it was sort of like living in a New York apartment or perhaps camping but never once did I use the word "fun" while living like this! 

However at the same time I was learning to "live without". There were many times I couldn't find something that was either packed in a box or just too difficult to get to so I had to either go without or think of another way to do something. Because of that, I learned something amazing about myself, I didn't need all that "stuff" anymore and the reality was it felt like "the stuff" was owning me instead of the other way around.

So for the past few weeks knowing I would be able to rearrange, reorganize and remove before putting anything away, I did! Whenever I went through a box or a pile I'd ask myself when the last time was it got used or more importantly "WHY" was I hanging onto this "thing". It was an amazing process both physically and emotionally. Sometimes the reasons I kept things was for sentimental reasons, like "somebody" gave me this as at my bridal shower 21 years ago or (fill in the blank) "I bought it because" again (fill in the blank). 

I was remembering the person or the event by the "things" I had in boxes not the beautiful memories associated with it. An example of this was an old and bent Spring form cheese cake pan. I'd shuffled it around for years because the person that gave it to me had since passed away and the pan reminded me of her...odd the things we do for comfort in life...

Now the end result is everything has a place and there is a place for everything. I have only one small pantry that is very well organized in pull out drawers by how the items are used and the rest of the cupboards and drawers have much the same story. As you can see from this pot cupboard my husband built, there isn't an inch of wasted space and everything has a home.

Gone are the cluttered cupboards that I had to shove things around in to get to. Gone are the old pots and pans, dishware and miscellaneous "things" in my house all donated to various charities and organizations.

And in its place...peace of mind and a beautiful, well thought out kitchen...

Wait till till you see because we're not in Kansas anymore and my kitchen doesn't look like this anymore!

Joining Susan from

  "Between Naps on The Porch" for Metamorphosis Monday

Rejuvenation Field trip

Hello everybody,

Yes its been a while since I've posted but things have been a bit crazy around here and I still do not have a functioning kitchen and we're still "camping" from the living and dining room! Much to my dismay, our kitchen isn't done yet, but almost...I think...

Little did we know that when deciding on tile for the back splash from Pratt and Larson it would take six weeks to be ordered, made and delivered but it did. Happily as of Friday the tile came in and is our hot little hands ready for install next week. 

In the meantime, my BFF and I took a little field trip to Rejuvenation lighting shop in beautiful downtown Portland for the lighting above the island that the hubs custom built. 

(click any picture to enlarge)

This place is amazing for any kind of lighting you can imagine! Really anything you can picture you can custom build to your exact specifications. Any finish, any fitter size, any shade or shape, any color, any length at any price, they can do it.

The place is just a treasure trove of ideas and styles, from period traditional, to Mid-century modern and anything in between. Whatever your style, they either have it or can make it for you. Whatever you can imagine or dream, they can do it. The down side...yep there's a down side...the most challenging thing is deciding on just exactly WHAT you want and let me tell you first hand that is THE most difficult part! 
I went in with an idea in mind and by the time we walked out, I had a fourteen-eleven gazillion other ideas in my head! I was ready to remodel another room just to do lighting...OK well not really but its so easy to get carried away!

They also sell antiques and furniture including period pieces and glassware as well as reproductions pieces, but all beautifully made as you can see on the vintage picnic table above and below. Oh and by the way, that picnic table is authentic and is for sale...$5,000.00...a drop in the bucket :O)

These beautiful bottle trees below are adorable but I think I'd need to have those big windows to park them in front of...oh and that Galvanized island to set them on...

The show room is wonderful and very historic. Here's an excerpt from the company website; 
"The Southeast Portland retail store occupies 38,000 sq. feet on the first and second floors of the historic Neustadter Building, which the company renovated in 1992. Located at SE Grand and Taylor near downtown, the store is unlike any other in the nation, combining our period-authentic reproduction lighting with period furniture, hardware, plumbing, decorative accessories, mill work, and architectural salvage"

(source)

This beautiful light below is one I have in my nook and the finish I chose is "Oil Rubbed Bronze" with a scalloped shade whereas the one just below it is pretty much the same light only in a different finish; "Bronze with a very expensive hand-blown shade on it.

Its a beautiful light but wasn't quite right for our application...yea that's it..."wasn't quite right for our application"...translation; it was too expensive for this little area and my pocket book!

Loved this view toward downtown Portland from the second floor which was being remodeled when I was there. Those windows are huge and have that wonderful rippled/rolled glass in them. I actually thought this space would be so wonderful as a loft to have for the weekend city getaways...OK so I'm day dreaming again but it was the only thing free that day!

There were beautiful leaded glass windows for sale...

and amazing mirrors and of course, more lighting but at the end of the day, I walked away with only two light fixtures and two shades for above the island and that my friends will be a post for another day! 

In the meantime happy to have had this time for our little field trip and so glad you could come along for the ride!