The Moment We Completed Our Kitchen
On December 21, I walked through the garage door, home from one of my last days of remote teaching. I looked down on the kitchen island to find numbers scribbled on a yellow, blue-lined, sheet of paper. “What are these?” I questioned as I strolled into the living room. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Suhail is coming tomorrow to put in our backsplash,” my husband answered.
“What?!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, I asked him yesterday if we could do it soon and he said ‘How about this week?’”
The BeforeAt this point, my jaw was hanging on the floor because after 39 months our kitchen was to be completed!
When we bought our fixer upper in 2017 (which you can read about here), we thought our house would be flipped in 5 years. Giggles bubble out of my mouth, as I think of how naive we were. We wanted an HGTV home in HGTV time. (They always get them done in one hour right?)
However that’s not what happened. And instead of one house in five years, we are celebrating one room in three.
After moving into our flip, we decided the kitchen would be the first to receive a facelift. Grant, along with many others, began gutting it completely. Goodbye cabinets. Goodbye walls. Goodbye carpet. It all had to go.
Grant’s father, our kitchen designer, ordered the cabinets, and he was coming in November to install them. However, the demo took longer than anticipated and by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, we were not ready for the cabinets. There was still plenty to do, and Grant, his dad, and my dad worked together to finish the framing and install the new window.
December brought a slow down and time of rest, but when January 2018 hit my husband was right back at it, installing the insulation. Projects kept rolling along, with new drywall and painting in February, and Grant’s dad returning in March to help install the cabinets.
Now, you may be thinking, where did you all prepare food at? How did you function without a kitchen all that time?
The Answer:
Flexibility. Grace. And My Parent’s Dishwasher.
At the beginning of that October, I jetted off to Seattle with my grandmother for my uncle’s wedding. When I returned, our living room had transformed from one space into two. Grant had set up a makeshift kitchen in our living space. The knowledge I had acquired from living out of a hotel room the months before now served to our benefit. For the next 7 months, we ate sandwiches, electric skillet meals, and a little too much take out. We survived by washing our dishes at my parent’s house and taking it one meal at a time.
By the beginning of April 2018, most projects had been crossed off the list.
Countertops check
Flooring check
New appliances check
We just needed our backsplash put in and our kitchen would be finished.
And then life happened.
2018 turned into 2019. 2019 rolled into 2020.
At some point we bought the backsplash, but I can’t even tell you when. The boxes just sat tormenting us for months.
Then one cold day in December 2020, our dream kitchen was complete.
I never dreamt at 31 this would be my kitchen. The tall striking cabinets. The glossy white backsplash. My fingers glide across the smooth, spacious countertops as I type. Even unfinished, this kitchen served us well these past three years. It has seen laughter and joy; shock and heartache; tears turned into dancing. Some of my favorite memories are in this kitchen. Some of the most gut-wrenching pain, I’ve experienced here. God has provided this beautiful hub for our family, and all I can do is give thanks.
The After
The longer you have to wait for something, the more you will appreciate it.