photostory friday and the anatomy of a new kitchen

grab a coffee and prepare to take the easiest kitchen renovation tour ever!

(easy, because you just get to look at the pictures!)

truth be told though, we were so organised, not having a kitchen was actually very painless

working full-time, travelling to see my dad and having a separate plumbing issue - now that WASN'T painless!!!

i'd already frozen meals, and we were also well fed by our neighbours and friends

we had everything relatively neatly packed away

and we loved our little makeshift 'camp kitchen' in the lounge

the olympics, my job contract and the kitchen all pretty much finished at the same time!

so here goes

if you live in wellington, RENTACRATE (dot co dot nz) is the way to go

we packed up our (should i say I packed up) kitchen, family room and office into 40 (YES FORTY!) of these bad boys.  packing up was the easy part. unpacking, now THAT was a whole different ball game!

the crates come with a wheeled dolly for ease of moving around

a labelling system

and they stack up on top of each other

EASY PEASY!!

choosing flooring tile colour

quick and painless - like a bandaid!

(don't ask me which one we have because i can't remember!)

the night before the old kitchen came out

a lone crockpot cooking a corned beef

it took the guys less than THREE (3) HOURS to dismantle our old kitchen

which we got $1315 for on trade me!!! (ebay)

going

going

GONE

i tried to take a photo in the same place every day

i didn't always succeed, because the room was a bit of an obstacle course

our painters (who had already painted the outside and most of the inside of the house since february)

set to work the very next day

not much seems to happen the first few days

all behind the scenes, but very important 'stuff'

if you want to read a very funny post on magnetic magic, click here

i WILL tell you though, that you need SEVERAL coats and not all magnets work

the best ones are the ones that are pictured here

we also painted the wall in WRITE-ON paint but we're too scared to draw on the wall

(lame, i know)

when we do, we scrub it off right away.

this photo does NOT represent the wall colour at all well!

THIS one, on the other hand, does perfectly

giant truck arriving with our new kitchen

i still have no idea how the truck got up and down our drive without breaking anything

like fences

cabinetry everywhere!

taking shape!

DAY 9 was a spot the difference

DID YOU SPOT IT???

Day 10 - the day the flooring went in

you probably heard my squeals of delight from where you live...

after 2 weeks, it was pretty much done

if you look closely, you can see the gap where the new microwave will go

TA_DAAAAAAAH!

i'm wearing a sparkling new TIARA to go with my sparkling new kitchen

filling the new kitchen with friends and fun

oh yes - i thought my new window treatments would NEVER come!

SO WHAT ARE MY FAVOURITE FEATURES OF THE NEW KITCHEN YOU MAY ASK???

this 4 bin rubbish drawer

(we went a little mad with the lableller)

the oil drawers

THE SPICE DRAWER!!!

the magnetic wall

the photo board

which we will change every 4 months

in december it will feature ALL CHRISTMAS photos from over the years

so there you have it

THE END

(and the beginning)

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

2012 and the big reveal

if you're keeping up, you'll know that lots has been going on in the scrappy house so far this year

children have left home

and in the wake of that, rooms were vacated and renovated

some rooms got new residents and just about all the rooms got a new lick of paint!

so without further ado

the before and after shots

please note extensive use of 2011 christmas present: wide angle lens :)

guest room - now miss 14's room 

then after a lick of paint

and how it USUALLY looks!!!

miss 20's old room

miss 15's new room

no paint, just a new resident

miss 15's old room downstairs

if only you could see the state of the walls before

NIGHTMARE!!!  bluetac, holes, chips - you name it, it was there

miss 14's old room downstairs

note the middle photo is BEFORE the new paint job

- it's amazing what a clean out will do for the look of a room!

a flashback to 2000 when i let a 9 year old [now miss 20) and 11 year old (now miss 22)

choose their own paint and carpet colours

and after 3 coats of spanish white!

rumpus room BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

downstairs looking up

we went from half pearl-lustre (with accompanying grubby black fingerprints!)

to spanish white with a feature wall in ginko - a gorgeous lime green

door frames in double doeskin - a lovely warm brown

the BEFORE photos REALLY don't show just how shabby the walls were!

and the hall upstairs

and the AFTER after shot

the canvas was a birthday present from mr scrappy

and then we got the OUTSIDE of the house re-stained!

and THEN we got OUR room painted!

BEFORE

AFTER

i have yet to get matching curtains and a new duvet cover, but you get the idea

pretty sexy!!!

NOT BAD HUH???

all that's left now is the kitchen and living areas which will be a MAJOR UNDERTAKING!

then it'll be time to re-seal the drive

and by then the youngest two girls will have left home and it'll be time to sell the house!!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli