The night before the bank deadline was indescribable. We had 7 people working feverishly to finish our projects. Doug and I, and some friends, had already spent the week previous up until 1 or 2 each night to get everything on the list finished. But the night before, we still didn’t have all the light fixtures up, we didn’t have the under cabinet lights in, we didn’t have window trim (ironically, we didn’t have our windows in yet, either – but the contractor had more time for those, so we had to trim out windows that weren’t even the real ones). No baseboards, no door trim…. this was what we did in the last night. It was INSANE. I wish I had photos or video of it all. But there was just no time for that nonsense.
Without our talented friends who also have talented friends that they brought along, we could have never, ever finished the kitchen. EVER. Much of what we did ended up being very HGTV – we had to have the appliances in place, but if they weren’t connected, it was OK. So, the wall oven was not hooked up. The Butler Pantry sink and faucet – not hooked up. But it looked great.
Doug laughed at me when I hung up some temporary curtains to make it look nice. I’m not sure if he’s met me before, but it’s totally something I would – and did – do. If someone was going to come in and JUDGE my kitchen, it was going to be as perfect as I can make it. I have some gorgeous fabric waiting to be made into curtains, but I haven’t had time to sew in forever. I can’t wait to have some time to make them – it’s my plan for my first school snow day, whenever that will be!
The inspector came, and snapped a few pictures, and left after about 15 minutes. Hours of stress, worry, work, and time… and it was all over in 15 minutes. I was almost mad, then Doug said, “If we didn’t have it done so well, it would have lasted longer. Consider it a compliment. He’s right.
After the bank man left, I just about collapsed. I took pictures of the kitchen, put them on Facebook, then went to the bed on the third floor and just looked at pictures. I was too tired to look at the kitchen in real life. But since it’s months later, you all can enjoy a video tour. I made this tonight, and regretted that it was filmed in portrait. So, my apologies. We thought about re-filming, but we put a hole in the drywall for the mirror project about an hour after filming. Oops. Isn’t that just like us? The quality was being dumb as well, so hopefully it’s OK. We’re learning. 😉
With that, enjoy the final product. Well, the ALMOST final product. I still have curtains and a mirror project to finish. Stay tuned…. and if you missed the previous entry, you can find it HERE!
THE BUTLER’S PANTRY (applications for Butler being accepted!)
THE DETAILS
THE MAIN KITCHEN
I came here from your comment on Victoria Elizabeth Barnes because you said ‘Butlers Pantry’ and I am trying to convince my husband that he wants to donate his smallish home office to be a butlers pantry. I’m willing to transform the formal dining room to a large library/office, so you’d think it would be a win-win, but he goes on about the ‘pastoral scene’ out his window and how the dining room has windows to the front…
He obviously cares nothing about my happiness, amiright?
You should totally hire an artist to paint the “pastoral scene” and then hang the picture in the dining-room-future-office. This should clearly work.
I’m pretty lucky on that front – when we were coming up with the design, I asked my husband if we should have a super large kitchen, or a smaller one with a Butler’s Pantry. His reply : “Why is this a question? Of course we have a Butler’s Pantry.” His only sadness is that we couldn’t find a logistical way to add a dumbwaiter to the third floor.
Good luck with your plea! I am totally on your side, though I do so love a dining room. (But I like Butler’s Pantries more).
I LOVE the ceiling medallion, the sink, the floor to ceiling black cabinets, the stove, the chandelier silhouette on the “window above the Butler sink (love), the green glass knobs, the gorgeous tile insert…..I guess I pretty much love it all! I came to your blog via your Butler’s pantry comment on VEB’s blog. Great work!
Thanks so much, Yvonne! Your words are so kind and mean a lot! The chandelier silhouette piece was something my mom picked out, and I basically built that nook for it – I love it, too! Thanks for stopping by! Come back soon!
Wow! It’s all in the details and you have paid attention to everyone! The kitchen is stunning and I love the video! I have just found your blog and imagined your voice from your writing and photos but now the video brings it all together. Well done! Gorgeous!
Thank you! You are too kind! We definitely wanted to make sure that everything in the kitchen was exactly what we wanted – because it’s the most expensive room to restore, AND because we have so much house left to complete – we had to make sure we didn’t ever want to come back and change anything. I’m so glad you stumbled on the blog! I have a lot of fun with it.
Found you through Circa. Love that site! I have spent the evening reading your blog from the beginning. It’s fabulous! Your kitchen is fabulous! I especially love the marble floor and Heartland stove. Although I would not choose your color scheme, it is not me, it works! It all looks really great! We bought an 1889 Queen Anne almost a year ago. While it is not a fixer per se, there is plenty to be done. One of the major projects will be redoing a bedroom that was turned into two bathrooms. Looks like it was done in the 60’s or 70’s. I want to figure out a way to reconfigure it in a period style so that it can be used as one bathroom when it’s just us, or two when we have guests. Your blog has inspired me!