Hugo Kitchen

Working on the Hugo house main kitchen. Remember how we tore out the ancient ugly old kitchen, and started to re-make a new one?...and then we got the Willow house, and things got busy, and expensive, all of the sudden. We have to obviously finish the kitchen in a very functional way, but we decided to make it a lot "cheaper" than if were still living there. If we were still there, the only main difference would be the style of door we put up. For the sake of money, we decided to go with a plain "modern" door, instead of the mission style ones we like much better. But the cost difference, when we may never get to enjoy it...just wasn't worth it.

Getting worked on! (and I just washed the floors, hence the shiny wet spots still drying;-)

Everything is ready for the new renters, except the cabinets!

I am very pleased with the look, overall, even though the door style wouldn't have been my personal first choice for my own custom kitchen. But to each his own - I'm sure some people love this style best! I am very happy with the job I/we did of picking out the colour of wood, the counters, the backsplash, the sink...It all goes together well, and gives the overall look to the space that we wanted. When the oven dies - it will be replaced with a black one if possible, and the over the oven micro wave will be black too. Then everything will match a little better. (Sink, fridge and dishwasher are already black)

This is how I left the house today:-) It still has a few things Brian is putting up (notice the white "ends" still - he has to tack up the woods sides to finish it off), and he needs a different hinge for the corner cabinet on the bottom, and still has to put in the over the fridge cabinet and doors there and over the stove) It's not really a lot, but it will take some muscle...which is why I was excused from my duties. He'll get help from a friend:-) Then crown/trim around the top. It's probably another solid days work, but we have a few more days to get it done, thankfully. Long story, but we decided to get it done in between renters, instead of when 1st tenant was occupying the space, since they weren't good renters.

The hardware. We wanted a different style, and preferred oil rubbed bronze coloured hardware. But in the interest of saving money (these were cheap/close to free). My first choice for hardware? 14.95 PER!!! Yikes. I don't think I could justify that expense on my own use, let alone a rental. I found something "passable" in the bronze, for about $2.50 each - all told that set us back almost $100. Ok - not terrible for hardware in an entire kitchen. But compared to left overs from a jobsite/free...I decided to return the bronze ones, and go with silver, just to save the money. It really doesn't look bad at all - it's the same "passable" as the ones I spent $100 on, so either way, a comprise. And when dealing with compromise, the cheaper option is the better one.

So proud of Brian! He made every thing himself, and did a really nice job. He got the under the counter lighting all squared away this afternoon, and its on a 3way dimmer, and it looks amazing against the backsplash with the lights on! The kids are tooootally wishing we could move back in, since the bathroom and the kitchen at Hugo are so much better than Willows, in their opinion:-)

Anyway, Brian and I both commented while working away last night how much we love this house. It's got character, and its really functional...especially now that it has an awesome kitchen!