{carrara kitchen}

big strides -huge- in our bungalow kitchen: farmhouse sink + countertops + new faucet have arrived. before scrolling down much further, remember the kitchen before? and the old countertops? welcome kitchen, to 2010.

we had tried sanding down the old countertops {which were not actually butcher block, but pieces of hardwood flooring...guess someone had some leftover?} but the end result was less than pleasing. the seams that are inevitable in flooring left gaps in places for food crumbs to hide and left us dustbusting {just to be clear, by us, i mean me} way more often that i care to admit. plus, when it came to installing the new sink, which is an undermount sink {meaning it sits underneath the countertop--which is a *dream* for wiping down countertops--and yes, i have dreams about counters. especially clean ones.} the edges of the hardwood flooring would a)-be rather unsightly next to new gleaming farmhouse sink and b)-are porous and not at all ideal to sit in close proximity to running water. plus, as it turns out, requiring a carpenter to work with said old countertops when installing new farmhouse sink, would require precision cutting = much more expensive. so ultimately the decision was made to put that money towards new countertops {natural stone is also a selling point if/when we ultimately decide to sell our bungalow; i.e. we should be able to get our money back when selling}. i should also add that we have very little counter space so that was the real key to keeping costs low for new counters. below is the kitchen when we were working with old counters sanded down + old sink + different new faucet.

below was the state of things for a solid week as we waited for the countertops to arrive. note to readers--be sure to schedule carpenter who rips out counters/installs sink + people who install countertops to come a day apart rather than waiting for carpenter to arrive before deciding on counters.

but being no strangers to living in construction mess, two weeks later, we found ourselves with this for our kitchen... also three things - 1)-apparently am married to a plumber and didn't know it -- b installed the new faucet {and replaced all the old piping under the sink} completely and 100%-ly on his own. amazing. 2)-notice my sweet chandelier? will do another post about its origins & subsequent makeover, but you should know it was only $25. which is awesome seeing as i can't say that for all the other lighting fixtures in the bungalow. and 3)-maybe you remember the original farmhouse sink found on craigslist? yes, well, turns out purchasing sink before bungalow doesn't always pan out as planned. said craigslist sink, was wayyy too long to fit in our tiny kitchen. so found another one at online discount store and original sink is back on craigslist {need one??}

view of carrara marble counter by the stove. i would really like to get these appliances off the counters, but am at the moment without a solution... oh -a note on carrara marble- while beautiful, it wears much more than granite or other harder natural stones. meaning if you are the type to get a little boozy and leave red wine rings til tomorrow, these counters are not for you.

annnnd a wider view. and holy pantry! curtains are in the works, if i ever pick out a proper fabric. {usually there's just a clothespinned dishcloth} but remember when b finished the pantry space? and remember before that, the gaping ugly hole where a wall mounted oven used to live? also, you'll notice that we are missing two cabinet doors...when the microwave was installed, it took about 4 inches off that cabinet, so we finally have had the doors cut down and they are currently in the process of being painted. also, we still need to drill holes for cabinet knobs.

another view -- this one really shows the eyesore that is the unfinished backsplash. not for much longer though...

annnnd this weekend, that is exactly the project. come to find out subway tile is about as cheap as it gets at 24 cents a tile. amazed to find this out as am used to having expensive taste. turns out, subway tile only looks expensive with its classically vintage style. still thinking about incorporating not as affordable glass tiles... updates to come on very first tiling job. supposedly it's not too difficult.

happy weekend! p.s. if you're in the area, we are having a garage sale tomorrow {7 am start time, yipe!} after cleaning out the storage unit kept while living in a one-bedroom apartment, turns out we don't need really any of it. funny how living without something for 2 years will do that to previously thought of treasures.