Well, it’s been a while since I was last here with a kitchen update. And let me tell you, we’ve made so much progress!

After Xan finished the initial demo and construction we primed all the walls. This created a moisture barrier on the drywall to help avoid deterioration in the future. After priming the walls a fresh white we really noticed how dingy the ceiling was; and while we weren’t planning on it we decided to go ahead and paint the ceiling. With nothing in the kitchen yet it was the best time to do it, so we picked up some Benjamin Moore Fundamental White and put a coat on. I really like BM’s Fundamental White – we used it in our upstairs bathroom and it seems to be a good white for the lighting and floor colors in our house. The ceiling was actually a big pain to paint because it’s got a texture on it that’s got a lot of variation, making it hard to get in all the nooks and crannies. I’d really like to scrape it off, but given the time our house was built it could have asbestos in it so we’re not messing with it right now. Hopefully at some point in the future we’ll be able to test it and find out – because I’d love for it to be gone!

The priming and painting alone made a huge difference in the kitchen, but if you follow me on Instagram then you probably saw that we started putting up cabinets and that’s made an even bigger impact. In our timeline we allotted about a month for this process because we’ve heard what a nightmare putting together Ikea cabinets can be. But, we actually got all of the boxes built and many of them installed in one weekend. We were lucky to have our in-laws come over for a day to help, having the extra hands definitely played a part in being able to get things done so quickly. We’re currently problem-solving some hiccups we encountered because of uneven walls and floors so we’re not quite done. Plus, we still have all the drawers and cabinet fronts to build and install. We’re waiting to do those until the counters and appliances are in so we don’t risk damaging them and we don’t have to do any extra cleaning. For now we’ll continue living in an Ikea satellite store. {EMOJI} But, really, getting all the cabinet boxes put together has significantly reduced the clutter, which I’m so happy about. It’s starting to feel like I’m getting my house back.

The other very exciting thing that has happened since we last talked is that we got a dishwasher! Xan and I have been married for almost five years and have never lived in a place with a dishwasher – it will be a nice change of pace. We haven’t gotten the rest of appliances yet because we’re still finalizing which ones we want. But, we knew we wanted a Bosch dishwasher and when we heard the Sears near us was closing we stopped by and found one for 50% off. And for some reason having that dishwasher in the kitchen is making everything feel very real. We had definitely hit a renovation rut where it didn’t seem like we were making any visible progress so I’ll take any excitement I can get!

Talk soon!