Operation Heart of the Home…Cleaning out the Cabinets Edition
This post doesn’t require a lot of words. Basically it can be described with a few words…we cleared out the kitchen. After we removed the cabinet doors, we were left with a very cluttered kitchen…
So Will & I spent the next day moving everything. He was a great helper. We were the same speed…actually he would have been faster but he had to wait on a certain pregnant lady 🙂
The upper cabinets were hard so I had to wait on Jeremy to get home till he could climb on the ladder. I had gotten stuck one time on the step ladder (yes, complete with my sciatica robot moves) and couldn’t get down for a solid fifteen minutes. Let’s just say that I am still finding the goldfish crackers under furniture.
So where did everything go? Well, we have the space so we spread it out….the most used stuff found it’s way into the foyer…
small appliances and cookbooks are near the stairway…(Will insisted that this is also the appropriate location for the trash bags).
The dining room is a big dumping ground….(same happened when we were renovating the office)…
Jeremy told me that I have too many glass jars. I can’t help it…they are FREE once you eat the spaghetti sauce or salsa or pickles. FREE!!! (cackles like a witch)
And everyone always makes comments on how many glasses we have. A lot of them are leftovers from when I used to do events at my church. I was like a pretend caterer….and had to provide the dishware…so we have a bazillion glasses. It works out because inevitably we break them constantly…klutzy I guess.
My collection of accent plates are in the reading room…Will also decided to put the blue wooden box on them. He’s very opinionated about the location of where stuff goes.
And on the other side of that room lives the pots and pans.
All of our drawers (the ones that we removed the fronts from) are in the office. We put them in there because Will has a tendency to be interested in the contents…which is fine when it’s a sticker book….not so much when it’s a couple containers of sprinkles. very messy sprinkles. And the office has a door…that we can lock….enough said.
Jeremy ended up moving the kitchen table out too….just so we had a place to sit down. Note the crime scene with the plastic…
After the thousands of trips back and forth, the cabinets were finally emptier than a candy wrapper in a pregnant girls pocket. Not that I would know what that is like…
Next up…sanding and hood building….hours upon hours of sanding. also known as 56 doors of Agony. Sounds like a movie title….except the movie would be torture to watch. In slow motion, it’s like what they do to prisoners of war to get them to break. It’s borderline inhumane.
(pregnant, barefoot, makeupless, covered in sawdust….yup sounds like a horror flick!)
Oh and we also shopped for the new faucets….you know, cause gold isn’t our jam. Can’t wait for you to see them!
Wow – you are amazing!! Can’t imagine taking on this project while in the last part of pregnancy. Good luck – and don’t over do it. Are you trying to finish before the baby arrives?
I can sympathize with you on this (minus the pregnant + toddler part). Our kitchen took almost 3 years, but it was only in the completely destroyed phast for about a year. It was pure torture! Dont worry you will be done soon! Stay off the ladders!
You are brave to take all that on pregnant! Can’t wait to see the final results!
You guys are awesome!
WOW what an adventure – and doing it all while pregnant too? You’re braver than most 😉 Can’t wait to see the final product! Is it all done, and these are the step-by-step shots you took along the way?
I’m glad I’m not the only one with a glass jar keeping obsession! My husband also tells me I need to get rid of some of ours, but they are handy for storing homemade sauce and salsa and for freezing stuff (and make it so I don’t have to buy extra tupperware!).
I am so excited to see your kitchen transform!!
BTW – Not sure if anyone has recommended Pilates to you to help your sciatica… I had horrible sciatica during my pregnancy, to the point where my legs would give way underneath me and I’d fall to the floor in agony! I got a pre-natal Pilates video from Amazon for like $10 and it made a WORLD of difference. I only had to do about 30-min of exercises every 3 days or so. If you try it, I hope it works for you! (Added bonus – helps strengthen those core muscles for labor too!)
🙂
Katie, you are my hero! I applaud you for doing these projects while pregnant. I had the same sciatic pain with my first son. I used to joke that everyone thought I was crazy when I would crumple up in the grocery store. I looked like I was busting out a few Thriller moves in Publix. Not very flattering when you are the size of a sumo wrestler!
The turtle won the race, not the hare. 🙂
You.ARE.ADORABLE!! The prep work always seems to take sooo much longer than the actual job you wanted done! Good luck! I know it will be beautiful! You have great taste!
You are so crazy, lady, why aren’t you sitting with your feet up and having Will bring you things? (I know, stupid impossible with a toddler around, but you can dream…)
My husband and I just took this on, and I was around 30 weeks pregnant as well! We went from awful gold oak, to beautiful Benjamin Moore white. We switched out hardware. And used a paint sprayer, for the first time, which was a learning “experience” in itself. Let’s just say after stacking our drawers in a row, all freshly painted, and watching them fall like dominoes on top of each other, not once but TWICE, I also felt like I was in horror flick! :). But they turned out great, and now we have a freshly white kitchen to welcome our little girl soon!
Hi Katie,
I must say that you really have a handsome helper around you (referring to Will off course ). and you really are such a super woman………at this stage doing this much shows ur passion about the kitchen remodeling………hope to see a beautiful kitchen soon.
Love.
SM
First: you should have a disclaimer on this post for those of us in the throws of being a 9-month pregnant nesting mamma. Good lord, I’m itching to run home and organize every last one of my cabinets.
Second: I painted over 50 cabinets in our kitchen. I feel ya. God speed lady.
Yikes! Are you staining the cabinets or painting them? I am in the midst of staining my bathroom cabinets and if I had to do it over again I would have painted them. Let’s just say I started the project a month and a half ago and it is still. not. done. Worst project ever! Sorry to be Debby downer. Good luck either way!!
Wow girl! You have some cabinet space!!!!
I wish I could keep all the glass jars, but we don’t even have spots for most of our dishes. Oh how I want 56 cabinets. But I would NOT want to sand and paint them all.
You are a trooper 🙂
Haha love how you save “free” glass jars too! I do the same thing! The best ones are the Classico spaghetti jars and pizza sauce jars because they are really cute mason jars! We save all of those and drink out of them. What’s also cool about them is that if you take the blade and circle thing that attaches a blender to the stand and attach it to one of those jars-it fits on perfectly-you can attach the jar to the blender stand and blend your protein shake or smoothie into a one person sized serving and it’s easier to clean than a big, bulky blender. The only thing is certain Classico jars fit and some don’t. For some reason some of their spaghetti jars have a wider mouth and some are smaller, so the ones with the wider mouth fit.
In the picture with the plastic over the kitchen, you can reallllly tell how “cream” the trim is! I never really believed you, but woah. Maybe it’s just the lighting.
Yay for progress! Props to you for doing this ubber pregnant 🙂
Oh my goodness. You go girl!
Can’t wait to see the finished product!
Even without makeup, you are so cute! Pregnancy agrees with you, Bower.
I’m so looking forward to seeing what you do with the kitchen! =) I’m impressed that you’re undertaking this project while pregnant.
Not even close to being done…we are primed do we still have quite a bit in front of us!
xo kb
I can’t wait to see it! We’ve been in the middle of a kitchen remodel since we moved in ( in March) We got the kitchen to the point that we could use it, but until about two months ago we still had all our stuff in our dinning room. We’re almost done thank goodness, it’s making me crazy. I thought I had it bad with 40 doors to work on.
You are adorable by the way, I wish I had looked so cute when pregnant. And try chiropractic care for the sciatica. It can be a lifesaver.
Can’t wait to see the results! You go girl even as pregnant as you are!
hey katie! are you painting the cabinets white? i can’t remember if you ever said what they were going to look like in the end. and yeah, you are braver than most of us for taking this on!
My husband shares Jeremy’s distress about glass jars. I spray pain the lids and use them for everything! I recently asked a friend of mine if she would save all her baby food jars for me… Not only has she saved them, she’s enlisted her friends aswell! The look on my husbands face when he saw her hand over a box of jars for me was priceless.
I seriously cannot wait to see the finished results! You’re much, much more adorable than me when I was pregnant, and without makeup. You know The scary fish from finding Nemo? The one that lives way in the deep dark part of the ocean? Yeah, *that* was me pregnant. Jealous, Katie!
Maybe it is time for a garage sale? You have a lot of cups and glass jars 🙂
And I am jealous of how many cabinets you have. My kitchen only has 8 cabinet doors- 8!! It is crazy. We have like 1 spoon and 15 sippy cups for my toddler and nothing else.
Can’t wait to see how your kitchen turns out.
Question: How do you get the energy to get all that done?
When I was pregnant, all wanted to do is sleep. Even with a 2yr (then) in tow. I took plenty of momma naps with him. LOL!
But kudos to you Katie! You the gal!
(You make want to take out my kitchen cabinet doors too!)
Wow Katie, you are THE woman for tackling such a job while being pregnant!! We just did a full blown kitchen remodel (demo-ing some walls too) this winter & I shivered when I saw the plastic covering up the doorway…took me right back to our project/dust/mess! We got a new kitchen faucet that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE & CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT!! We’d gotten the Delta Touch2O & I LOVE IT!!! It was so worth the money. I love that I can touch the faucet w/my wrist/arm to turn it on when I have raw chicken/meat all over my hands. No longer do I have to worry about raw meat or “yuck” on the faucet handle anymore, I just touch it w/another part of my arm/wrist & the water turns on, touch it again & the water turns off. DEFINETELY worth the investment!!!!!! We also got the a Touch2O for our bathroom sink & that faucet has a motion sensor so you don’t even need to touch it (but you still can to turn it on/off). Now the kids have to excuse not to wash their hands because it’s so easy. Did I mention how much I LOVE my kitchen sink DELTA TOUCH 2O ???!!!
Oh man – our kitchen looked exactly like this when we remodeled. Kitchen stuff all over the house! It was all fine and dandy until one day it wasn’t. That’s when I gave up returning each cup/plate/appliance to its temporary storage place. Then we just had one room that looked like a kitchen dumping ground.
Hang in there, it’s so worth the hard work and effort. Your kitchen will look awesome and your cabinets will look like they’ve never been organized better when you’re all done! 🙂
I’m sad to read this post, because it means I’ve caught up in the archives and now have to wait real time for projects. I’m also really impressed that you’re tackling this while pregnant. I’m not pregnant, and sometimes it’s all I can do to tidy up my studio apartment!
I feel for you! I have sciatica every now and then but I’m not preggo and I dont have a small child running around either!
Usually exercising semi-regularly will make it go away but I’m gonna guess you’re not up to it. Try stretching or yoga? I know…. it’s not like youre busy or anything ;]
Feel better and take it easy. Kitchen Smitchen
Your “cackles like a witch” had me laughing – I love it! I’m pretty sure my heart rate rises when I know I’m onto a good thing that’s free. What others call frugal or cheap, I call smart. 🙂
Little tip: Before I recycle discarded cardboard/paper packaging, I consider the possibilities. I’ve been known to cut it up into tiny scrapbook triangles/squares for kids’ art projects or use the really good stuff for DIY gift tags. I’m picky about what I choose to save/use, but it’s another way to maximize the goods!
A TON of work, but I’m so glad you had your guys helping you out. Good luck with the rest of the steps. It will be so worth it in the end.
My deepest respect for you tackling this huge kitchen redo! 56 cabinets is really a lot. We only have 8 oak cabinets and an oak vent hood in our kitchen, but my boyfriend won’t even let me get started on them ’cause he thinks it’s too much work. So I’m really impressed by your project!
Oh, and I love the fact that you’re also saving up those glass jars. They’re so useful and free! Too bad I had to sort some out this weekend, but there was just not enough room anymore…
I’m impressed with your energy & for taking on such a mammoth task while taking care of Will & being pregnant. You will be so happy once your vision starts to come together. Please my sweet child (I’m a grandma I’ve earned the right to call you a sweet child) wear a mask Katie when sanding or painting, those fine dust fibres get everywhere including your lungs.
Good luck.
Barbara
I’m so impressed with your progress, especially considering you’re expecting AND taking care of a toddler!
And girl- you are absolutely gorgeous and glowing. No makeup needed!
Wow! You are so organized when it comes to kitchen redo chaos! I’m very jealous. Our kitchen redo has been chaos, sprinkled with disorganization and topped with a big dollop of dust. And we aren’t even doing it ourselves. So much fun. Can’t wait to see more!
Wow! I love how organized you are during the chaos that is a kitchen redo. Our kitchen redo is chaos, sprinkled with disorganization and topped with a big dollop of dust! And we aren’t even doing it ourselves. I can’t wait to see more!
Dear Mrs. Bower,
You are so beautiful and Mr. Bower is lucky to have you… makeup less, covered in sawdust… you glow. I can’t wait to see what #2 is named.
And Will is so grown up… him and Clara… making me feel so old as they both get so much bigger.
Love,
Your friend Laura
I’m so excited to see what you come up with! Your blog constantly inspires me and since we have moved into our first home, your first living room is what I am drawing inspiration from. It is shaped just like your first home and it’s on it’s way to being decorated. Our kitchen has the light oak cabinets so I am waiting to see how your cabinets turn out before we decide what we’re going to do with ours. Not sure whether to paint them or stain them. Wish I had you around for a decorating consult! We have 4 precious children ( the last 2 were twins!) so I can related to trying to decorate around toddlers! Hope all goes well in your last trimester!
Hey Katie. A job very well done! Big hugs to you and Will and Bubs. A question? How did you get back up off the floor?? LOL Call me crazy or what, but shouldn’t you mask up for the sandpaper jobs? Gotta prevent the next gen from getting asthma down the line. Just a thought. Hx
Katie,
I have been reading your blog for about a year now and it is a delight. Thank you for the laughter. I’ve read that you are having sciatica and I wanted to tell you that you should google sciatica pain and exercises. There are hamstring and quad exercises and stretches you can do daily that will help eliminate that pain. I have suffered pregs and non-pregs with that pain and these are incredible. Give them a chance and if they don’t work then chalk it up to just another delight of pregnancy. Thought I would just throw that out there. I am laughing at your kitchen adventure because I did the same type of crazy things when I was pregnant with both of my girls, which are now almost two and almost five, bless my heart. Thrity weeks is the time when you have enough energy to do projects, some of which I chose were bizarre. Keep rockin it out these last few weeks that you can function like a human and then get ready for another few weeks of sitting on your butt moaning. Am I right?
Congrats on your new baby and good luck with the back pain and kitchen.
Couldn’t help noticing your hutch in your dining room. Did you paint it or was it always white? If you did, do you have a post about it? Thanks.
I did paint it! Here’s the post about the redoing process 🙂
xo – kb
My little sister is your pregnancy twin (due the same time; her third girl). They are re-doing their basement right now, hopefully finishing any day now. I should totally send her the link to your blog – she can fully identify.
Good job, though, on tackling a huge project. Why not? Won’t be easier with a newborn underfoot so why not now? GOOD FOR YOU GUYS!
Oh girl I hear ya! I’ve been a googling fool for the last few weeks….I think some of it happens in part because of the pregnancy but also it doesn’t help the pelvic region to have to pick up a two year old (who doesn’t know how to be held!). I will definitely keep trying though on the exercise/stretching front and am probably gonna go to the chiropracter if it continues 🙂
xo – kb
Seriously! Shame on me…we usually remember the masks…forgot that day! Don’t worry though…that sanding took us over a week and we went out and got new masks.
xo – kb
Spoken like a kindred spirit!
xo – kb
Oh yes…ideally both the kitchen and laundry room will be done before then.
xo – kb
Seriously. Will..bring me a bonbon stat!
xo – kb
You go girl!!
xo – kb
And you survived! Gives me hope 🙂
xo – kb
We are painting! Good luck with finishing…I know it’s tedious but it will be worth it!
xo – kb
Yes! We are going white…mostly because I love me a white kitchen 🙂
xo – kb
I don’t. I just crash at the end of the day in a big heap.
xo – kb
NO! I probably need to be a little more picky on the things I keep but since I have the space to keep em all, my hoard is staying put 🙂
xo – kb
Boo! I wish I had written more in the past for you!
xo – kb
Ooohh…good to know!
xo – kb
I am horrible about exercising…gotta get on that!
xo – kb
Shame shame shame on me! I definitely forgot that day but we did end up wearing them for most of the rest!
xo – kb
I just got my prenatal pilates video in the mail…hopefully that will help!
xo – kb
can I steal some of your jars? I am local! 😉 kidding…kind of, actually..not really kidding, I could really use some jars!
LOL I agree with those glass jars! You can’t have too many of them. They are free and they are awesome. You can put anything in it. I love them, too.
Katie, you have to be careful though. Don’t tire yourself out too much. It’s weird that these words are coming from a stranger like me but I am a mom and I know how hard it can be when you’re pregnant. And I’m really amazed as you can still do these things.
Are you going to post the ‘after’ photos? Would love to see them! I’ll check back in a few weeks.
I’m Amy, by the way.
yay for dreamy white kitchens!! that’s what i was hoping you’d say 🙂
Oh Katie! That’s such an Adventure & Big Project to take on! I love it! Thanks for taking us along on the ride!
Your glass jar hoarding makes me feel normal again. My husband, too, complains that we have too many. 😉
You go Girl! Just wanted to pass on a helpful tip, while the cabinet below the sink is empty, tile it. If ever there is a leak etc, you are covered. 😉
Thank you for the picture of your glass jar collection. Mine is almost as awesome as yours, but I don’t keep the lids.
My pregnancy/ kitchen project was to remove only 2 cabinet doors and paint the bare shelves white. Country French? And I retiled my shower and bathtub.
I can’t wait to see how your kitchen turns out. I painted my cabinets last year using a so-called “professional” painter. Ugh. If I had to do it over I would do it myself. In some places they look worse than before with bumps, streaks and rough spots. But, it was only $500 and was supposed to take 4 days, nine days later……they were finally finished. Wait…what am I saying….there was no ‘they’ it was just him. Before he started he kept saying “We do this.” and “We’ll do that.” There was no “we” he was just a one man operation!
I think a hood will be a huge improvement. All of the different heights of those cabinets seem to make it look more cluttered versus a straight line of cabinets….I’m I making sense? There just seems to be a lot going on with the backsplash, countertop, cabinets, etc. Can’t wait to see the results!
Great tip!
xo – kb
Oh yes, I will post afters when we get to the after…we have been debating merging the next two phases of our kitchen reno into one…just knock it out!
xo – kb
Okay, now I’m really dreading my kitchen remodel. Our latest idea is to have new doors made, retrofit the deep cabinets with drawers (including that never to be seen corner cupboard) and new countertop. I hate the idea of cleaning the inside of the cabinets and trying to remove 40 year old shelf liner. I’m sure your kitchen is going to look great!
You are superwoman! Seriously.
Ugh…removing old shelf liner grosses me out. I can’t help but wonder what color it originally was 🙂
xo – kb
Hi Katie, I’m right behind you! Emptying out cabinets as we speak. Have you decided on the exact white you’re painting the cabinets? I haven’t seen it mentioned in the blog. That is my hold up, have it narrowed, but still looking!
Don’t know which is worse, 8/9 months pregnant, painting cabinets, (I did that YEARS ago) or being 54 painting cabinets with 5 grandkids wanting to help!
In any case, GOOD LUCK!
haha…Susie, it looks like we are the two ends of the spectrum! I can’t imagine painting cabinets with 5 grandkids running around! I have not yet decided what white…it is coming down to the tile backsplash and the trim color…so the cabinet white has to meet somewhere in the middle. So far the swatches I like best are both Benjamin Moore – Steam & Gardenia 🙂
xo – kb
Loving the progress on your kitchen reno! You have probably answered this question hundreds of times…. but can you tell me what color your kitchen is painted? It is such a beautiful shade of blue. 🙂 Thanks!!
Sylvia
I don’t know yet but I am gonna have it colormatched! So when I know, you’ll know 🙂
xo – kb
Hi katie – your house is beautiful, my hubby and I did a gut job on our kitchen and ended up painting the new white ones we got becaue the colour wasn’t right – we loved Floral white by Benjamin Moore, and definetely check out the “Advance” paint line by B Moore – it makes sure no brush strokes or rollers marks are visible = awesome when you are doing as much work as you guys are doing! Good for you by the way being pregnant and in pain – your still smiling 🙂 I read yours and Young house Love’s blog faithfully – your lives are very relatable, keep on painting!
Paula – Ontario canada