Kitchen facelift

After six weeks without a kitchen, we finally finished it last week. 

I'm in love..

And because I dig before and after shots, here you go...

The overhead cabinets blocked out light, NZ managed to nail his head on them every time he prepped food under them and I couldn't reach anything higher than the bottom shelf.

 They had to go ...

Since it's a small galley kitchen, we kept the footprint the same and utilized our cabinet space more efficiently, replacing my wall oven and cooktop with an all in one range. 

We removed the pantry which blocked light from the side door and opted for a built in side board with tons of storage to run along my dining room wall. Taking that pantry cabinet out also opened up the room for an open concept. 

My pantry resides in the sideboard, with tons of extra space for the kids to have a cabinet devoted to toys. This makes my minimalist side very happy-no more toys lingering in the living room after bedtime. 

I've got lofty plans of putting in a large framed mirror or chalkboard in the open space and decorating that area for the holidays since our house doesn't have a fireplace or mantel. 

A huge thanks to our contractor for being so patient with us and to NZ for busting his butt in China so we could enjoy a fresh kitchen upon our return.