Ode to the House Whisperer

For the past 6 weeks my house---more specifically me KITCHEN---has been in quite a disarray. You probably noticed the big shipment of boxes in the background of our super boots dress up---that was all in preparation for our kitchen MAKEOVER.

We have been REALLY needing some more storage space, and everytime I talked to Court about getting new cupboards he would say that this just wasn't the best time for that. Sometimes he would pretend to be budging a little bit, and I actually went and talked with some cabinet guys on design and what it would cost to redo our kitchen, but the price tag was a little too much to swallow (and it was, I can admit that). Well Court has a friend name Jim (who regularly refers to himself in the 3rd person as 'Jimmy'---just like Seinfeld) who really is a Jack of all trades. He is really good at what he does, but he doesn't necesarily go into a project with all the details worked out, and so his wife has dubbed him the 'house whisperer' and it really does fit. He starts the project and lets the HOUSE tell him what needs to be done. Ü And along the way there are ALL sorts of different ideas coming out of the house whisperer as to what could be done or what SHOULD be done--in Jimmy's perfect world of course. I am so glad that he had the vision to take what my basic wants were, and come up with a cost effective solution that looks FANTASTIC. (Didn't hurt that along with his mad skills, he has a family painting business to boot!)

So without further ado, here are the results of the house whisperers hard work (along with some of Court's help, Court's money, and some very nice workers)

Brand new cabinets? Who needs them! Use what you got and then add some in to be able to fill up the ENTIRE length of the kitchen. Along the way, switch where the dishwasher sits. Don't get me wrong it wasn't as easy as just filling in the blanks. There were two cabinets total that actually stayed in the same place (happens to be the upper AND the lower to the left of the microwave)

My island has completely new cupboards---that are ALL big drawers...I LOVE THEM. But the cupboards that were on the island are now being used in other part of my kitchen. VERY COST EFFECTIVE.

While we were at it the house whispered that we should add some variety to those uppers and get some varying heights....much more interesting.

Cabinets Before....

That big white splotch on the wall USED to be window. But Court's brother Dan filled that in for us---no problem.

Cabinets After...



Do you also notice the trim on both the top and the bottom of the cabinets? You will be able to see that once the stain hits it.

But that is not all, no that is not all. First came the white paint. And that day was a NIGHTMARE. There was a huge plastic scrim literally enclosing my kitchen off from the rest of the house while everything got sprayed. My goodness the FUMES were insane. You could SEE them (the fumes) piping out a small opening and out my back door. I apologize to all of my Let's Play Music classes that happened during this week of painting, becuz it was pretty stinky in here. An especially heartfelt apology goes out to the three piano students who were actually in my house DURING the painting. After the 2nd lesson, NONE of us could breathe any more, and we had to pack up and go to their house just to finish for the day.


This was a very NON-FUNCTIONING kitchen. Everything was in my living room, and Court's office, and the garage---ay carumba! The funny thing was that every single day they would put my kitchen back together with such care so that I wouldn't go ape crazy on them or something. So countertops were placed back on top, tables and chairs were put back in place, I think they even managed to put my clutter back exactly in the same place. Ü
After the white coat came the staining process. They would wipe this dark, dark stain on my cupboards and then immediately wipe it off. It turned the white into an antique white, and every single groove suddenly popped out with character...

The wainscotting on my island ESPECIALLY took a liking to the staining process.

Throughout the process we slowly began replacing the appliances as well---that was part of the deal of reusing our existing cabinets was that the money we saved could go towards stainless appliances. Things were really starting to look snazzy, but we were missing that final element of the countertops to finish it all off. Finally on Tuesday the house whisperer installed those as well---he really did EVERYTHING. Including the new undermount stainless sink and faucet!

The FINAL product...


and here you can see those mouldings a little better...


So HUGE shout outs to Jim Stewart, Stewart Painting, Manny (a.k.a 'Handy Manny), and yes even Courtney. I have never felt so organized in my ENTIRE life---I actually have a few cupboards that STILL do not have anything in them--- Thanks boys!

(...and thank you to Jenny Stewart for lending her husband to us for the last month or so! Many a Saturday and some Monday evenings as well, were spent at our house to help get this thing done and we really appreciate it)