The kitchen renovation was supposed to start today, but it was pushed back just one more day, and that actually suited us well.  It was a welcome delay since it gave us one more day to empty the kitchen, and Jeff and the boys had the day off from work/school.  It meant the day would be a bit more low-key for their long weekend and there wouldn’t be so many people coming and going in the kitchen while work was happening.

The kitchen renovation is going to happen in two phases.  Phase one will consist of demoing the upper cabinets, soffits, and mudroom walls, and moving the staircase.  Some of the electrical work will also happen during that phase, and the new (larger) kitchen window will be installed when it arrives.  The lower cabinets, sink, and appliances will get to stay put during that first phase so we’ll have a functioning kitchen.  In phase two, they will gut the rest of the kitchen, run the propane line for the range, rearrange some of the plumbing, patch the walls, install and refinish the hardwood floors, hang the cabinets, and install the appliances.  Once the cabinets are in place, we’ll have the template made for the counters and those will be installed along with the sink and faucet.

In order to save some money, we’ve taken ownership of the finish work.  I’ll prime and paint the ceiling and walls, and Jeff and I will do the trim, build the range hood, hang floating shelves, tile the backsplash, install the cabinet hardware, etc.  I’m thankful that we’re working with a contractor who is letting us pitch in where our skills would be an asset.  I know it will be a mess, but I can’t wait to see all of this ripped out.  It’s going to make better use of the space and bring in so much more light.  This kitchen has served well for 50 years and the duct tape, stained linoleum, and drawers that sound like a turkey call when you open them all declare it’s ready to retire.

As a side note, we don’t want these things to go into a landfill.  Most of the items could be repurposed.  We have a home for the base cabinets already, but if you are in the Hagerstown, MD area and could use upper cabinets, or a working electric stove and lightly-used dishwasher, just send me an e-mail.  The upper cabinets are solid wood (backs, shelves, and everything) and would paint up nicely.

As a reminder, here is a rendering of our new kitchen cabinets.  Many of the details are going to be a bit different from this mock-up, but it gives you a general idea.

I actually spotted this kitchen by Jean Stoffer Designs on Instagram over the weekend and it has a very similar vibe to my kitchen design.  It got me even more excited to see it come to life!

So, some of my smaller purchases for the kitchen have started trickling in.  I’m trying not to get too far ahead of things, so I have the freedom to change my mind on the decorating details, but I needed to decide on and order the faucet and cabinet hardware so both were in our possession and ready to install when the time comes.

As I shared in another post, THIS is the handmade, solid brass faucet I ordered.  I received a few words of caution from people who have ordered similar faucets from Etsy sellers and had issues with missing parts and challenging installations.  The shop I ordered from was a different shop and had good reviews, but selling on Etsy does allow businesses to have a bit of anonymity and to sell under multiple names or change names if negative reviews are stacking up.  So, once I had the faucet in hand, I reached out to our plumber to ask if he would come to take a look at it.  I will say that I have a lot of faith in his work based on the other projects he’s done in our home.  If I didn’t have a knowledgeable plumber on hand who did excellent work, I don’t think I would’ve ordered an unbranded faucet.

He stopped by last week and looked over all of the parts.  Obviously, he can’t tell if the faucet leaks, but he can quickly see if he has everything he needs to install it.

I was so happy to hear that everything looks good and he doesn’t see any issues or concerns with installing the faucet.  And, as you can see, it is a beautiful faucet.  I love that it will age over time and, in my mind, will always look timeless.

My in-laws have a plaque hanging in their home that reads, Things of quality have no fear of time.  I feel like a solid brass faucet fits in that category.

And, when they say this faucet is solid brass, it is solid brass.  Everything.

The only thing that took a bit of exploring was the sprayer.  The sprayer does not connect to the faucet as other sprayers would, but it is connected to a separate water line.  This is an on/off valve, but that would be mounted under the sink.  The idea is that you would leave it in the “on” position and then use the trigger to turn the water on at the sprayer.  There are two downsides to this setup.  Number one, having water in the line continuously could lead to an unexpected leak under the sink, especially as the sprayer hose ages.  Number two, there is no way to control the water temperature.  It has to be all hot or all cold.  I don’t see that as a huge issue, so our sprayer will just be cold.  The positive is that you can use the sprayer and the faucet at the same time since they each have their own water line.

So, the plan is to try to install the sprayer and see how it goes.  I really like having a sprayer function for cleaning out the sink.

I also received the hardware last week and was just giddy.  For the first time, I wasn’t constrained by existing holes in kitchen cabinets.  I could order what I envisioned.  I knew I wanted to go with solid, unlacquered brass on the hardware as well.  I did a lot of hunting for these and kept going back to my top pick, the Howell Drawer Pulls from Rejuvenation.  I found other pulls I liked that were solid brass and at a lower price point, but they didn’t offer a matching appliance pull.  If I’m going to be spending a chunk of change on nice cabinet hardware, I wanted to get just what I wanted and have matching pulls for the fridge and dishwasher.

I had the pulls in my cart for about a month before I finally made the purchase.  I did a lot of comparison shopping to make sure I wasn’t missing pulls I would love just as much.  These were the winner, though, and I know they will look stunning for many, many years.  I ordered the 8″ for the drawers and a few of the cabinets, two 18″ for the fridge, and one 12″ pull for the dishwasher.  Since they are unlacquered brass, they will also age over time.

I love how they have a timeless, traditional feel.  Not too modern, not too rustic.  Classic and just right for me.

I wanted to play a bit of mix-and-match with the knobs, so I shopped around for some glass knobs with an unlacquered brass base.  Again, I did a lot of comparison shopping and finally ordered THESE off of Etsy.

We’ll use two of these on some of the wider drawers, but they are mostly to use on the upper and pantry cabinets.  I drew it all out and counted about five times!  Just so you can see where I’m going with this, here are the cabinets with my little knobs and pulls drawn on…

They are hard to see, but I am using the pulls centered on the upper cabinets flanking the stove so you can’t tell that the two on the right both swing towards the wall.  You can also see how I’m using two knobs on each of the wider drawers to emulate a dresser a bit more.

As I’ve shared before, it’s helping me to go through these kitchen renovation decisions slowly so I have time to second and third-guess myself!  Holding the knobs and pulls in a virtual shopping cart for a month made me more certain these were the ones I wanted.

The work starts tomorrow, so I will keep you posted!