Where I Live: The Kitchen

Kelly's hosting Where You Live Friday, and this week it's the kitchen. Now, let me preface this by saying we bought this house brand new, but it was in foreclosure because the builder ran out of money. Regularly priced it was way out of our price range, so in purchasing it, we knew that after closing there wouldn't be enough money left over to fix the things the builder left unfinished. Anyway, the KITCHEN is where MOST of the unfinished work remains. Just thought you should know, because you may have been under the false impression that we are Richy Riches who are spoiled beyond belief and have more than they asked for, and you need to know NOW that is absolutely NOT the case.

So. I DID sort of promise you a tour of "The Davidson Den." Here goes.

The first problem you may notice is that the "tile guy" didn't finish his work. (I have "tile guy" in quotes because whoever laid our tile most definitely could not be labeled as a real and for real TILE GUY with a business card and such. This was just some poor schmuck with a trowel and the need for work.) The granite tiles on the countertops have not been grouted, nor is there a decent trim on the edges. And besides that, there is no backsplash whatsoever. This, of course, needs to be done, but there needs to be money for such an endeavor. We HAVE picked out what we'd like, but it's going to have to wait a bit. Sometimes I'm astounded at how long we've lived this way (when I said in the beginning that under no circumstances could I deal with ungrouted tiles, etc. for ANY amount of time). Ha!
Love my smooth cook-top. Man, I could never go back to an electric stovetop with GRATES. (I know, I sound like a spoiled brat.) Please excuse me. But I DO so enjoy the ease of cleaning this beauty.



I DO like my cabinets. I mean, I wouldn't have chosen this color or even this hardware, but they are heads and above better than the ones we had at the old house. I am counting my blessings. And no matter what they look like, they work great. The hinges are so nice, the drawers glide like a dream (and even have a mechanism that pulls them TO once they get to a certain point), and I have various sizes for storing all my kitchen essentials (and nonessentials--let's don't forget about them). Check out these great features:

A Pantry

Notice the missing trim at the top. "HUH?!" you say. Um......yeah. I don't know what happened there. Guess they were in a hurry??

The pantry has AWESOME pull-out drawers. I truly don't know how I lived without this feature before. Ha! (And, yes, you saw correctly. There's a drawer missing. Apparently we had a "cabinet guy" as well. Who knows?)

Pull-out double trash bin

(This is perhaps my favorite practical feature.)

A knife drawer

A bread drawer

Now, whatever you do, don't look down (at the floor), because the tile problems just get worse. "Tile guy" strikes again. Bad tile, bad grout color, no sealing, bad "tile guy." Anyhoo...
These are just some of my favorites. We also have a silverware drawer with built-in separators, two pull-out drawers in every lower cabinet, and a pop-out tray thingie in front of the sink. These are Merillat cabinets, and I really have enjoyed them. Problem is I don't know how to go about getting the missing pieces we need to finish things up. So, Merillat, if you're reading this, we could use your assistance, pretty please. (Uh, for free.)
Also in the kitchen we have our "breakfast area," which is actually our all-encompassing eating area. I love the bay windows where we watch the birds (robins, cardinals, red-headed woodpeckers, bluebirds, and hummingbirds...to name a few). Paul and I picked out this table set from Pier One when we were first married. It has proven itself invaluable. Who knew one day we'd NEED six seats at the table...and on a daily basis at that?! My dream is to have a massive SQUARE table (or round, I suppose) that can fit US and several more (because right now we can't have much company).
The Eddie Bauer highchair you see in the above pic has been one of the best items we've ever owned. It was Saylor's chair, and now Gabriel uses it. It has held up SO beautifully. It has a fabric cover, but I don't use it during this eating stage (aka toddlerhood), so it's stored in the nifty little shelf under the seat. Yep. There's even a storage shelf. Did I mention I really like this chair? Only thing I'd say, though, is after two children have smeared and ground their food into the removable, dishwasher-safe snap-on tray, it might be about time to see if Eddie Bauer can get me a replacement tray. (It's understandably a bit orangey now.)

Hmm...what else? We've got stainless appliances, which I love. I'm NoT in love with my fridge, though. I lost a lot of capacity going to a side-by-side fridge, as opposed to a traditional freezer-on-the-top model. PLUS we had to have "counter-depth." (I didn't even know there WAS such a thing until we went appliance shopping.)

Speaking of...I have to tell you this quick story. So, we're at the appliance store, right? And dude is showing us our soon-to-be refrigerator model, when suddenly my gaze falls on a purely magnificent sight. (I swear I heard angels singing and everything...) Here, let me show you...





TA DAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Did your jaw drop open? Are your eyes watering now? (Or your mouth, for that matter?) Yeah, me too. *sigh* AND it was roughly the same price as the rinky dink model we were about to commit to purchasing! In case you aren't aware of exactly what you are beholding, I'll just fill you in. The door on the left is a freezer. Yes, a full-size freezer right IN your kitchen. The door on the right is the fridge. Top to bottom, nothing but fridge. UH.MAY.ZING. And if I had been building a house, rather than buying an already-built one, I would have said, "Yes, Lord, I SEE your glory shining down on this HUGE dream-of-a-machine. I gladly accept this very obvious BLESSING you've provided for me. AMEN." I am so not into "Name It and Claim It" theology (it's utter nonsense, but that's another time, another post). Still, I think I just may have said, "Frigidaire Built-In Twins. In the name of Jesus, I claim you as MiNe!!"

Haha! At any rate, it was obviously not going to fit into the "box" attached to my cabinetry which was meant for the fridge. So, I kissed it goodbye, bemoaning the fact that we were buying a shoe box compared to a ROOM (as far as capacity goes) and yet spending the SAME money for it. I was more than a little disgusted. Months later, I FINALLY get the joy of visiting my friend Jenny's newly-built home. And guess what was in her kitchen when I got there. I can just hear you now......"Nuh-UH!!" Yep, that's right. There was MYYYYYYY fridge!! I could NOT believe it! Still can't. (If you hadn't noticed.)
Well, that's the kitchen in a nut-shell. You can visit more bloggy kitchens here. And stay tuned for more of "the tour." For now, God bless, ciao, and peace out.