answers

it was so nice to hear that you all agreed the afters were better than the befores
of our kitchen remodel.
ha ha ha.

you had lots of questions and i have lots of answers.

how long did the remodel take?  

3 months...november - january.

how did you survive?  

we moved the refrigerator into the living room...set up a folding table also with throw away utensils
and the microwave...and that was what we used.  
it was kind of crazy but so much changed in the new kitchen everyday that it was exciting.

how did you decide what you wanted? 

we remodeled our kitchen LAST in our home in illinois and then we moved.
all that work and money and we didn't even get to enjoy it.  so when we bought this house we decided
we would do the kitchen FIRST because it is the most important room to us.
i knew i wanted the exact same cabinets i had in my IL. kitchen.
i had a baby at home so i spent hours and hours sitting and dreaming up what to do.
and i had years of magazines pictures in a file that i used to put it together.

did you design it?

yes.  i designed it all.  i like to draw so i gave my detailed drawings to the cabinet guy brad and our contractor bernie and said " do it like this".  
i wonder where those are now???

can we move in?
 
that depends...are you good at laundry?  cooking? cleaning?  i may consider it if you are....

is that a real chalkboard or just chalkboard paint?

it is an old school chalkboard...running the other way...from a garage sale.
(sarah has the paint on the wall and it looks great too...so if you can't find a huge chalkboard at a  
garage sale...do what she did!)
the kids' dinnertime chores are written way at the top.

what kind of dog is that?

waffle is a golden doodle...half poodle/half golden retreiver.  and he needs a haircut.
they do shed and i don't know if they are hypoallergenic.
but if his hair is short...there is practically no shedding at all.
our friends had one liter of these in 2008.
this entire liter of puppies is the happiest bunch of dogs i have ever seen!
but they aren't having anymore puppies unfortunately...and i don't know anyone else to find one for you.
check your classifieds or google golden doodles in your area.
(those are the most frequent questions i am asked about waffler)
 
how did you have the patience for a kitchen remodel?

craig and i are a good team.  
he likes my designs (at least he says he does)...he is very flexible and encouraging with my vision/ideas.
i really like how hard of a worker he is.
we both like to get good deals.
and we take our time figuring out what we want.
and he is such a good painter!  he is so detailed.
so much so that he's asked me to stop painting a few times...because i was so messy he wanted me to go.
 
working with all men (contractors, electricians, plumbers, carpenters) can be a challenge because i don't like confrontation and i really don't like being treated like a dumb girl.
and that happens every once in awhile...but not too much.
i know what i want when it comes to my home down to the last detail.
so that caused some tension for me sometimes...and of course...tears because i am a girl.
but other than that...it doesn't take too much patience when you are so excited.
bernie, our contractor, showed up EVERYDAY and worked all day till the job was finished.
he rocks.
he never made me cry.  :)

and i have a few kids around here to distract me...helping with the patience. 

what made you decide to put in the wall of windows?

that side of the room was previously a porch.
in the 70's or 80's the homeowners enclosed it with 12 skinny tall windows and a door.
none of them worked anymore.  
we decided to use 6 big windows and closing up the space where the door had been...
gaining 3 more feet of counter space in the process.


the wall with wood slats is gone and a steel support beam is in it's place.
the door on the left is now a wall (with the red EAT letters)
the floor was cement on this half and slanted because it was a porch.
it had to be leveled and then the wood floor laid down across both rooms. 

stop looking at my dirty dishes!  
   
do your wood floors stand up well to high traffic?

yes.
i am in love with wood floors.
we have no carpet i our entire house...and only 2 rugs.  one of them came with the house!
they are scratched in a few places but i don't mind.  
and i HATE to vaccuum.

how should i paint my cabinets?

these are all new cabinets painted by the cabinet makers....so i can't help you with that.

where did you get your slipcoverd sofas?

the white ones are from world market.  the blue is an old couch from our IL. days...

what color is the paint on your walls?

you know...in the mess of the remodel we threw out the can.
after we'd used literally every single drop and we don't know what color it is!  
that is BAD.      
it is a creamy off white...just different enough from the bright white cabinets to show a difference.
it's not yellow.

where did you get your chandeliers?

chicago jenny gave me one for our IL kitchen.
she had taken it out of her house and it was sitting in her garage!!
she walked into our new kitchen and started laughing and called her husband in to show him
my new light i had bought at the flea market.  identical to hers...that she was getting rid of.
so when we moved to kansas she gave it to me as a going away gift. :)

best gift ever.
so i had two chandeliers that were nearly the same.  
yes...i took my light from my IL. house.  we put in a different one though...

some of my friends were here yesterday baking for their friends fundraiser...it was a blast.
but you can see the chandelier.
(and i need some more globes...any one have one they don't want anymore   :) 

i find chandeliers at antique stores and flea markets.  
my friend diana gave me one from her dining room and it's in my bathroom.
they were all brass and i spray paint them white.
  
should i take my cherry cabinets out and put in white?

that quesiton is too big for me.
it's a personal preference.  you want to be happy in your home...so you have to decide that for you.
i like cherry too...they are pretty. 

where did you get your roman shades?

a little place called the home depot. 

how do you keep the white cabinets so clean?

ha ha ha.
now that is just funny.
right now i can see spaghetti sauce...footprints...hot cocoa splatters...all kinds of gunk on them.
you just have to wipe them off like everything else.
but you can use clorox clean up at least.  
and annie loves to use cleaning wipes...often the cabinet cleaning job goes to her on saturday mornings.

what kind of appliances do you have?

the dishwasher is a kitchenaid from best buy.  it's great!  it get used every single day 365 days a year.
(except i guess you aren't supposed to put pieces of broken glass or bobby pins in them...who knew?)
the cooktop and double oven are Jenn-Air and we bought them off ebay.
one was a floor model with a scratch and one was an older model...but still looked great to us.
the refridgertor is GE and we got it at sears.
the microwave is GE from home depot.

do you help people with decorating dilemmas?

no one has ever done what i suggest.
ever.
so i will say no.  

can we see the rest of your house?

no..it's too messy.
just kidding.  there is a photo album in the left sidebar...if you haven't seen that.
but i do have a few more before and afters to show sometime. 
but the afters are too messy to show you today.     

so that is that.
any other questions? 

Comments

[Dianne Avery]

Thanks for taking the time to answer questions!! I'm in the process of moving now and will likely do a kitchen remodel in our next house. Now I know who to ask if I need help. :-)

[Laura Phelps]

Well, alright then, I can move in by Saturday, because I not only clean, cook and do laundry, but I am a great baker, birthday party thrower,babysitter, and just fun to have around for comic relief.
I have so obviously won.

See ya on Saturday.

[Dana Banana]

questions, comments, ideas......gossip?
Oh yeah, we aren't in high school anymore.

[Cassie]

why do i feel like i missed out on a fun party yesterday?!? :) i guess i was baking away, too...just in a much uglier kitchen!

[Michelle]

I would give you globes if I had any :) . . .was at Legacy Antiques in Wichita yesterday though and several booths had some. . . not bad prices either!

[Karina]

Laura Phelps beat me to it - I was going to say I actually enjoy doing laundry and I'd be there tomorrow if it weren't for my husband and three children who might object. Unless I can bring them with me...?

I have been scouring our real estate listings ever since I first stumbled across your blog (almost a year ago now), looking for just the right mansion for us to move in and renovate. So far nothing under a million (with renos), which, last time I looked, wasn't sitting in our bank account. Bummer.

So all in all, I must continue to live vicariously through you. Please post all the before and afters you can think of - no detail would be too insignificant for me. I absolutely love your style and looking at gorgeous home decor, especially older character houses, but anything will do (I love inspiration for decoration dot com, I'm sure you've been there).

[Foy (Garden Cook Write Repeat)]

ha! excellent answers.

I've always thought "I'll do my ktichen remodel before I move into my house." This assumes both that I will buy a house and beable to afford an apartment for the three months the remodel takes. Bloody unlikely. I will probably rent an RV and travel while someone else masterfully remodels my kitchen... ah pipe dreams.

[Jessi]

First of all, I love your before & afters, especially the afters :)
Second, I just wanted to tell you that I get so excited to see when you have a new post up. Your blog, your posts, just everything about you and your family and your life puts me in such a great mood.

[amy d]

ok, i must object to your decorating advice answer...if it weren't for you i would of never, ever had the ummm...GUTS to paint our woodwork white in the bedroom, nor would my craig had ever gone for it unless he had seen first hand how much brighter it could make a room. to be honest neighbor i thought you were CRAZY for painting over all that beautiful woodwork in your house, but i get it now...when i look at magazines i am always drawn to the rooms with white trim, so much brighter...so i guess what i am trying to say is... I TOOK YOUR ADVICE!!! :)lol!

[Jess]

Thanks for all the answers. You answered ones I was afraid to ask. I am currently working on getting my kitchen to be more "me". The statement "you want to be happy in your home..." is what I am trying to figure out right now. I've spent waaaaay too much time worrying about what other people would like. I'll be hitting up the thrift stores this weekend!

[misty]

i love this- I just redid my cabinets- i wanted the antique white cabinets for our kitchen but that was out of the budget to replace them- so i went to home depot and asked if I could refinish my current ones to look like those & he said yes!! so here's what I did-

1st primer- then I picked the paint color with the help from the home depot employee- after it dried I applies minwax gel stain to the grooves and wiped it off until it looked just how I wanted it to- then there is a glaze Home Depot sells that you put over the top of the cabinet- we also added crown molding to the top of the cabinets & I LOVE IT- it was very time consuming and I practiced on the BACK of one of the cabinet doors 1st, but in the end it saved us about $8,000.

I LOVE your kitchen and would LOVE to have the space you have!! It's fabulous! I also LOVE LOVE the window you have- I am hoping my husband agrees to cut a hole in a wall and let me put in a pretty window!

[Mother Runner]

nice legs.

[Megan]

Love it. All of it.

Even the dirty dishes... which I didn't even "see".... :)

[denise spillman]

I love your blog!!! It is awesome that you took the time to answer all those questions!! When I am having a bad day I can always look forward to you putting a smile on my face! Thank you

[Kimberlee J.]

Loved this post. I always love the ones with all the questions. :)

Where did you get your bar stools? I'm going to be in need of some about that height soon, I hope.

[Brittney]

wow I just looked through all the photos of your gorgeous home, and I have to say in all the blogs and magazines I peruse, never have I found anything that is so my style - rustic, bright, happy, vintage, strategically cluttered. I think your guest room is my favorite. And I'm with you on the rugs! Everyone is always asking me why I have so few, and I just say "because I don't want to cover up my gorgeous floors!" Anyway I'm hooked on your site girl, and that remodel...you must have the patience of a saint. One question for you: what did you use for your under-the cabinet lighting? I would love to have some. Thanks!

[Jacci]

Looks great :) And thank for the extra info. We dove right into our kitchen right after moving in, too, for the same reasons you gave. We're in the kitchen probably a good 50% of our waking hours. It was *very* important to me that it be light, bright, cheerful, and efficient. We're no where near done (we're working in stages), but the cabinets are **white** now and that's more than half the battle for our space. A wall of windows would be perfect, but I'll have to settle for one big one (within the year).

It's crazy to live in a space while you're working on it, but you're right, all the progress is SO encouraging! :)

~Jacci in Ohio

[Rachel / cREaTe]

toooooooooo funny. love all the questions you got & all the answers you gave. seriously, you are the best kitchen designer around. i'm so impressed with your decisions, reasoning & patience. and the results are out of this world.

oh & i totally have knocked off your jars of treats look. i did that last weekend ... after realizing that i never used the jars for the flour, sugar, etc [i just keep getting it from the bag]. so, put me down for decorating client #1. i totally took that idea ... how much do i owe you? :)

[jodi ruhl]

meg-
how big is the combined spaces (kitchen/sitting area)?
that "before" kitchen looks so small, but the "after" looks so big!
jr

[Ali]

I can't wait to see what you do with the attic!

[Jill]

Thank you for sharing about your kitchen. I am a little bit in love with it. :)

[Jennifer Marmen]

meg-I love your blog! Your photography is amazing and inspiring! I told my girls today that we need to use our cameras more. I have all these empty frames from Ikea sitting around that I need pictures for. One of my goals this year is to start putting pictures up our stairway wall. I love your bathroom remodel....can you tell me the paint color you used in the master bath.....Thanks

[jeana]

I could've said what Karina said. We're still in the process of finding just the right home for us, (a lot based on your home) but loving the one we're in for now. My hubby said we can go ahead and start on the kitchen in Feb! Your house is amazing and I love love love your blog!

[Becky @ Farmgirl Paints]

I love it all! I'm having my honey check it out...for future reference:)

[Niki]

Meg, I loved this post and your last! Your kitchen is SO bright and cheery! I saw this blog and it made me think of you with its bright and cheery colors and photos! You'll have to check it out if you haven't already!

http://happylovesrosie.blogspot.com/

[s.t.]

Love, love, just LLLLOVE your home photos!...esp. your Waffle-super darling! My 4 yr. old would love to have one. But for now, all I could handle is a betta...she named her "Daisy".

[Morgan]

I am watching HGTV "Most bang for your buck" and they are doing great rooms (kitchens with living area). Your area kicks the other threes butt :) you could've won hands down- :) Thanks for sharing your photos

[Lisa Currie-Gurney]

WOW, MEG. I NEVER COULD HAVE SEEN WHAT YOU ENDED UP WITH... YOU DID A FABULOUS JOB. IT LOOKS AS THOUGH IT WAS ALWAYS THERE. YOURS HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY VERY, VERY FAVORITE KITCHEN.
NO KIDDING !

HUGS FROM MAINE

[tasha roe]

where did you live in IL?

[Penny]

I have a litter of Goldendoodles due on Feb 4th. They will be ready for homes by Easter. Check out our web-site! www.adamscreekgoldendoodles.com

[Holly]

Well your house looks great! I have had so much fun with ours...well I guess I continue to have fun with it as it wont be done for a while. I love your use of color through out your house! Very lovely! I do love a good rug though,lol

[Jessica]

My husband says he wants your dog...but I'll take the kitchen ;)

Beautiful!!!

[donna]

I have commented a lot to you.....but I must tell you ONCE AGAIN how much I love your blog. I click on it everytime I get on the computer to see if you updated......I can't stand waiting for your next post. Every hour wouldn't be often enough for me! Anyhow - have you ever considered writing a book? Just about life with lots of pictures...that would be great.

[Loverstylist.blogspot.com]

i just stumbled on your blog and love it! amazing! your kitchen is amazing!
-Becky

[Deputy's Wife]

Thanks for sharing your photos of your kitchen remodel! We start ours Monday. I can't believe I am actually saying that!!! Wahoo!!! I am so nervous and excited!!!

[Vera]

FYI I decided to cover my pantry door with chalkboard paint after seeing pictures of your kitchen last year... but like all of my projects, it was a whim decision with no real planning, made a Hobby Lobby one afternoon, so instead of going out and buying REAL chalkboard paint, I bought the spray paint kind at Hobby Lobby. Then, because I'm just not very smart, I just taped off the edges of the pantry door, laid down some tarp, and sprayed away. Apparently you're not supposed to do that inside, and I almost died. I also coated our entire kitchen in a fine layer of chalkboard paint. And the soles of my feet were black for days. It all turned out fine in the end, it looks good and I survived, but if anyone else wants to do this - take the door off the hinges and take the door OUTSIDE.

[DreamGirlLisa]

Love that you answered all those questions! But, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the notion of a poodle and a golden retriever ( may fav kind of dog) mating!!!!!! lol!

[DreamGirlLisa]

oops, one more thing I forgot, I LOVE to cook, when can I move in? ha ha :)

[traci in virginia]

Yes, a couple more questions! I love your kitchen and how it is so open, airy, happy and friendly. I have white cabinets and am planning to get wood floors this year and new countertops. What color is your floor stain for your hardwoods and what color granite did you choose? I am going to do the floors first and have a terrible time making decisions. I thought I would do my homework!
Thanks for sharing your before and after....it looks great!

[Sophie]

Sigh.... I love your new kitchen/lounge. I want to move in.

[Anita]

Thank you for the honest answer about the white cabinets. I painted mine white in this old house renovation I am in and I am, wonderingif I was CRAZY. I had RED cabinets in my lat house...chocolate smears see to constantly need wiping. Am I the only family member who sees this? I LOVE the kitchen. I had no budget for new cabinets- so I painted them. I am having a giveaway so come visit!

[Shairee bass]

What did you color on your pictures with on your bathroom Under the stairs to get the colors so bright?? Thanks.

[carissa... brown eyed fox]

my dream!
to buy a house... and make it our home.
we have had years of living in homes that do not reflect us.
from the floors... to the doors... and all in between... not us.
i look forward to one day having a home... where the home (the bones of it) reflect us!
aweeeee... i pray one day!

and meg... i am gonna try my darndest to channel your creativity & ingenuity!
what a beautiful design! such a pretty home! every detail... DREAMY!

i really liked seeing the kiddos in the pics... so fun... how they've grown!

[Amber]

Meg...I love how your home has such an eclectic feel (i hope that's a word you would use to describe it)! It is so homey and lived in...very practical and inviting! Your "style" is very inspiring to me!!

Thanks for the post!
Amber

[Kirsten]

Meg - I love that kitchen! We remodeled our kitchen in our old house, and did the same thing - sold it just a few months later. Dang, she got a nice custom kitchen. But it was too small, and the remodel went South in a bad way and took 8 months. Seriously. Just about drove me insane. That's when I started my blog.
Question: where are your counter stools from? It seems like all I can find are $29 Target stools, which my husband says are too cheap...and $299 Ballard Designs stools, which I cannot justify :(

[Janelle]

I want to see bathroom addition pics!

[Michelle Whitlow]

LOVED seeing all the pics!! One question ~ no kitchen table?? I'm assuming you always eat at the island and opted for no table so you had more room??

[Diana]

I have a globe that you plug in and can turn on it's little switch so it lights up... a soft light. It's pretty old... about 25-30 years. I forgot that I have it. Was rearranging some things in a closet and found it a few weeks ago. If I decide at some point that I don't want it anymore, you'll be the first to know. It would match yours. :-)

LOVE that soft blue sofa. Looks like it would be a nice nap place... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Meaghan]

I love what you've done to your home. I like flipping through your photos for ideas. I have a question if you're still answering them... How involved was painting the wood trim you redid? Did you have to sand it all down first?
We have dark oak moulding throughout our old house, and I would love to brighten some of it up, but it seems like a HUGE job, esp having our little ones around. Thanks!

[cynthia]

it's all so lovely....and with a good dose of humor too. you rock!

[lindsey]

love it! thanks so much for all the info. hope you don't mind, but i'm going to have to steal an idea form you: the globes! my husband and i were looking at the pics of your house and he mentioned how similar our kitchens were (very!). but i have the big space above the cabinets that i never know what to do with. you solved my dilemma! now i'm off to find a bunch of large globes...

[Liz]

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. And even better, it is fun and happy and REAL. I love it.

You've answered most of my questions already but I have one more... where is that fun red striped bowl from?

[Bethany]

Great re-do!
Are the floors oak?
Are they engineered or solid wood installed, sanded and finished onsite?