Can you visualize it?

Let the remodeling begin! Or, the "pre" remodeling, that is! We have started to research our kitchen remodeling that we are hoping to do this summer. So, far we've visited Lowe's and Home Depot to get ballpark quotes. Anyone have good or bad experiences with either? Anyone have other recommendations of who to check out?

The sketch above was done by Lowe's. It is kind of hard to get excited about, since it is in black and white, but it is better than what Home Depot offered us (zip). One thing the sketch accounts for is that we plan to knock out our soffit (see below) and have the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling, so that we get the most storage space possible.

For those of you that have been to the house, we have currently have:
• one wall with cabinets
• one wall that COULD have cabinets but doesn't
and
• two walls with doors/windows that will not work with cabinets.

Our options are limited... so, the L shaped configuration is what we will be going with.

Here is a little sketch I did of our current kitchen:


And here is a photo, in case you cannot remember how hideous it looks now:


So far, We've just been searching for ideas and starting to think about budget and timeline.

I saved these pictures below for the cabinet style that I am looking for... I really like the simple slab front. If you notice in the second picture, the wood grain changes directions. I like this, but we've not seen this anywhere. I also like the no hardware look, but I don't know if this is a good idea. Some might suggest that we check out Ikea... however, we are looking for an all wood construction (plywood, no particle board) and I am not sure if Ikea offers that...



On other fronts, Adam has been working furiously on the comic room. Here he is, enjoying his space.



He recently purchased all new comic drawer boxes to house his collection. This method is a far better way for his to store his books versus what he had before (boxes with tops). The drawers allow for easy access to all books, no matter what row they are in. We are planning to build a shelf on top of the box, and then perhaps do something artistic with the fronts of the boxes... tbd.


Also, Adam's parents got him a lovely new lamp for his room. We thought we'd post a video for all to enjoy:



Also, Adam got me this nifty poster for my office:


The band is the Submarines and the poster is by Aesthetic Apparatus. I likey! For those of you Nip/Tuck fans out their, the cast lip sync'd one of their songs, Brighter Discontent, in the final episode of Season 3. It was quite snazzy.

Lastly, muchas gracias to Ray and Missy for this lovely little addition. I think it was meant for the Christmas tree, but he is just too cute to only have out once a year. So, he is perched on the shelf in my office.


Until next time...
Carole (& Adam)