Thursday, August 6, 2009

Rockwood Kitchen-Before and After

The first two photographs here are from the kitchen when we first purchased the Rockwood house. Notice the missing plumbing, dishwasher and frig. Odd place in ceiling that also runs down the wall. The base cabinet ends about a ft sooner than the upper cabinet. Although you can't see it here, there was no hot water heater, not to mention there was no water supply to the house. We think it must have been on well, but to this day we still have not found the well.
The floor was not all there, some sub flooring, and some 'nothing'. The stove was a 'drop in' style. The counter tops and back splash were made together. Notice the raised up spot in the corner. And the chrome color on the counter top was a built in blender. The cabinets were actually in alot worse shape than you can see here. I thought we would have to gut the whole kitchen, but Jimmy had a vision. He sanded the cabinets, and cleaned (and cleaned, and cleaned) the hardware. Took out the back splash and the counter tops. Gone was the built in blender too. When he had the new counter tops made they made the raised corner again, it was because the cabinets are deeper than cabinet corners are now. I got the photos out of order, but this is one of the 'after' photos. Notice we did away with the drop in stove/oven. Jimmy added a small base cabinet to even it up with the upper cabinet. He built the wood across the ceiling, down the wall and the base shelves at the end of the cabinets you see in this photo.
A close up of the ceiling with the damage from where the previous owners had removed whatever had been there. The rest of the ceiling was textured, so we had to do something there or redo the whole ceiling. The holes have wiring for lights....
So we picked out a light and Jimmy went to work designing this.
He had to piece the wood addition all around the Nutone Intercom System that does still operate all through the house. Notice the brick back splash. It is all the way around the cabinets, and it does really look good. John saw it yesterday and said we need to do this at home he liked it so well. Yep, my butterflies are also in Rockwood.
Another view of the shelf unit Jimmy made.
For those of you that have always been followers you will know the rest of this story, but I have some new blogging buddies so I will retell this for them. My husband's job moved 92 miles from our home. He had 5 years until retirement, so we had to do something. We found this Fannie Mae house, and I refer to it as "going to Rockwood". We bought it in November 2008, and could not even sleep in the house until January. Didn't have a functioning kitchen until June of this year. I have now cooked dinner there 4 times. The kitchen is coming together for us and it makes the house seem more like a home. As much as was wrong with the house, it actually is a very nicely built home and is very structurally sound.
To add to the mileage, I work evening shift and Jimmy works day shift. My job is 30 miles from home and 55 miles from the house in Rockwood. Since he is asleep when I get there I only go once or twice during the week. We have only spent 2 weekends there, one being this last weekend. Jimmy is working long hours right now, as they are trying to bring the new 'brick' plant on line, so I have actually been going a little more than usual.
Since we had to find a home away from home I am glad we found this one. Also glad Jimmy got most of the time consuming work completed before he started working the long hours on the job. About all he is doing now is working and sleeping.
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17 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Leedra, Jimmy did a fabulous job on that kitchen! His "vision" was spot on. Those cabinets shine and the new wood ceiling and shelf area fit perfectly. I'm so glad you have a place to be together until his retirement.

Will you be able to retire in five years too?

Susie said...

He's done a great job remodeling Leedra. How talented he is.

I love your pictures of all the different butterflies. That's beautiful!

Dorothy said...

Good Morning Leedra,
Looks like Jimmy did a great re-do on the kitchen!! It turned out beautifully! We always have to have those butterflies. ☺

Sunny said...

Your kitchen looks really nice, remodeling is such a project! I like what you did to cover the ceiling and the brick looks good.
Sunny :)

Mary said...

Looks great! What a time it must have been without a funtioning kitchen! You are right that the kitchen seems like the heart of a home. The job situation is tough right now. I'm glad you both have work even if not an ideal situation. Hang in there!

Darla said...

That's a lot of work there! Looks great and you know I had to enlarge the butterfly photos and drool for a minute!

Jen said...

Very impressive job! I hope he gets a chance to enjoy it soon.

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

A lot of work,but the end result is worth it.
Blessings,Ruth

Amanda said...

Wow it looks like hard work but so worth it!

Unknown said...

I love remodeling! I'm weird like that!

Dawn said...

A nice job with the cabinets, you can really tell the difference. Your hubby must be very creative to turn a problem into a solution. Great kitchen!

Anonymous said...

That kitchen looks great. I noticed the frame with all your pretty prints too.

Clara....in TN said...

Leedra, I enjoyed reading about the Rockford house. Is that real brick behind the counter? I love that look. Jimmy has done a fantastic job.

Leedra said...

Clara - It is real brick, but it is the thin brick made to for walls.

tina said...

I didn't know the story so I am glad you told it. My husband and I had a similar thing happen to us. The Army moved him 114 miles from our home and we too had to buy a little house. Little being the imperative word. It was tough but we commuted for nearly four years. Thankfully the Army brought him back here to Fort Campbell but these things are tough and jobs are important. Before you know it the commuting and toughness will be behind you. The kitchen really is quite pretty with all that wood. He did a good job on the cabinet and your photos look great.

Leedra said...

Bird Girl - Our home is in New Market, Tennessee. We were building our home 3 years ago, and had only been it in one year when they started shutting down his plant in Knoxville. Two years have passed, so maybe the next four won't be too bad.

Unknown said...

The kitchen is gorgeous. Jimmy did a great job. I love the brick wall. Jimmy also did a great job on the shelf.

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