Tiny House Week Part 4: Not So Tiny Kitchen

I love our kitchen now, but it took a full two years to get to that place.  Whether it was cabinets, or cabinet paint or shelves, we have only been able to finish the kitchen a little at a time and so it took quite a while to get to the point where I could see my original vision coming true.  Folks might think well if it was only $30 or only $100 or whatnot, then why did it take so long to finish?  The simple answer is that if we added up all of the "only $30" expenses of unfinished projects in our house or yard, that total would get big quick.  So depending on available cash flow and seasons and what needed to be done when, we have just been chipping away at everything as best we can jumping from one room to the next or from the house to the yard.  The complicated answer would include all of Clayton's $50 copays, prescriptions and fun things like insurance or flat tires, etc.  Life happens and most of the time the things that you HAVE to prioritize are the ones that are the least fun or satisfying.  Here is a quick look at how far we've come:

These were the only upper cabinets we had until recent months.

I decided I didn't need an apron sink and have no regrets about that, but I LOVE my white cast iron sink.

Between moving in and now, the picture above and below are the only photos I could find of the kitchen.  They were when I was experimenting to see if I wanted to stain the lower cabinets at all.  But I decided the oak wasn't suited for that with the look I wanted.  You can't really even see it with the odd coloration of these photos.

Those days are behind us and YAY for where our kitchen is now, because I love it!  We knew from the beginning that in spite of having a smaller house, we were not going to sacrifice a reasonably sized kitchen.  I enjoy cooking and I almost always have a dog, kid or husband in there with me, so space was necessary.  I also like a rug under my feet in the kitchen and not hard flooring.  Because of that, I designed our kitchen so that a 5x7 rug would fit right in the middle.

Obviously we had to take into account having space to open the fridge, dishwasher or oven, but we had to consider layout first.  The main question was island or peninsula.  We went with the peninsula and though sometimes I think an island would be nice, I'm sure if I had an island I'd think a peninsula would sometimes be nice.  So no regrets.  I also choose to have a counter all one height on the peninsula verses the bar style alternative.  We had the bar style in our last home and I just wasn't the biggest fan of it functionally.

We just added the cabinet closest to the window and the cabinet over the fridge in the last two  to three months.  Both of those have exponentially increased our storage capacity; which was not bad to begin with.  Having those two cabinets makes everything feel so much more complete.  As did the addition of the open shelving in the spring.  Just like the bathroom, I knew I wanted open shelving, but I also knew it needed to be VERY affordable.  One of the more industrial looking DIY options I had found, added up quickly when I went to Lowe's to get materials; so I scrapped that idea and kept looking until I found the iron corbels I used in both the kitchen and the bathroom on eBay.  I think I was able to do the kitchen shelving for less than $45.

One of the projects we have left is to add trim to the area between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling to give the illusion that the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling and the top is simply open.  Eventually, we'll add a backsplash as well.

I do have one kitchen regret.  I wish we had gone ahead and done can lights.  We did the fluorescent because it was cheaper and quicker than the can lights and we were ready to be done.  We can always go back and change that if we ever want, but it certainly isn't a priority and not something that bothers me much.

This picture captures cabinet color best.  A dark blue-gray.

And just to drive on home my point that we have just recently gotten to this "happy place" with our kitchen, we literally just purchased the stools (on clearance) in the last two weeks.  Almost all of our kitchen progress was made between the two year and two and a half year marks.  I cannot even describe how much function we have added to our kitchen in that time.  For example, when I see Clayton sitting at the counter like a big boy eating or doing school stuff, it just makes my heart so damn happy.

The wall opposite the window houses our "drop" station and Clayton's school/food storage area.  Clayton knows where his snacks are all stored, so that way he can go in and out and get them on his own.  And upper storage is always a must for hiding things from the little bugger.  The upper cabinet was in my parent's home growing up all my life and was a buffet/china cabinet style piece of furniture that I had George hang on the wall for me.

So that's it.  That's our kitchen.  DIY from top to bottom with a few projects left:

-Add trim to upper cabinets/ceiling to give a more "finish" appearance
-Add trim/framing around backside of peninsula
-Add trim to window, make a valance.
-Add backsplash
-Add side panels around fridge for more "finished" appearance.

And honestly, it will probably be another couple years before we finish what's left.  But that's OK.  We aren't going anywhere.