HGTVing It Part I

At the end of House Hunters, if it's a really good one, they show the house hunters in their home several months later. Inferior episodes show them merely two weeks later and that's no fun because they haven't had any time to make improvements. I get so bummed when they say, "We closed on the house a month ago and we just moved in on Tuesday." What? You've got nothing to show me! You don't even have your furniture moved in! Why do I want to see you sleeping on an air mattress?

But in an ideal situation, they've been there long enough to redo the kitchen, knock down a few walls, and rip up that awful carpet. I always think, how do they do it? All that money, all that effort, all those paint fumes. And sometimes, they even do the work THEMSELVES!

Frank and I have never been renovation people--not because we don't have lots of things that we'd like to change in the FOUR houses we have owned--but because we're not handy and we're too cheap. Well, actually Frank is too cheap. If it were up to me we'd be knocking down walls too. (Professionals would be, at least).

But in this house we're acting like our favorite house hunters--we've done one big project and are in the middle of a second. Before we moved in we had the carpet ripped up and dark hardwood floors put in. That wasn't so hard because we didn't live here yet.

And now we are two days into a kitchen cabinet renovation! For the two months we have lived here I have dreamed of changing those cabinets but I thought, "No, we already did that big floor project. There is no way we can paint the cabinets too." But then Popsy painted our island and not only did it look fantastic but it made the rest of the cabinets look pitiful. This worked in my favor cause Frank noticed too.

The next thing I know I got a green light on painting the cabinets. Well, it might have been more like a yellow light with Frank saying, "Hmmm…maybe the cabinets would look good if we…"

"I'll call people tomorrow!" And I did. They said they could start right away. (I think Frank may have gotten steam rolled.) Now WE have a home improvement project to show off on HGTV (should they call). Check it out!



BEFORE (So they look okay here but don't be fooled. They're photogenic. Up close they have these areas of laminate making them look like they are from Ikea.)

But we love the layout, including this little desk area, so we knew there was potential.

Also love the big windows over the sink! And check out the island that Popsy painted and bead boarded.

DURING: Frank says, "So let me get this straight. You gave the guys half the money and they took our cabinet doors?" 

They had our cabinet doors for about six days when they called and said, "We're coming tomorrow! Can you move everything out of your kitchen tonight?" So we did. This gave me moving flashbacks. 

Now our entire kitchen is in our dining room!

These chairs and end tables will totally keep the kids out!

Today they prepped the kitchen for painting. My job was to keep the boys away. They were very excited to come home to this. Leo said it is the "Coolest. Thing. I. Have. EVER. Seen." He's only been around 6.5 years so that is quite possible. 

 Stay tuned in a few days for Part II when we do the big reveal. I like these projects so much more when they're done with them in 22 minutes!