Happiness Unexamined: How We Celebrated Our Anniversary- Part Three: Let There Be Light (and cabinets and counters and paint)

Previously

When we last left off, we had knocked down half a wall, and then patched it back up. Here's some photos to jog your memory, if you didn't feel like clicking the link up above.

Okay, so. Down went the wall, goodbye went the gallery frames, and we tossed our pantry to the wind (just kidding. It's currently sitting in a corner in the dining room. Eventually it might make it down to the laundry room or garage, but don't hold your breath). We were left with a giant cardboard box filled with our chips and cereal, and a whole lot of patchy walls and open/empty electrical sockets.

With a wave of the magic wand, however, all of that has changed! The electrician bounced in and fixed some things (the wall socket things were way too low for the level of the counter), then the drywall guy came back and patched some things, and then the cabinets/counter dudes came and installed... well, the cabinets and counters. Scott and I were in the process of painting the space when the electrician showed up again to put on the plates and hang our lights, and then suddenly without any warning, we were done! Well, mostly. There's still some painting to do, and some plates to purchase, but good news- we have cabinets! And counters! And the whole space is so open and bright! NO MORE SPLIT LEVEL KITCHEN!

First of all, our fancy cabinets. They aren't just any cabinets, OH NO. As you can see, there are two big drawers, and regular cabinet with a shelf- and then a middle/corner cabinet that is ACTUALLY a lazy Susan, and a pull out drawer that holds two- count 'em, TWO- trash cans. Jack is a huge fan as well. Jack actually loves this whole situation, because now he can sit on the ledge and survey the front door, deck door, living room, dining room, kitchen, and hallway from one spot.

We also painted the kitchen! No more of that beigey-bleh color that was all over the house. It's a shade lighter than the living/dining room, and is the same color as the hallway and bedroom.

Our new lights. This was kind of a super spontaneous add-on. When the electrician first came to the house, he asked if we wanted any lighting up there, and I said, "ummm.... SURE!" He asked how many and my response was "umm..... two?" So now we have two lights. And I LOVE them. The colors are not as bright in the photo as they seem in person, but I think they perfectly pull all of the spaces together- there's the blacks and browns that match the counters, the yellowy color is like the sunflowers I have in the kitchen, and the blue pulls in the blues I have in the living space.

Lots more counter space! We were able to hide some appliances in one of the new cabinets, and brought some of the others out onto the new island for an all over more spacious area.

More pic spam: