A gift & a tour

The four lovely ladies of 4 Moms, 35 Kids are hosting a tour of kitchens & dining rooms this week. 

I couldn't wait to join in, as the timing couldn't be better for me.  My dear and wonderful and dedicated, hard-working husband just recently finished redoing our entire kitchen/dining area.  Because he did most of all the work, we decided we should call it an anniversary gift.  I've been waiting to reveal the finished project until our anniversary, which is today.  So, anniversary, kitchen tour, blog party... see?  Love the timing.

Now, on with the show.  Here are some before pictures.  This Christmas, when I was hugely pregnant, my beautiful sister Kristin came to make cookies with the boys.

What?  You don't see Kristin?

Here she is.. having to peek under this big wall of cabinets. 

So sweet of her to come spend some time with her nephews.  Not that Dale is getting to actually SEE much of her...

In addition to the low-hanging cabinets being an annoying problem, we also had worn out hinges, so that most of the doors were partially open all the time.  See?  And, all the hardware was old and discolored, so we had lots (and lots) of black drawer pulls and knobs, like little black eyeballs.  See?

So, Big Daddy Buffalo got to brainstorming.  He got out his ruler and his pencil....

...took off the doors, got out his saw, and got busy. 

A few weeks, lots of sawdust, and a couple of gallons of paint later.......

We can SEE!!!  

The storage that was lost from the removed cabinets was replaced by the new ones he hung just next door, in the laundry room.  It is a little further to walk, but with some rearranging we were able to put the stuff in that room that we aren't constantly reaching for.

Here's how he finished it off, with a new light and some decorative shelves:

I knew this whole remodeling thing was coming down the line, and kept saying I was going to decorate with roosters.  My mom told me about this nifty little clock for cheap at the dollar store.

A little spray paint, and....

Mom also gave me these pretty rooster pictures:

Besides being the primary wrangler caretaker for all three boys and working around the mess to keep meals on the table during all of this, my only other contribution to the whole process was the cabinet knobs.  Instead of replacing all 147 20 or so of them, which would have cost a pretty penny, I spray painted the old ones a bright satin-nickel.  They might as well be new... I love how they turned out!  Perfect match with the new hinges, which now keep the doors closed, thank-you-very-much!

It was easy to find drawer pulls to match.  We decided to replace the old ones since they looked a little dated and tended to catch in your pants pockets and rip seams.  Details, details.  While we're down here looking at drawer pulls, I want to show you this:

It's a jumbled up mess, but it is one of the best things we have done. (If I stop to think about it, I think it was my genius husband's idea.  He has been on a roll!)  Moving the plates, bowls, & cups to the lower cabinets instead of the ones up above has enabled even the shortest buffaloes to help set the table and empty the dishwasher.  It's been that way for several months now, and so far (knock on wood) not one dish has been broken. (Whaddya bet I'm back before the weekend is up with pictures of broken dishware?)

Thanks for stopping by!  I'm so happy to share our kitchen and show off my man's hard work!  You can see more of our dining / school area in this post.

*Thanks to those who asked about our paint colors in the school area post.  The walls are Kilz "Cowboy Hat".  The cabinets are Kilz "Spiced Sugar".  Both came from Walmart. :)