FINALLY - my kitchen counter!

i have mentioned several times here on this blog and in comments that we have no kitchen counter space at the Framboise Manor - none! and the kitchen counter that we did have is a piece of crap!

here is what it looked like when we purchased the cottage:



don't be fooled by the pics - the pics look a lot better than in real life! the two drawers on the right barely open and our friend Jimmy fanagled the bottom drawer thing that didn't work at all by putting a hinge on the bottom. and here is another shot:



yes - those are curtains in the upper cupboards. and here is one more shot :



THAT is the entire counter space at Framboise Manor!!! and there is nowhere to put anything!

anyway, here is what my dear friend Barb did to try and make the cupboards prettier - she painted all of those cupboards and the inside too. at the time she painted it - she had hurt her shoulder but she is one determined woman and finished the job. we are so thankful to Barb for all of her hard work.

(oh and i mentioned this before but it needs to be re-mentioned - she painted our entire cottage from top to bottom and that was no easy feat! including 2 large rooms of stucco - STUCCO!!! but she did a brilliant job and we are forever grateful. and hoping that one day she reads this blog!!!) anyway here is a shot of her handiwork:



notice how little counterspace we have???

and we removed the "curtains" that used to live in the upper cupboards - and have since removed the doors - more pics of that will follow in another post.



here is a close-up of the sink that drove me nuts - almost big enough but not quite!



and check out the grout in this tiled disaster!!!



anyway, although we wanted to replace the counter and sink from the moment that we got here - other things kept getting in our way. like - melting snow so that we could flush the toilet. insulating this freezing little cottage. cleaning up the flooded basement. clearing all of the garbage that the previous owner left in the cottage and all over the land. plowing snow down a 130ft driveway (although another big shout out goes to Jimmy and our friend Barney who came several times to plow us out - thanks guys!).

so here is the ugly thing, with doors and drawers removed and getting ready to leave. it now lives out in the yard and does make a fantastic outdoor kitchen area.



and here is our tiny little wonder stove getting ready to be moved to the driveway for a good scrub.



yu-hikes. THAT was a nice mess to clean!



bahahahah - you thought i was kidding about the stove in the driveway - silly you!



i scrubbed that baby using my home-made scrub - and my home-made scrub is so cheap you wouldn't believe it! if anyone is interested in the recipe - let me know.

anyway - on to the mess that was left after removing the old counter:



we dusted and vacuumed and cleaned all of that area too! what a mess!

so here is the new counter - isn't it beautiful?



voila! new, custom-built counter that cost WAAAY too much. but we all live and learn! based on our experience AND the cost of that bottom counter, we have decided to leave the top cupboards as they are. but we plan to paint them a crimson red to match our new sink - oh wait - you haven't seen the new sink yet - teehee - wait until you see it - it is absolutely gorgeous!

here is us cutting the new countertop that matches the kitchen floor - i love it!



and here it is installed with big, heavy things to hold it down and make the glue set.



did you notice that the counter has 4 drawers and 3 cupboards? imagine - i am in hog heaven!

now get ready for it! are you sitting comfortably? before you look at the next pic, make sure that you have nothing in your mouth like coffee or tea or soda - otherwise there is a chance that you may spit all over your computer screen and keyboard. YES the sink IS that beautiful. please hold back on your envy and jealousy.



GAAAA! we installed a new cupboard, a countertop AND a sink - we are like DIY wonderkids! LOOK at that BEAUTIFUL DOUBLE SINK!!!!!



and here it is with the faucet and spray-nozzle attached. oh i love this sink!



and here is the plumbing! did you notice ALLLLLL of the room that i now have under my sink?



and here is the beautiful hardware/handles that we chose.



i finally have a sink, complete with drawers that work and cupboards AND a countertop! who knew how such a thing could change a person's life. but i am soooo happy with my sink - teehee - i think that you can all tell how happy i am!