Home Family Stories Our Kitchen and Family Room Remodel

Our Kitchen and Family Room Remodel

by Jamie

Hello, dear reader and welcome to a post about the home remodel job my family and I have been up to our eyeballs in, over the past few months. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this past December my family and I moved from our beloved Herriman to the wonderful city of Layton, Utah which is about an hour away.  We bought a house that needed some updating and remodeling, because that’s what  highly intelligent/tremendously wise people do in the middle of December who also own a daughter attending high school and two sons in the 5th grade. Seriously, if you would have told me last year at this time that we would be moving I would have told you “No. Way.” Especially not in December. Especially not with a high school aged daughter.

But, the Lord had different plans for us all and who am I to argue with that. Truly. 🙂

Here is a peek at the remodel job…

I wish I had a better “before” picture of this room. I snapped this with my phone the day before these walls came down. Must have been in a hurry. 🙂 Behind that wall is the kitchen, which was (obviously!) closed off from the rest of the room. We wanted more of an open feel. So, down the walls came.

This cute son of mine felt especially proud of himself for kicking several holes in the wall in an effort to bring the old girl down. It’s not every day your Dad gives you permission to kick a hole in the wall. He loved it.


After the walls came down, we pulled out the old carpeting…


…and this old wood floor.

What a job that ended up being!

This is my oldest son Mark, and two extended family members who helped us get the wood floor up. This picture was taken on the day we moved all of our belongings from Herriman into the basement of the new house. To our wonderful surprise we had many, many family members show up to help us move in. With so many helpers working our belongings were unloaded quickly. Our family assured us they were willing to work for many more hours. They grabbed tools and pulled up nearly all of this old wood floor. Such a blessing!

This old island got pulled out that day as well. Thank goodness!

“Many hands make light work”…as my mom has always told me.

We started working to install a new wood floor that would run all the way from the family room to the kitchen. We chose a “floating” floor made out of bamboo. We wanted something that wasn’t too dark, or too light. We’ve been super happy with the result!

The kids helped a lot with the project and that was super great.

We also had this sweet friend, Ryan Schut volunteer to help us. This man can really lay wood floor, in a fast hurry. We were so grateful for his help!

This is how it turned out!

We opted to keep the original cabinets that run along the perimeter of the kitchen.

They are certainly old and perhaps a bit out of style but they are in great condition and I didn’t have the heart (or energy or budget) to rip them out. Maybe in 10 years when we have had a good long rest. 😉

I wish you could see the view out these kitchen windows. It really sold us on the house.

For the island, we opted to go for  Antique White cabinets and a lighter granite that could go well with the color of the perimeter cabinets and counter-top. We figured if we went pretty neutral over all, things would blend well.

We used the old island cabinets to make this desk area. I’m so glad we did. This is my favorite spot, for sure. That view…

***Some of you have asked about these chair “footies”. We got them at Amazon and they are fabulous. You can see them HERE. They really help keep the floor from being scratched by the wooden chairs.

This move has been a leap of faith for us. It’s not a small thing to leave your home, friends and community of 15 years. However, the people here in Layton have been super welcoming and kind to us. We now live close to my sisters and a several sisters-in-law and that has been amazing.

This is my daughter Emily, who started school at a new high school (mid-semester!) and has been beyond brave through it all. Change can definitely be a challenge and we’ve had our fair share of it this year. However, it can also be really great. I’ve seen this girl grow so much over the past few months. I’m proud to be her mama.

Also, please don’t be fooled by these adorable Christmas decorations. While we were in the middle of the remodel my new next door neighbor brought over this wreath and two lighted Christmas trees for my porch. She said “Don’t worry about decorating the inside of your house this year. These will be enough. You’ve got your hands full in there.”

She was right. We did.

We’re so happy that it’s mostly done. We still have a few areas to work on throughout the house, but at least this main living area is finished. Hooray!

Thanks for dropping by today! Hope you have a great one. 🙂

Leave a Reply to Melinda Cancel Reply

18 comments

Linda February 21, 2018 - 10:47 am

Your new home is absolutely beautiful!! I think your family did a wonderful job! Change is difficult at times but I feel ya’ll did good. God is just amazing with his timing of things. Never doubt always have faith.

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Jamie February 22, 2018 - 6:24 am

Thanks, Linda!

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Kathleen February 21, 2018 - 10:48 am

It looks wonderful. I am intrigued by the “footies” on your barstools! What and where did you get them, if I may inquire ?

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Jamie February 21, 2018 - 11:52 am

Hi Kathleen,
We got the little “footies” at Amazon. Here is a link…http://amzn.to/2EKeNfC
We love them!
~Jamie

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Kathy McIntyre February 21, 2018 - 11:23 am

Your home looks beautiful! Leaps of faith are testing but always in the end are the best thing for us!
I moved 2/3 of the way through my junior year from a small rural high school to a HUGE high school in Mesa AZ, by far the hardest thing I ever have done. I was so lonely and sad but I soon found a best friend that I’m still close to 40 years later.
Wishing you all the best in your new home and life!

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Jamie February 22, 2018 - 6:24 am

Thank you, Kathy. 🙂

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Tabatha Priestley February 21, 2018 - 4:05 pm

Beautiful Jamie! Our community and stake misses you but we still feel privileged to be blessed by your updates and progress. Thanks for sharing this! My sister also has a successful blog in Kaysville near you! And she is currently updating her kitchen too. 😉 http://www.makinglifeblissful.com

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Jamie February 22, 2018 - 6:24 am

Tabatha,
Thanks for your sweet words. We miss you all as well. Thanks for sharing your sisters blog with me. Looks great!
~Jamie

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Jacqui February 21, 2018 - 7:16 pm

Beautiful, Jamie! Thanks for sharing!!

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Jamie February 22, 2018 - 6:22 am

Thank you!

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Cheryl Newton February 21, 2018 - 7:38 pm

I bet refinishing those cabinets would do the trick. (Says the woman still living with builder-grader bathroom cabinets for almost a decade!)

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Jamie February 22, 2018 - 6:22 am

Cheryl,
Agreed! I bet it would…now to find the energy…;)
Best,
~Jamie

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Amy February 22, 2018 - 9:37 am

Congratulations! It looks amazing! Hard work pays off;)

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Ann Alger February 22, 2018 - 11:33 am

Thank you for the beautiful tour of your lovely home. That did take a exercise in faith, but turned out perfectly. Enjoy your new adventures.

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Jamie March 2, 2018 - 6:35 am

Thank you Ann!

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Melinda February 22, 2018 - 4:27 pm

I love a good remodel! We remodeled our home before moving in and it was way more taxing (mentally, physically, emotionally) than I was prepared for, but it was so worth it. Your home looks beautiful!

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Jamie March 2, 2018 - 6:35 am

Melinda,
Thank you!
~Jamie

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Candace February 23, 2018 - 2:07 pm

Great improvement!

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