Move and Shake

Excitement!  Moments ago we just came to an amazing decision! We have been pricing all of our kitchen cosmetic updates for weeks. We were pretty stoked about the pretty new counter tops, tiling our own back splash, learning to tile a floor, etc...but at the same time we couldn't stop wondering out loud to each other how difficult it might be to tear down the half wall in order to make our kitchen bigger,open concept, with our farm style dining table floating in the middle.  The toss up is to remodel the shit out of the house that we live in, planning to stay here for the long haul, or do the cosmetic updates that will sell the house in a few years so that we can upgrade (and find things in the new house to change).  But tonight as I was browsing through local real estate listings...yes I still do that occasionally...hush...I found a home for sale (in our neighborhood) that had the kitchen that I have been daydreaming about, in a house that has a practically identical layout to ours.  It is possible that said kitchen even looked like ours at some point, or maybe it was built that way. Regardless,seeing the photo allowed me to envision exactly what ours would look like if that damned half wall was destroyed, and we added more counter space and cabinetry.  I had to interrupt Kayla from her book to share the photos. In a typical 5 minutes or less brainstorm session we came up with a plan for knocking out a wall, moving a fridge and a sink,expanding the pantry and essentially changing the look and functionality of our kitchen all together.  As we mapped it out from our lazy perches on the sofa, our minds seemed to simultaneously make themselves up.  We will do it.  We will slowly turn this house into  the best space for our personal living habits and we will stay here.  Indefinitely.  It requires a little more patience and money, but ultimately more satisfying in the long run.  In the short run we can still DIY the shit out of our smaller endeavors.  We have a patio to finish, some foundation to stain and some light fixtures to replace.  Move and shake!  Kayla is "nose back in book" and I am signing off for the night.