My Brother and SIL's Kitchen Makeover

My brother and SIL live an hour and a half from us. I'd been dying to see their recent kitchen makeover, so I drove the truck up there Friday morning and stayed the night.


My brother was out front when I arrived. He told me to park next to his truck so we could take a photo of our "brother and sister trucks." : )
Here's my adorable brother, Steve, and me. He's the one I told you about...remember the story about him letting me tag along on my bike when he went collecting for his newspaper route?

Love you Steve. : )

You have no idea how many photos I have with my mouth wide open.

Speaks volumes huh? : )

Hey Brother, thanks so much for the hand-me-down shirt. I'm SO stylin' in that outfit!

Okay, on to the fun stuff. Here is the kitchen "before".

Be sure to notice the soffit, which makes the ceiling very low and gives no room to display anything above the cupboards.

My brother has turned into quite the handyman over the years. He learned a lot, a few summers ago, when he helped renovate my mom's house in order for her to sell it.

Out goes the soffit.

Up goes the ceiling.

Notice the space above the cupboards now and the added can lights.

Steve did an excellent job hiding all the seams in the ceiling drywall. He also learned how to do electrical work from my mom's house.

Notice, in the photo above, the fridge placement. The cupboard above the fridge was virtually unusable because of it's location. You'll see later how they solved that problem.

Out go the old cupboards, old linoleum and carpet (which was over the eating area).

My cute SIL, Cindy.

Just can't help himself...always being adorable. : )

Love the beading detail.

Starting to take shape.

Now, the cupboards above fridge are usable. Also, that long slender pantry to the right of the fridge space is full of drawers on rollers. Smart move!

Love the molding on top!

Oooo......aawww.

Now for the CROWNING GLORY! I was with Steve & Cindy the day they picked out their huge slab of granite. What a fascinating experience. An entire warehouse full of slab after slab.

Cindy chose this one and what an excellent choice it was!!!

Up close. A thing of beauty!!

The Big Reveal.

BREATHTAKING!!

Notice the new grey flooring. Beautiful!

Great choice on the three pendant lights!

And great choice on the matching diningroom light fixture.
Way to go guys! No one deserves it more! Love ya...and... your great taste. : )