Farmhouse Kitchen Light Reveal

For the love of light, I can now post photos of the light renovations that took place the day after Christmas.  You guys, you have no idea the struggle we have with light in Alaska.  In the summers, we lose track of time and stay up way too late every-single-night, because the sun never tells us to go to bed.  In the winters, most of us wish we could hibernate along with the bears, I’m telling you it’s dark.  Vitamin D deficiency is suffered by all, and trying to do a blog, and take photographs in January, I found out was impossible.  I’ll admit to a few frustrated tears.

Do you remember the three photos of the lights I shared in this post back in January?  I also shared why I believe there is such a Farmhouse Revival and trend going on in the décor realm.  If you’re like me and like to search out the depths of meaning, even in home décor, you may find it an interesting read.

So in February, we went on our annual two-week migration south, to find the sun, and wear sandals instead of winter boots.  Our skin rejoiced in the fact that it could be released from the confines of multiple layers of clothing.  And we came home, to so much more light!  And I started taking pictures again, because lighting, my friends, makes all the difference in photos.

And these lights, make all the difference in my kitchen.  I mentioned before that I love the dimmers on both the recessed lights and pendants.  It is a beautiful thing to not be completely startled with a spot-light like qualities of a fluorescent first thing in the morning.

So if you will remember.  This is how it looked when we moved in, as my eloquent son termed it the “waffle light” (see all the squares?).  It was a fabulous light, 20 years ago when it was last renovated.  But as 20 years goes, it was time for an update.

And this is how our kitchen looks now.

The cabinets were professionally painted (I was 6 months pregnant when we moved), we put new hardware on the cabinets, we bought new stainless steel appliances (both the oven and dishwasher were broken so we opted to just get it all).  And the day after Christmas the lantern pendants and recessed lighting was put in.

We still have a number of things to do.  Honestly, in the blog world, it’s hard to give a glimpse of the middle.  Everyone wants to see and applauds the glorious finished product.  But in actuality, most of us live through years of the process, especially if you’re being faithful to a budget.

So I could hide the kitchen from you, pretend it doesn’t exist until it’s fully renovated.  But the truth is, I don’t know when that will be.  The next plan is to make some faux-antique rustic doors for the two pantry doors on the edge of the kitchen.  (Think Fixer Upper style).  I actually had been thinking about two antique doors before I started seeing Joanna use them a lot this season, so now I drool, every episode over the antique doors, but the style I’m looking for in Alaska is hard to come by!

I desperately want new countertops, quartz countertops that look like marble.  And a subway tile backsplash, along with a farmhouse sink to compliment the cabinets and pendants, of course.  But these will wait.  We are deciding how long we will be living here (I know…don’t ask, my hubby always has ideas).

In the mean time, in the midst of the process, in the midst of things not being perfect and complete, I will rejoice and concentrate on the things that are beautiful.  I am thankful for a large open-concept space to host gatherings of all sizes.  I am choosing to embrace the beauty in the process.

After all, what if, because there was still work left in me, I hid or wore masks to hide the ugly and incomplete?  That may work for a while, but here’s the thing, when we have trusted friends to walk with us, and encourage us, to help us through our own life-renovations, the ones that see the vision beyond the ugly that resides, we have permission to become in the process.  That’s when we can bless the world with the beauty God put inside us, the beauty He set aside for his glory.  If we hid or wore masks all the time, we would be protected, but the world would also be missing out on the blessing of beauty amidst the process.

As always, thanks for stopping by.  May you be blessed today in the midst of the process.

Cheryl

Behind the Lens:

I did this photo shoot on the first day of Spring Break (I know, we’re on to Summer Vacation now).  These cookies have been my go-to-prop cookie for a couple of shoots.  My boys became hovering buzzards.  Lets just say, they won’t be a prop again…