The renovation of Tina's Cucina

So my story goes... when I was contemplating college, I wanted to go to the Culinary Instittue of America in NYC, dad said get your college degree first then we'll talk, 22+years of teaching later, I'm still chasing the dream of wanting to cook for others. I have a traditional 3 bedroom ranch, small kitchen and I'm finally trying to renovate it. However, I'm a single mom, one kid in college and one more a year away from going to college, eldest studying abroad in January, needless to say - no real kitchen budget. So what's a girl to do? Well this girl decided to try and be her own general contractor. Yes, I'll hire people who are experts to do the things I can't, but I'm going to try my best, under the supervision of my 82 year old awesome father. Now keep in mind my dad was an accountant/auditor. Not your typical handyman, but over the years he has had wonderful teachers like my Uncle Ray and neighbor growing up, Andy. He's not afraid to read a manual and follow directions. Now dad's not in the best of health, he is supposed to just sit in the chair in the kitchen and give me directions, it doesn't always go as planned, but we're in it for the long haul and I'm blessed to have him here to guide me and as crazy & chaotic as it is, each time he's here, it's more time we're spending together. Above is a picture of the "Old" kitchen from what was the dining room. Below are a few more from the old dining room. So what happened to the dining room? It moved to a bedroom across from the kitchen. That's a story for another day.
I'm several weeks into the project, but I'll slowly ease you into the story, there's a lot of stories and adventures along the way including trips to a cabinet outlet in Ohio, to Amish country in New Wilmington & Valant, to hours upon hours to with kitchen designers, to me, yes me cutting out walls with a saw zaw, I am much better with kitchen tools like mixers, ice cream makers and bread machines. But if I'm going to make this happen on a tight budget, I've gotta dig deep, do things I didn't think I could do and as when I was a kid, listen to what dad says. :) Stay tuned for the rest of the story....

This pic is from the hallway looking into the kitchen.