Building our kitchen

Woohoo, so yesterday we spent the day building our new Ikea kitchen.  After much negotiation between my guy and me, we finally chose a kitchen style that we both like that will also work well in our small space.  Our new kitchen won't be very big so we had to figure out what we really needed, how many cupboards we really use and which ones are just filled with everyday crap and how to arrange it so it will give the impression of being larger.  The first thing we did was put hardwood flooring in the kitchen and we ran the boards the long end of the kitchen and extended them right out into the dining room, creating the illusion of more room.  Then we decided to take out a half wall, opening it up again.  We decided that we will put an island on wheels outside the newly removed wall area and put a counter top on it so we can have a breakfast bar as well, so when you look at the space you will also have the illusion that the kitchen is larger because the breakfast bar is outside the main kitchen, looks like it extends again.  If I need it in the kitchen I can wheel it in, if we need it for breakfast or working on the laptop it can stay, and if we are having a party, we can roll it against the wall for a buffet table and make the space even more open.  Finally we asked a good friend to go on the planning tool and design a new kitchen for us.  Yesterday it all arrived and we spent the day putting cupboards together and base cabinets.  By the time we left most of the upper cabinets were in place, the base ones were done and stainless steel fridge and stove were in place!  Today a few more uppers, then on to shelves and doors and stuff and putting the dishwasher in place.  It is coming together and looks fantastic already.  I am so excited and so grateful to all our friends who have been so selfless in helping us with this dreaded renovation!!!  My dream kitchen is coming to reality!