It must be January.

Every new year, I get the bug to change things in our home. The little things that have bothered me since we moved in or huge things, it doesn't really matter. I get a need for change. One year, we finally painted over the horrid sponge painting the previous owners had left us. Last year was stellar. I was pregnant and nesting in addition to having my normal January urges. We ripped out the carpeting and refinished the wood floors, tiled the backsplash in the kitchen, put new faucets in the downstairs bathroom and repainted the upstairs.

Last night, I was sitting at the kitchen table just before putting the children to bed when the January bug hit. It hit hard. I suddenly knew just how I could redo my kitchen to expand my counter and cupboard space with minimal time and cost. The closet redo that Luis did for me in the fall was not enough. I still wanted more counter space.

After a quick consult with Luis, in which he naturally agreed with me and even expanded upon the idea (January hits him too), I had a plan. Unfortunately, Luis was not supportive of starting a kitchen redo at 9:30 at night after I had the baby to sleep. I was awake for hours last night, arranging and rearranging things in my mind. I even got up at 2 am to go downstairs and measure something out.

There was a small snag with counter top widths, but that will be okay. One new counter top won't be too much. Okay, one new counter top and and two hanging cabinets. Plus a half wall that Luis wants to construct. Nothing at all, really. Right?

We rearranged the cabinets after dinner tonight, and I changed the orientation of the kitchen table. I will have to get a new counter top as soon as possible, but the hanging cabinets can wait a little if necessary. We ended up dividing up the room, but I like the functionality, and I am going to finally have more functional counter space and more room in my cabinets. Hurray!

Oh what fun January brings around here. Home Depot and Menards love us when the New Year comes.