My Kitchen Remodel, the Best Faucet Ever & a Giveaway!

Do you guys remember a few months ago when I told you about remodeling my kitchen?
Seems like forever since I whispered that secret to you.
Well, the kitchen has been about 95% finished for a bit of time now, but I have been waiting to share it here with you until every “i” was dotted and “t” crossed. In my world, that could potentially take years, so I decided to share with you the 95%, because that final 5% may or may not ever happen in my lifetime. There’s always something left to do, isn’t there?

Here’s a collage of the “before.” Of course I realized that I forgot to take real “before” pictures until we had already partially torn the kitchen up and unloaded most of the cabinets, so I put together a collage of how it looked at the beginning of the remodel. It isn’t pretty.
I promise I don’t live in squalor.

I’ll start this off by saying that my husband did almost all the work himself, from ripping the old cabinets out, tearing down the wall, reflooring, tiling, and putting up the new cabinets. The only things that we had a little help on were the counter tops and the crown molding. After some research on the subject, it turns out that crown molding is the least favorite thing of all men. Who knew?
Long story short, I love my kitchen.
Here are some more shots:

My husband turned our old enormous pantry into a cute little workspace for me with giant cabinets to store all my props, appliances, etc.

Here’s the before and after:

Don’t mind my desk. I try to keep it neat, but…

Now I have pantry cabinets, which are SO much better. Pull-out drawers!  So much more organized.

We kept all our old appliances. Not ready to upgrade those yet!

The counters are granite and the backsplash is a glass and slate tile.
I went from 9 cabinets to 27 cabinets…isn’t that crazy?  I also gained a bunch of counter space and a little bar area for the kids.

The final touch, the thing that made my heart supremely happy, was the addition of our new faucet: my Moen Arbor with MotionSense in Oiled Bronze. Sigh.

Yeah, yeah, I know you’re all like, “A faucet?” Yep, a faucet.
Not just any faucet, though. The one that I begged my husband for.
He’s not necessarily a “gadget guy,” so upon me mentioning that I wanted a hands-free faucet, he immediately saw dollar signs and made it clear that it “wasn’t in the budget.”
But apparently the Faucet Gods were eavesdropping on our convo, and the very next day I was given the opportunity to receive a Moen Arbor with MotionSense to try out. It was fate, I tell you.

So. My faucet. MY FAUCET.

It honestly couldn’t be any more awesome.
Let me explain: It is a hands-free faucet with two strategically placed sensors.

One sensor is located in the front, perfectly ready for washing your hands.Honestly, every kitchen faucet should have this. The “ready sensor” makes the faucet turn on and off when you place and remove your hands from underneath the spout.
Additionally, there is a second “wave” sensor located on top of the faucet; you wave your hand over it to turn the water on, and wave your hand over it again to turn the water off. This hands-free design comes in especially handy when, for example, you want to wash vegetables or dishes. The two sensors are totally smarty-pants and work completely separate from each other.
Honestly, the faucet is so thoughtfully designed, sometimes I feel like it’s smarter than I am!
Of course, you can still use the manual on and off part of the faucet, but why do that when Arbor with MotionSense works by detecting your need based on the motion of your hands. It’s extremely comfortable to use and easily prevents the spread of dirt and germs in my kitchen so there are fewer chances for cross-contamination.
Am I gushing?
MotionSense is powered by battery pack or optional AC power adapter, so it was super easy to install and came in the exact color I wanted to match my new kitchen. And you can easily set the temperature you want the water to be when using your faucet hands-free.

To be honest, now that we have had the faucet for a while, I don’t know how I would ever go back. Having a hands-free sink is much more efficient for someone who loathes water droplets all over the counter as much as germy germs! If you’re intrigued, you can find more product details as well as where to purchase it by clicking here.

Now, whether you’re remodeling your kitchen or doing little home improvement projects here and there, I have a great giveaway for you!
A $100 Visa gift card! Yay!
Just leave me a comment here letting me know how the Arbor with MotionSense would help simplify your life.
Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 1/15/13 – 2/15/13

Be sure to visit the Moen brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggersí reviews and find more chances to win!