Our Kitchen. The Official "Before" Post

Hi friends! I'm back from a very long, very unintentional blogging break. Not sure what happened there. The only excuse I have is that I've found myself in the throws of the January doldrums and there has been simply nothing exciting to report. The schools were cancelled today and temperatures are in below zero digits and we're facing a weekend of more of the same, but with maybe a foot of snow too. So, in light of this crummy forecast and on top on having absolutely zero plans for the weekend anyway we have decided to tackle phase one of the kitchen renovation starting tomorrow! Actually, that's sort of a lie, we've already done a few things here and there in the past couple of weeks, but the painting starts tomorrow, and that's the biggest part.

So, like any good blogger I put together a nice little collection of "before" photos so we can all marvel at the transformation after it's done one day soon, hopefully soon ;)

These are the official, OFFICIAL "before" photos because these were taken before we even moved in and all of the previous owner's stuff was still in place. (Meaning: please do not judge me for those knick knacks, they aren't mine!)

So the plan going forward is pretty simple. We would love to one day rip out the existing countertops and lay a new floor but that's big money and frankly there are more pressing uses of said money in other areas of the house at the moment so that's why we're calling this "Phase one". So while the floor and counter are certainly not ideal, they're liveable and for now they're staying. Phase one consists of the lighter cosmetic stuff we can do ourselves and on a pretty small budget.

1. Paint everything bright white.

I'm kind of in a white phase right now and I want everything clean and bright and uncluttered. The cabinetry now is painted a creamy, off white shade which doesn't mesh with all the bright white I have going on everywhere else in the house. It has to go. (Besides which, these cabinets could really could use a fresh coat of paint regardless of a color change).

2. The glass front uppers are cool, but the fancy schmancy scroll detail etched into the glass panels is not. Kind of hard to see in this picture, but I'm just going to have my glass guy swap them out with plain glass. Simple.

3. Open Shelving

Turning to our left now, you can see below another wall of cabintery with more glass front upper cabinets above. Those bad boys are getting ripped right out and replaced with open shelving which I'm totally pumped about. I think it's going to make the kitchen look completely different and way more updated and modern. The kitchen has all new appliances already which are top of the line and awesome...other than the dishwasher. It's an old white one that doesn't match the stainless we have everywhere else. It's also a complete piece of garbage and barely functions. It's not on the immediate agenda to be replaced but I have a feeling it will be happening sooner rather than later. Josh miiiight "accidentally" take a sledge hammer to the thing while ripping out the upper cabinets this weekend and I promise I'll look the other way when he does. The good thing is though that once the surrounding cabinetry is all painted white it will at least blend in a little better until the time comes for it to meet the curb.

3. Remove wall paper border

Kind of goes without saying. I'm including this as a techinical "before" photo although the truth is I actually already ripped that border down two weeks ago with the help of this kit I bought off amazon after having it recommended to me by one of our wallcovering reps. It still took a full day to get it all down, but the stuff does work.

4. Replace all the light fixtures.

Duh.

(Admittedly the day we moved in I scrounged up some leftover kitchen paint from the basement reserves and painted over that jesus quote immediately. I'm just not of the camp that believes in using the finishes of your home to literally express your religious beliefs. (NO) thank you very much.)

5. Miscellaneous updates.

Which is to say, fix all the little weird things that keep this space from being cohesive and well-designed. Like for instance that weird little light hanging flacidly over the back entrance that doesn't have any purpose nor even a switch to operate it. Or like painting the remaining wood doors which they left unpainted for whatever reason and they just look weird with all the painted trim everywhere else in the room. And definitely replace all the silver switch plates and outlets with white ones that will blend into the walls and backsplash rather than making them stick out like a sore thumb. Why do people like to draw attention to their outlets? Someone please explain this to me.



So that's the plan. I think it will be a lot of work (the painting primarily) but I also think it's totally doable and will make this space so much more inviting and in the end it will look so much more updated even before the new floor and countertop. I'm excited and ready to get to work!

Have a great and productive weekend, everyone!