Before and After Kitchen

I jumped the gun a few days ago and showed you a picture of our kitchen and the Lucite Pendants.  So, I thought it would be a good time to show you how the kitchen looked when we bought the house before any updates...

Please notice the lovely soap dispenser to the right of the window that was GLUED to the Formica.  And the shelves above the counter leading into the Dining Room.

How many of you have your washer and dryer combo unit conveniently located in your kitchen?? And check out that fluorescent light.  U-G-L-Y...

Gotta love all the red Formica and the nice exhaust vent covered with cardboard.  However, the vintage oven is killer!

View from the Dinning Room... check out the knotty pine bookshelf and the linoleum floor in the kitchen

First we stripped the knotty pine cabinets in the kitchen... This was tough.  If you have never used  paint stripper be prepared, it burns your skin.  We went through two boxes of latex gloves because the stripper would eat through them.  Not a fun job.  After stripping the cabinets we used a whitewash stain and switched out the hardware.  Both made huge improvements. 

Penn, my husband, installed the dishwasher (there was not one when we moved in) and also installed a garbage disposal.  Getting ready for the counter tops.  Also, please notice the pocket door in the right picture.  Can you see what's in that little room?? Our washer dryer!! (But more on that later)  A broom closet is now where the washer dryer used to be.

 

Finished!!  The back splash is a mosaic tile using glass and stone.  This is probably my most favorite thing in the house.  Funky yet neutral so it doesn't draw too much attention.  Subtle.  We splurged on a deep Kohler sink with a shallow medium divide.  The counter tops are 2" thick solid oak.

This shot shows the track lighting and the microwave above the stove that we also use for an exhaust fan.  We had room to the right of the microwave so we built a bookshelf to house our cookbooks.  It's nice to have them where you can see them - inspires new recipes!  The cork floors we installed before we moved in and I will recommend these to anyone out there looking to redo the kitchen.  It's soft so if you drop something heavy you don't have to worry about cracking a tile and it's incredibly comfortable on your feet.