Long, picture heavy post!
It's finished - well, almost - for now. (still some touch ups, need to find a rug and well, things always seem to move around - a few things have already moved since I took the pictures!)
Inspection Day - August 2009. This is how the previous owner had the kitchen. I don't know if she just took the 'depersonalize' aspect of home sale to the extreme or if she actually never decorated anything while she lived here. There had never been a curtain on any window and not a square inch of builder beige had been changed.
First thing we did was replace the sink and faucet. You can kinda see the sink in the first photo but you can't see how shallow it is or the awful faucet! This is how we spent our first New Years here. :) This is so much better!
Then we painted the builder (fugly) beige walls. It is really hard to see the color but it is called 'Butter'. Came from Lowe's but not sure if they still have the color swatch - I know some of the colors I have used they no longer have, good thing I saved my color swatches! (except two which for some reason are not in my purse - need to find those) Sorry - got off track a little there.
I attempted to draw your attention away from the ugly with stuff on top of the cabinets! And well, that stuff has to go somewhere! LOL Those awful lights are on the list for someday too. Can't figure out exactly what to do with them - the placement is weird in relation to the counters/sink so I don't think pendants are going to work. I think they just centered them in the room before cabinets went it.
Next we added hardware to the cabinets.
and under-cabinet lighting. Helps a lot (as does the white paint, but lighting is still on the list)
I snapped this after we had already taken the trim off the side cabinet because I couldn't find a good pic of the great hole. Anyway - the next step (before painting) was to do something about this empty hole above the fridge. I don't know if it was the combo of the cabinet on one side and pantry wall on the other and/or the tall ceilings but it just seemed like an unfinished space to me.
We just framed out an open shelf thinking we could extend the crown moulding and make it all match. Joke was on us though - we couldn't match the moulding (we could match the profile, but not the size) so we had to replace it all. More on that later. (that's a whole post!) We also added beadboard behind the open shelf and above the cabinets. Love beadboard!
Now we have all the uppers painted, the beadboard painted (I just painted it the same yellow as the walls) and added trim to the top of the beadboard. We just used a small trim and only did around the beadboard because I'm hoping to eventually do something to the ceiling (maybe tin?) and that will have to come down then anyway.
Time to start painting the lower cabinets!
Hubby built dividers for my silverware drawer. I could never find the right size tray thingie or one that would hold my whole set of flatware, so he customized it for me! (he made it as an insert so it can come out if no longer needed) We did this to two other drawers too - the ones that get all junky with gadgets and then you can never find the gadget you are looking for!
He (we) built pull-out shelves for all the lower cabinets - 10 pull-outs, 2 per cabinet. (I googled pull-out shelving and we ended up using the directions at This Old House as guidelines) Amazing how much more you can get in a cabinet when you can pull that shelf all the way out!
He customized one of them for my baking sheets! There were no directions for this (that I found anyway) but we figured it out!
and here she is all (well, mostly) put back together!
Doesn't she look pretty? I didn't buy anything new for above the cabinets (I lie - I bought two easels) I do need to replace that pitiful looking plant up there but it fills the space for now. (I did give it a bath before I put it back up!) I'll show you the stuff up there in another post - this one is getting long!
This will never be my dream kitchen (way too small for that!) But it is 1000% better than it was just a few weeks ago! Much easier on the eyes!
I don't know how to do the side-by-side, before and after thing but here is a quick re-cap.
When we purchased the house, so I guess this would be the 'before-before'.
And now!
Whew, I'm tired - but happy!
It's finished - well, almost - for now. (still some touch ups, need to find a rug and well, things always seem to move around - a few things have already moved since I took the pictures!)
Inspection Day - August 2009. This is how the previous owner had the kitchen. I don't know if she just took the 'depersonalize' aspect of home sale to the extreme or if she actually never decorated anything while she lived here. There had never been a curtain on any window and not a square inch of builder beige had been changed.
First thing we did was replace the sink and faucet. You can kinda see the sink in the first photo but you can't see how shallow it is or the awful faucet! This is how we spent our first New Years here. :) This is so much better!
Then we painted the builder (fugly) beige walls. It is really hard to see the color but it is called 'Butter'. Came from Lowe's but not sure if they still have the color swatch - I know some of the colors I have used they no longer have, good thing I saved my color swatches! (except two which for some reason are not in my purse - need to find those) Sorry - got off track a little there.
I attempted to draw your attention away from the ugly with stuff on top of the cabinets! And well, that stuff has to go somewhere! LOL Those awful lights are on the list for someday too. Can't figure out exactly what to do with them - the placement is weird in relation to the counters/sink so I don't think pendants are going to work. I think they just centered them in the room before cabinets went it.
Next we added hardware to the cabinets.
and under-cabinet lighting. Helps a lot (as does the white paint, but lighting is still on the list)
I snapped this after we had already taken the trim off the side cabinet because I couldn't find a good pic of the great hole. Anyway - the next step (before painting) was to do something about this empty hole above the fridge. I don't know if it was the combo of the cabinet on one side and pantry wall on the other and/or the tall ceilings but it just seemed like an unfinished space to me.
We just framed out an open shelf thinking we could extend the crown moulding and make it all match. Joke was on us though - we couldn't match the moulding (we could match the profile, but not the size) so we had to replace it all. More on that later. (that's a whole post!) We also added beadboard behind the open shelf and above the cabinets. Love beadboard!
Now we have all the uppers painted, the beadboard painted (I just painted it the same yellow as the walls) and added trim to the top of the beadboard. We just used a small trim and only did around the beadboard because I'm hoping to eventually do something to the ceiling (maybe tin?) and that will have to come down then anyway.
Time to start painting the lower cabinets!
Hubby built dividers for my silverware drawer. I could never find the right size tray thingie or one that would hold my whole set of flatware, so he customized it for me! (he made it as an insert so it can come out if no longer needed) We did this to two other drawers too - the ones that get all junky with gadgets and then you can never find the gadget you are looking for!
He (we) built pull-out shelves for all the lower cabinets - 10 pull-outs, 2 per cabinet. (I googled pull-out shelving and we ended up using the directions at This Old House as guidelines) Amazing how much more you can get in a cabinet when you can pull that shelf all the way out!
He customized one of them for my baking sheets! There were no directions for this (that I found anyway) but we figured it out!
and here she is all (well, mostly) put back together!
Doesn't she look pretty? I didn't buy anything new for above the cabinets (I lie - I bought two easels) I do need to replace that pitiful looking plant up there but it fills the space for now. (I did give it a bath before I put it back up!) I'll show you the stuff up there in another post - this one is getting long!
This will never be my dream kitchen (way too small for that!) But it is 1000% better than it was just a few weeks ago! Much easier on the eyes!
I don't know how to do the side-by-side, before and after thing but here is a quick re-cap.
When we purchased the house, so I guess this would be the 'before-before'.
Sometime before we started the paint project a few weeks ago - not sure exactly when this was taken but I see my 'Pantry' sign isn't on the door so it had to be before Thanksgiving, but nothing had really changed. So this would be the 'current-before'.
And now!
Whew, I'm tired - but happy!
6 comments:
ohhhh well done to the both of you ... looks fantastic :)
and those pull out cabinet for the cutlery and stuff are fab :)
way to go ... sooo when can you come and do mine *scampering away rather quickly ...lol
love mouse xxxxx
What a huge project! Every bit of it looks so professional. I love the way you handled the area over the fridge, and the new trim is great..even though a lot more involved than planned. The beadboard is a fun and cute surprise! You both did a magnificent job. :)
Amazing Tina - love your new kitchen - love the beadboard and that space above the refrigerator - such a good use for otherwise wasted space. I would decorate this area for each holiday - then again maybe not, it would be alot of work changing it out all the time! You and your husband can be proud of yourselves!
BEAUTIFUL!!!! You both did a great job.
It is beautiful Tina!! All your hard work has paid off so wonderfully!! Love it, love it, and now you need to start cooking and baking! ;) Yay!! xo Heather
BEAUTIFUL girlfriend! I can't believe it's even the same kitchen. I know you've worked so hard on it, and it's totally paid off. Love love it!!
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