Welcome to my kitchen. While it's still a little off from what I would have choosen had a built my home, it's come a long, long way from where it once was.
My favorite thing about it is probably the wall color. I hemmed and hawwed over many other paint colors in my house, but this one I always knew. It's Benjamin Moore Wickham Grey and for me it was love at first site.
Funny story, though. When I was buying the paint I asked them to maybe just put in a little more blue because I was worried it wouldn't be much of a color, and the girl looked at me and said, "there's no blue in it..." I was a little shocked and worried, but stuck to my gut and boy am I glad I did. I love it!! It's a pretty pale french blue.
And it plays really well with the Benjamin Moore China White we used on the cabinets. Kind of a French Country vibe.
Anyway...this is what the place looked like before:
Sort of cave-like. And dark...and ugly. I don't hate stained wood, but something about this stain made it milky...like it was laid on too thick or something. So it all had to go. I originally thought it really all would go, but we actually ended up keeping a lot of things...
One thing I was certain of was getting rid of that awful drop box florescent light! Ugh. Couldn't wait to see that thing gone! We replaced it with four recessed lights, and sometimes I wish I'd been able to talk my husband into the six that I wanted, but once the pendant lights are shining 4 does the job nicely.
Which brings me to the pendant Tiffany lights we had in here...
Aren't they just lovely?? Someone thought so because they sold pretty well online! haha.
I did make my hubby move one of the pendants over about 6 inches because they were just too close together...
I got major eye rolls for making him do this, but ...it just needed to be done.
See? Look how pretty that ceiling is now! It came a looong way!!
When we walked through the house listing off what needed to be changed, I opened the fridge door, which opened up against this corner wall, and realized that because of the handle, the fridge could only open up about a foot wide...how ridiculous!? So, next on the list was switching places with the fridge and the pantry. It was a pretty big ordeal especially since we had to replace the crown molding because it didn't work in reverse...
But all's well that ends well, am I right? And it all works so well now that it's switched around. I can open both fridge and freezer as wide as they will go. Perfect.
Surprisingly, once it was all painted and finished, I didn't hate the backsplash so much...and the countertops really popped where they hadn't before. We also replaced all that tile flooring with laminate wood planks that look like old hardwood flooring. Gorgeous! No regrets there.
We also ended up keeping the knobs and pulls and even the hinges and everything looks and works great.
And then it was all about finishing touches. Most of the items on the top of the cabinets were thrift store finds. Love that.
These copper molds belonged to my mother, and bring me back to my childhood every time I see them.
I got the grand idea to put sugar and flour in huge canisters like this from a friend of mine. They are SO much more practical than the tiny canisters that come in a set like the one I got at my wedding. Those things never hold an entire bag of flour or sugar so it's always been a problem for me, because it's not a real storage solution. Anyway, these are from Target and I love them.
The window by the sink is one of my favorite spots. I love looking out those windows. They were covered in ugly blinds, which I quickly threw away. I ended up replacing those with these little tension rods that happen to fit really snug once I took the decorative balls of the ends that met in the middle. It almost looks custom. Perfect. And these flowy little curtains were a wedding gift from long ago. They work perfectly here.
Lastly, I put this sign up above the doorway connecting this kitchen to the formal front room. Words to live by...found at Hobby Lobby.
So, there you have it.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
