Before and After: The Kitchen

We were so blessed to find our house.  It was literally the second house we looked at and had only been out once.  I'd seen this house online but my first reaction to it wasn't pretty.  I distinctly remember thinking, "that is one ugly house!"  However, after I kept searching online I kept going back to this house and looking at the pictures over and over and over.  Each time I looked the house was less ugly and held more potential.  In person, the layout of the house was exactly what we wanted.  The kitchen is large and most of the lower level is very open.  I wanted to be able to cook dinner and still keep an eye on Rory.  Something that became increasingly difficult in our condo in which each room was blocked off from the next.  

Part of what I loved about the kitchen is all the light that comes in the window.  It's like we crawled out of our cave, ahem, condo and we were craving the sunlight.  

This is "before" shot of the kitchen.  Let me just tell you about this wallpaper--I'm sure in it's day it was very pretty but it was a grey and purple, geometric design and even had a bit of silver sparkliness to it.  It was a bit overwhelming in the space.  I think it would have been overwhelming in any space.

We knew that an entire kitchen renovation was out of our budget so we were going to have to get the biggest bang for our buck.  The plan: strip the wallpaper, paint, and paint the cabinets white.  It took my Mom and awhile to get the hang of getting this particular wallpaper but after using this wallpaper remover and a little arm muscle it came right off.  (Actually, I kind of enjoyed taking the wallpaper off-it was therapeutic to see a big strip come off!)

This is the "final" product!!  I still need to put up curtains over the backdoor.  I've got the fabric but just need to sew them and get them up.

(Side note: the big blob on the floor is our cat, Zoey.  It was dinnertime for her and I'm not about to get in the way of her and her dinner, nor would she have appreciated eating elsewhere so I could take pictures.) 

One of my favorite things about the kitchen is the Fiestaware pitchers.  I registered for these when Josh and I were first married (nearly 7 years ago!).  I had to pack them away when we moved and they've been boxed up during our time renting.  It was a breath of fresh air to get them back out.  It sounds silly but I can remember who bought me certain ones.  The red came from my friend, Korie's Mom and the dark blue came from my Grandpa's wife, Judy.  

Josh worked very hard on the cabinets and they look amazing!  Paint is such a huge change for minimal cost.  Still to come-hardware for the cabinets and I'm on the hunt for a purple pitcher.  My favorite color and it will complete my collection.

We probably spend more time in the kitchen than any other so I'm so happy that it turned out the way it did.  I can see many wonderful memories cooked up here!