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Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Kitchen: Before and After (but still a work in progress)

This is how the kitchen looked when we first toured the house. It looked and felt like there had been water damage to the floors which crept up some walls and cabinets. The stove/oven was a HORRIBLE thing! If you turned it on, it smelled like hot dogs boiling, eww.
So we started ripping up the floors. Someone had put down layer upon layer of floor glue for the linoleum on the floor. And we found that someone had also replaced about 1/2 of the floor with new sub-floor.
We found out after getting to the actual floor, that we also needed to replace the joists as well.
I am so not a fan of brown or tan anything, so I set off to paint the cabinets white. And since the walls were two different colors anyway, I knew I wanted to paint the cabinet sides of the walls red, not just any red, but MY red. MY red is from Valspar and it's called La Fonda Geranium Red (1010-4), isn't it beautiful? I had already had things in my house that resembled french country and part was shabby chic. So I'm now thinking that I just have a french chic house :)
Sub-floor is going in nicely. And it's getting so close to move in time!
Cabinet doors are back on! I started glazing one of the doors (to the right) but haven't decided if that's the route I'm taking or not. I've left the paint distressed anyway.
We couldn't decide on what kind of countertop we wanted, there are so many choices! So for now, we have used the new rustoleum product in black that I was thinking about HERE. Looks pretty good, doesn't it?

The flooring has arrived! We wanted hardwood flooring, but living in a flood zone and with the previous water damage we found, we were nervous. So the compromise was this Allure flooring we bought at the advice of Home Depot and it turned out beautiful and guests don't even know it's not real wood.
The appliances we bought at Sears have also arrived! Isn't that range beautiful? The space for the fridge before would have given me a teeny tiny apartment size fridge, so we moved some cabinets around for more space. And then once it arrived, we had to remove the door AND frame to get it in, but it was SO worth it!
The lazy susan is broken in one spot and I haven't really decided what to do with the area yet besides spending a small fortune buying a new one. I've been to ReStore several times in search of a replacement, but haven't found one yet.
I painted the remaining walls a sunny yellow color. I'm not THAT happy with it, but it's ok for now ;) I got the china hutch all moved in and filled it up, although, it needs arranging still. I also moved in my ladderback chairs that my hubby reweaved for me and I am getting very excited about it all now. The baseboard is larger than what we found when we moved in too. We bought this baseboard at ReStore as well, but historically, it needs more molding on top and bottom of it, so it's still a work in progress too.

Got the small kitchen table moved in......
Finally got out and bought a microwave (oh how I missed it so).....
 Still waiting on the dishwasher to come out of layaway......
Threw down some rugs, hung up some magnets, and called it good for now. Of course you can see I still need the trim around the doors (as well as the remaining baseboard molding) but we haven't found exactly what we're looking for yet. And I'm thinking about turning my pantry doors into chalkboards because they look so fun HERE. But the point is, it's livable now, and that makes me happy.

So to recap: Before...
After:

Let me know what you think :)

I joined this linky party:

10 comments:

Jenni said...

Hi Michelle~

I think the difference is amazing! I love how you painted the cabinets white and the flooring you chose! I wouldn't have guessed that it wasn't hardwood flooring either! It took a lot of work on your part, but it looks wonderful! :)

I wanted to say that I love your blog! I spent part of last night reading several of your previous posts about your home, and am excited to see what you do! That is so fun that you have such an old home with so much history! I confess to being a little jealous! :) Anyway, thank you so much for stopping by Beautiful Nest and entering our giveaway there! I'm so glad you did, because now I know about your blog! :)

Blessings,
Jenni

Jenni said...

P.S. I just clicked on your chalkboard idea link and was surprised when it led to, well, the blog I share with my sister! Thank you for the complement~ that is so sweet of you! :) Have a great night!

Barbara said...

WOW I love the kitchen, what a difference!!!

Sarah @ Modern Country Style said...

Hi Michelle,

Wow! What a transformation!! And, oh, poor you having to dig so far down to get the floor redone.

But it's looks as though all that hard work was completely worth it! It's come together so beautifully. I love it that you call that gorgeous red *your* red!!

It is very lovely indeed!

Sarahx

Pamela Gordon said...

You did a great job! That floor was kind of scary looking though but I love the new flooring you chose. A great transformation! Pamela

Dawna said...

Love your new space!! White kitchens are the best :) stopping by from Sarah's kitchen party!! What a great idea she had :)

Lorrie said...

What a transformation! I love white kitchens - we just finished ours.

Isn't amazing all the work that it takes? One thing leads to another and another...

Unknown said...

Kitchen re-dos are so much work! You really did a wonderful job. I love the white cabinets with the dark counter top. It all looks great!

~Liz

Chookie said...

I love that rich red of yours! Must find a colour just for me!
(visiting via Modern Country Style)

Cindy said...

Your kitchen is looking fabulous and very chic! Interesting what new appliances and paint can accomplish.
Hugs, Cindy