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Monday, April 16, 2012

2 years - kitchen

Usually I have a post about my previous week on Mondays but this week is a very special week, two years ago we closed on our house and two days later I started this blog. Last year I shared a photo of our house circa 1938 (?). This year I want to show the progress we have made so far. Let's start with the kitchen...

I can still remember when we drove to the house after the closing, vacuum and other cleaning supplies in hand to clean a couple of rooms and prep them for painting. Well we didn't have any power because the previous owners didn't pay their bills in a while. It was a Friday evening and of course we couldn't get power until Monday but we still managed to paint two rooms over the weekend. We wanted to get done as much as possible before moving in a month later. In early May my parents came over from Germany to help with the house and the move. One thing we wanted to change as soon as possible and before running out of steam was the kitchen. P and I both didn't like anything about the kitchen, it was not our style and we didn't like the colors either but a kitchen renovation was not in the budget and the cabinets were still pretty new and in good shape. So I planned to paint everything. First the kitchen needed a good scrub, everything was super greasy. We cleaned the top of the cabinets three times and they were still sticky. The area above the range had stalactites out of grease dangling from the ceiling. Yuck! My parents were nice enough to sand all the kitchen cabinets and doors so I could paint them which took a couple of weeks (or months) to finish. I even painted the tile backsplash and contrary to all the negative things I had read about painting tile it still looks like the day I finished painting. You can find some pictures of the whole process here.

All in all we painted the cabinets (doors and visible parts), tile backsplash, walls, window and door frames, ceiling, base and crown molding, changed all the handles, replaced missing hinges, switched out the light fixture, as well as the range, microwave and the dishwasher. Because there was too much unused space in the middle of the room we later added an island that we snatched up on sale at IKEA. Quite a change from the before...



13 comments:

  1. That is just beautiful! Where did you get the island by the way? That is such a lovely piece

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  2. It looks AMAZING!!! You all did a GREAT job. I loev love love the transformation! What a crazy (beautiful story) of finding a hoem that you resonate with and adding love to it :)

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  3. This seems like a huge job- and well done. I really like the addition of the island and the cool yellow stools.

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  4. Your kitchen looks excellent, lot of work, but it was well worth it. The feel is so much lighter, fresher and cleaner.

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  5. rooth, Thank you! The island is from IKEA. They sold the wood countertop and sides as a set, we got it on sale when they discontinued the item. The cabinets are just regular lower cabinets from Ikea.

    Ada, Thanks! It really was a labor of love, at one point I was ready to throw in the towel but it was well worth it.

    Santa, Thank you so much! After painting everything white and grey we needed a splash of color, that's why I chose to paint the chairs yellow.

    Leena, Thank you! Lighter and brighter is definitely what we were going for...

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  6. Wow, Nina! Just wow! It really goes to show that you don't need a lot of money. You just need determination and hard work to turn drab into something beautiful. Great job.
    PS~I loved all your beautiful cherry blossom tree photos in your previous post. It seems like you're mastering your new camera quite nicely. :)

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  7. Looks great Nina! I love how you painted the cabinets instead of buying new ones. It's such a money saver and I keep telling people this! A new coat of paint can go such a long way. Great looking island too. I love the vertical wood.

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  8. Nina it looks incredible! It looks like a totally different kitchen! It's amazing what a little elbow grease (um, double yuck at those stalactites of cooking grime!) and a few coats of paint can accomplish. I'm seriously so impressed. I love those yellow stools; yellow and gray together are an unstoppable combination. That island is from IKEA? Holy cow. If that house could talk I bet it would thank you for saving it from a life of unappreciated ugliness. Well done, you! And congratulations to you and P for your house-aversary! I can't wait to see what you guys cook up (kitchen pun!) in the next 2 years. :)

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  9. Theresa, Thank you! It was definitely hard work but so worth it. I've been playing with my new camera non stop and taking tons of pictures, it's so much fun!

    Michelle, Thanks! I played with the IKEA kitchen planner just for fun to see what new cabinets cost and that motivated me even more to paint the cabinets ;) Would do it again in a heartbeat...

    Erin, Thanks! I still can't believe how greasy that kitchen was. At first I wanted to save the old microwave but it was so yucky that when we found a great deal on a microwave/hood combo we had to buy a new one. I have to admit I'm not the one cooking in that kitchen, I only made it look good. P does most of our cooking ;)

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  10. Oh wow! I love posts like these! So much to love! Kitchens, house-love, moving stories, and your amazing before and afters! You guys did a stellar job! I lovelovelove your new and improved kitchen. I'm so glad you took us back on your journey! xo

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  11. Wow! You really did take on a tremendous task but the results are amazing! You have managed to totally transform the space into a beautiful light, airy kitchen! The colour you chose for the cabinets are perfect! I am also crazy about the hanging pendant and the island! Congrats, it looks stunning!

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  12. You did a great job! The new color and "small" adjustments make such a difference. You turned a dark and boring room in a airy living space! Absolutely awesome! I know what I'm talking about: I also painted our kitchen cabinets when we moved in. We just do not want to spent the money on a new built-in-kitchen until we finish some other stuff around here.
    xox

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  13. looks stunning, the transformation is truly amazing! You should get your own TV show! :-)

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