Kitchen Transformation, Little By Little

So, as you know by now, our house was a 70's time capsule when we moved in.  The space, however, was what we were interested in because our old house was 864 sq ft and we were cramped.  Coming from there, this house was so incredibly spacious, which helped us look past the ultra dated cosmetic finishes.

One of the first rooms that got our attention was the kitchen.  Picture this: cheap, church basement style berber carpet, original dark brown cabinets with handles that look like they came from the medieval era, limey-sage green laminate counters, green shiny wallpaper that may have been expensive when it was installed, and some crazy appliances.  The fridge was a large almond color with black accents.  It was not the original (that one was still in the garage-- it was a vintage olive green beauty).  The oven was actually an old school over sized microwave that was connected to a cook top.  Below that, where one would normally see an oven, was... a dishwasher.  Yeah, consolidation to the max.  The kitchen obviously sold itself.

We haven't changed much of the footprint of the kitchen at all, but whenever Mark is ready to jump in, we will be cutting a pass-through in the wall dividing the kitchen and living room and adding a few more base cabinets below, as well as a large upright pantry cabinet.  I am excited to have all of that extra storage space, plus it will make the kitchen so much brighter and open.  And what mom doesn't want better sight lines to her kids in the other room?  This one sure does- especially with my little climber and her sneaky big sister on the loose.

Even though that project hasn't been started yet, we have made changes along the way to improve the kitchen.  First, we tore off the wallpaper... what a chore!  We had a painting party and some friends came to help paint and remove wallpaper.  We provided cinnamon rolls and coffee for breakfast and pizza and pop for lunch and several of them stayed all day-- they are great friends, for sure!  Thanks, guys!  We painted the walls a nice beige color, tiled the room with a creamy, beige 18" tile on an angle, added white appliances because the room was pretty dark since it faces north, changed out the ugly prehistoric cabinet pulls for brushed nickel ones, put in a neutral tan granite-esque counter, and a tan and gray tile mosaic backsplash.  Mark is a handy guy and knows a lot of people who can do what he can't, so the project was pretty inexpensive.  I was very pleased with how it turned out, especially considering how it looked when we started, but it was a little monochromatic for me.  It still needed something...

Last summer we (I) decided to paint the cabinets white.  I did the upper bases myself and Mark did the upper doors and then we were like... let's call our painter friend, Sarah (who is now living in LA doing lovely photography) to finish the rest.  While she was here, I asked her to paint the walls a gray color because I was tired of all of the tan.  I really love how it turned out.  I think it pulls the little bits of gray out of the backsplash.  And then white cabinets make the room SO MUCH BRIGHTER.  And cleaner.  And fresher.  I love it.  We changed the drawer pulls also.  Then, on Black Friday, we bit the bullet and purchased new stainless appliances.  Other than the never ending barrage of fingerprints, I love the way they dress things up.

One problem we encountered when we installed the microwave was that it hung lower than our old one, which was already likely lower than recommended.  To remedy this, we contacted Mark's parents who have a very similar set of cabinets in their basement to see if they had one that fit.  They didn't, but they did have one that was the same size as ours and amazingly, Mark's uncle has a wood shop so he was able to cut theirs down for us so that it would be a perfect fit.  After Christmas was over, we drove home with the back of our Highlander filled with skis, presents and a new (old) cabinet.  It BARELY fit, but of course, Mark is a master packer (what CAN'T he do??)

The microwave caused one other issue- once installed, the space between the oven and microwave was larger than it had been with our old microwave, so two rows of tile were missing.  We had some left over from the original install, so Mark put it up two days ago and grouted yesterday. It looks great!  I am so pleased with all of the changes we've made so far!  What do you think?? 

The cabinets getting ready to be painted

After the uppers were painted, we let the bases go for a while until Sarah was available

The final product (for now!)

 *I only have pictures of the original kitchen in hard copy.  When I get a chance to scan them onto the computer, I will upload them as well!  As for now, I hope my descriptions were enough for your imaginations!