Kitchen Update

So, we are making progress galore on the house these last few months and its about time to start sharing. I will try and go room by room as they get to a (for now) finished point.

Lets start with the kitchen, shall we? (No, of course it's not because it was the cleanest room in the house when I happen to grab the camera.....)

Here is what our kitchen looked like on the day we first toured the house:

Ya. For reals.

The previous owners were forclosed on and evicted by the sheriffs, so there was STUFF everywhere all over the house. *Fun Fact: if you look close at the header pic of the house, the eviction notice is taped in the window*

Can we just take a minute here to take note of the dishwasher? This was the original dishwasher that came with the house, which was built 5 years before. for 5 YEARS these people didn't take the blue plastic covering off the front of their dishwasher. .........really?......REALLY? Maybe I'm just OCD but that about drove me batty. So much so that  I actually ripped it off during our first tour, lol. The realtor was not pleased.

Another lovely feature that this picture doesn't capture is GREASE. An inch thick on all the surfaces of the room. GROSS. It took me 2 days and a lot of chemicals to make that place even close to usable.

Anyway, not the point. We're here to see the changes we I have made.



Different angle, my bad. It was 5:30am.


1. You can't see it in the before, but that gargantuan light fixture was the same color as the cabinets. Clint took it down and I painted that sucker with the paint match to the ceiling. Blend, big girl, blend.

2. The nasty, gross, sticky, disgusting vent hood was taken down ripped apart, scrubbed, steam stripped and painted black. So much better.

3. We got a new dishwasher for Christmas 2010. I prefer all black appliances over stainless.

4 The back splash wall and window wall were painted with a dark gray can of oops paint from Home Depot. Holla for $7 gallon of Semi-Gloss!

5. I have to point out that plant in the window I nurtured from a bulb to grow so beautifully. I have no green thumb so this is a big deal. (Don't mind the dirty dishes next to the sink).

6. All the carnival glass on top of the cabinets was Clint's grandmas. Love. Too bad its filled with lead and is only for looking not using.

7. Fun fact? The white spots all over the floor mat are flour from my first ever time making Christmas cookies. I made 13 dozen. It was a mess. Plus I burnt my hand pretty bad.


So....there it is for now! The still-to-do-someday list stands at:

• Paint the cabinets crisp white and add brushed nickel hardware
• Replace the awful horrible tile counter tops with solid surface
• Get a new stove when this one dies
• Soooooomeday put in continuous hardwoods through the entire bottom floor

So that's that for now. Anyone else do super cheap but super awesome upgrades after moving in? Tell me all about it!