A Brave New Kitchen

We finished the kitchen by our Thanksgiving deadline. I was in such a hurry to get pictures on here for you before I decorated for Christmas that I couldn't even make myself wait for a proper sunny day. There are still a few details to finish like cafe curtains, a pot rack, artwork for the breakfast bar area, a new retro style refrigerator (dreaming) but for all intents and purposes...finished!


Let's start with the before:

There's a lot that doesn't show up well in a picture. I wish I had a closeup of those cabinets here. They are handmade (not in the good way) and were spray painted with a really interesting texture. Also all the upper cabinets have the vent from the stove running through them. The legs on the breakfast bar? Two awkwardly placed, upside down porch posts. Mmm hmm. Remember the jackassery I've mentioned before?

Wait, did you want a closeup of that gorgeous tile work again? Wish I had saved those corks.

  Then there was the during (also known as the what the heck have we done stage)...

So long double layer of drywall over plaster and lathe, so long nasty textured ceiling that was several inches lower than the other side of the room! Hello questioning my sanity and testing my marital bonds!

But then we have the after (and a happy marriage is restored)...

Wait. What? Let's look at that again. Side by side style.

Of course now that it is done, I couldn't be happier that we did it. This project was not for the faint of heart. I'm also not 100% sure that had I known then what I know now, that I would have said, on that fateful day "Hey Sweetie. I think we should demo the kitchen today." Sometimes it really does pay to be ignorant but enthusiastic.

We did every bit of this project ourselves. There are some places that you can see that. It's not perfect but we are proud of how it turned out. We took a space that we hated to look at and turned it into one of our favorite places in the house. This project came in at about $1200. When you consider that the quote we received just to do the ceiling, was $1500, then that's pretty amazing. That amount includes tongue and groove wood paneling on the ceiling, horizontal planking on the walls, wood for shelves, brackets, a new faucet and water dispenser, crown molding, new legs for the breakfast bar and paint. All of the materials, except paint came from Lowe's. It's our home away from home.

This isn't my dream kitchen but since my dream kitchen won't be in the budget for several more years, this will serve as a beautiful reminder to me what two people with determination can do when they don't know any better. It's easy to be brave when you have nothing to lose.