Kitchen Remodel

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Right before Christmas we decided to finish remodeling our kitchen. See, we half did things 2 years ago and never got around to the rest. We talk about what we want to do with certain spaces and then never get around to doing it.

This is going to be a lengthy post with picture overload so bear with me, mmkay?

So here's what we started with over 2 years ago...

These pictures were all taken before the previous owners were completely moved out so their junk is still sitting around everywhere. But seriously, don't these pictures make you want to puke?!? I do {gag}.

When we first started working on fixing up this revolting mess, we removed those weird decorative barrier wood things on top of the bookcase. And the heavy cedar beams that run around that opening to the kitchen. Buh bye! I mean, what are those things away? Hideous! So if you look at the cabinets, there is this weird braided thing running down the inset on all of them. Those were barely stapled on so we popped those off too. And we also did away with all the ugly scalloped trim along the top of the cabinets.

Ok, so after we did that destruction, next came paint. Painted the cabinets, the walls, trim, painted that bookshelf, got a new dishwasher and fridge and all new hardware.  And then we stalled out. About a year later I couldn't stand that awful lemon yellow tile. We put up a faux tin backsplash. Then another year went by. We had talked of putting a bar top on the top of the bookshelf and adding a kitchen island, but never did. And lets not forget that we still had the old fake butcher-block laminate countertops. I LOATHE those counters. They are the same ones my parents had growing up, ugh, gross.

Now that you are up to speed on what we did in the beginning, let's talk about what we completed this Christmas....

I want a kitchen island. Mr. wants the bar top. Are they both going to fit and still have walking room?? We don't know. I found a desk with a hutch on Craigslist for $20 that I wanted to convert into the island. It was solid wood and in excellent shape. So we brought it up into the kitchen and put an old door on the bookshelf to see if this was going to all work.

Yep! Looks like it will work out just fine :)

When we were doing this, we were shocked at how perfect that door was. Right length. Right height. And free! I'm totally giving Mr. Perfect credit for this idea...it was all him. Saved us from having to buy wood. I LOVE the fact that we recycled a door that had no use in the basement. Win Win!

Let's get to the good part....the REVEAL!!! YAY!!

It's a breath of fresh air in here. I absolutely love how it all turned out!

Our kitchen has been so much more useful since adding the island and bar. See the laptop over there on the end of the bar? Yep, that's where I sit to do all my blogging and blog stalking and pinning :)

Let's look at the before one more time...

PUKE! And the after...

AHHH..

Friday I'll show you the process of making the island so watch for that.