The Kitchen, So Far

So we are back after having a nice break from the ordinary and taking a visit to Nashville to visit family.  We had a great time seeing everyone and enjoyed watching Silas play with his cousin Maddux - who are 7 weeks apart and even got in a little mini trip to see Memphis, take a ride across the Mississippi and put our feet down in Arkansas.

At the Mighty Mississippi in Memphis

Now that we are back we are putting together a list of things that we want to accomplish over the next couple of months as the summer rolls in and our life gets super busy.  We have curtains we still need to hang, faucets to install, bathroom mirrors to replace, rooms left to paint, art to hang and that's just the little stuff (as I type Justin is busy working on a few of these things, what a great husband I have).  We still have the exterior painting looming in the distance.  With all of the rain lately there just hasn't been a great time to plan this kind of project.  Hopefully we will get a break from the weather and also from our busyness to start, because we are so ready for the outside to change.  We talk about this often. As you know our kitchen has gone threw a mini makeover since moving in and we have lots of plans for it in the future but we thought it was a good time to stop and take a look at how far it's come.  These are just some of the things we have done in our kitchen that we feel have made the biggest difference.

Beginnings...Oh yes, the kitchen of our dreams.  Complete paneling overload.  Painting this kitchen took almost a week to complete, but sooo worth it.  Brightening up this space helped bring it into this century and also helped open up the kitchen immensely.  All of this dark paneling was totally shrinking the space.

I'm still cringing at this monstrosity of a fan...it will be gone one day, this I promise.

Source List:  Cabinets and Trim: Off the Shelf White in Olympic No VOC paint

Back kitchen wall:  Olympic No VOC paint in Abracadabra

Side paneling wall:  Olympic No VOC paint in Tattered Sail

As you can see we added a cabinet to this long wall - this is an antique piece called a Hoosier cabinet.  We don't have a pantry so this is serving that purpose right now, it actually holds a lot more things than I thought it would, I think it's kind of cool that we are using it for it's intended purpose and not just a decor piece.

I love how this wall looks painted, It adds a lot of character to our kitchen.  Painting real wood knotty pine paneling is a pain in the butt, not gonna lie - but you can see it's well worth it.  If you are thinking of painting paneling or knotty pine in your home you can read how we did it Here and Here.  (This is also our change sorting station - we use the cash only budget method so we end up having lots of spare change by the end of the week - every penny counts.  You can read more about our envelope cash method and how we budget Here).

Oh knotty pine cabinets, how we hated thee.  And ugly cabinet hardware, and ugly faux marble back-splash and ugly countertop...ok I'll end it there although I could go on.

Ok, so all of the hated items are still not gone - like the countertops for example.  But, we are dealing with it since the cabinets looks a bajillion times better with a little lot of paint.

More Sources:  Cabinet Hardware is from Lowe's

Bamboo Blinds - "Miranda" from Home Depot

Rug - Ikea

This is the best before shot I could find of the sink/window.  I wanted you to see the reason we hung the clock where we did - not necessarily because it's a great place to check the time but because there is a huge whole behind it.  

I really love this window - I don't really love the dangling cord but once again I'm dealing because the white paint looks so great on this window trim.

Quick before shot of our backsplash.

And -after we painted over it.  It was really simple and added so much impact.  You can read about that Here.  I also love these glass canisters I picked up at Target.  I make enough sweet tea to quench five families thirsts so a huge canister of sugar at a seconds reach is awesome.  I guess I'm easy to please. 

An over the fridge shot...why not?  You can see where the two kitchen colors meet and greet.

And finally, our little eat in kitchen nook.  It's so much prettier now.

I wanted to show how we just painted right over the fuse box...no biggie and it blends in so much better now.  Eventually I plan on painting the little desk here below, still debating what color right now.

My sweet friend brought over this hydrangea from her yard, I love having fresh flowers in the house and it's so pretty I had to take a picture.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day break and we are so thankful for our wonderful Armed Forces who have served and our serving our country so humbly and honorably.  Tomorrow we have another giveaway coming at you and then we will start sharing some of the things we are getting crossed off of our list.  Take Care!