Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Kitchen "Before"

The nice folks at Holyoke Home asked for "before" pictures of the kitchen. I'm amazed I can't really find any that show the whole, original room. We've been working on the kitchen since we moved into the house about 4 years ago (I think I wrote 3 in a comment, but that's wrong). We've been slowly changing out everything but the cabinetry, which I would love to change but it is just not in the budget.

When we moved in, the kitchen was painted forest green to match the green faux marble countertops, had putty colored stick on tile on the floor, white low-end appliances, gold knobs on the cabinets, the trim was painted beige, and to top it all off, there were dark green cellular shades on the windows with swaged fabric and dried flowers on top. This picture will, at least, show you the floor and a corner of the fridge, the countertops, and faux bead board backsplash. It was taken the morning after a big party, to things are a bit of a mess and usually the dog is not that blurry.
We repainted (twice) and switched out the window coverings and cabinet knobs immediately. The range was the next to go, since it conked out just before we were expecting 18 people for Thanks Giving dinner (isn't that always the way). We bought the GE Profile 5-burner range with lower oven and convection settings. I LOVE it. I know it is wrong to love your appliances, but the range is super. I'd buy it again and again with the one caveat that I wish it had more than once high BTU burner. Next we gave the refrigerator and dish washer to a friend and replaced them with a Kitchen Aid french door and a Bosch, respectively.

You can see the range, replacement range hood, stainless steel backsplash, and the new floor in this picture.

It took me a week on my hands and knees to get up the multiple layers of stick on tile but it was worth it. All the "experts" told us not to put down real slate but we went with it anyway and I'm very happy. It is a breeze to clean, does not show dirt (or dog fur), feels great under foot and only cost $1 per square foot.

Oh, and did you notice that piece of odd trim under the book shelf? That covers up an original window. Why, why, why?

Another low-cost/high-impact change were the cabinet knobs. First we found wonderful drawer pulls that look like twigs and round knobs that had a floral motif. Ultimately, we switched the knobs for square ones that are more "bungalow."


Now back to choosing a new backsplash. Remember, suggestions are VERY welcome.

1 comment:

Holyoke Home said...

Thanks for the before pics.....I think :)

Congratulations on how gorgeous the kitchen looks now!

Let me noodle on the backsplash question

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