The Kitchen

So the problem with before and after photos, is that the room has to be clean for the "after" pictures.  I should say, the the room is typically always this clean, our problem is clutter.  There is usually a paint brush and paint can next to the sink (because apparently that is my ultimate happiness), and usually mail clutter or a newspaper adorns the island and the kids' sippy cups are normally scattered around the counters or island.  However, I put every thing away for some pictures!  I am also left thinking, "that was really not that hard, I should put away clutter more often."
So here are some before shots taken during one of our walk throughs.

This picture is taken from the family room.  My brilliant Mom suggested we take this bar out to create more of an open space.  I love the idea of it, but the sink with in 10 ft of the kitchen sink was silly and being 10 months pregnant, I was on board for the idea of more space.  Ben was a little more cautious, advising us to wait.  Of course pregnant wife wins.  Ben will say now, it was one of the best decisions we made when changing the house.  

 We made a lot of changes to this desk area.  Having had a desk in an apartment, Ben and I already knew we would never sit down here or use it for a desk.  So, you will see later, but we added storage in the open space underneath and I tore out some of the wood divider in the mail sorter in order to fit some baskets.  Storage baskets make everything look neater. 

 Light fixtures. Yuck.  My Dad and Ben took down the big light box that housed fluorescent bulbs.  Then my Dad rewired and did the whole dry wall thing.  (thank you!!!)

 Notice the backsplash here.  Square cream tiles. Not terrible, but this was something Ben and I knew we could do without any help and inexpensively.

We tore out the sink and replaced it with a craigslist purchase (LOVE craig).  And I tore out the appliance garage there in the corner.  Ben was surprised when he came home to see that - but it made the counter space seem so much larger.  Also notice the decorative lattice across the top of the cabinets on the ledge.  That was a quick and easy tear out.  I love it when I can do something without asking for some "man strength" and this was one of them.
What you can't see from the pictures...the condition of the counter tops and the true color of the cabinets.  They really had an orange tint as well as needed some special attention.  If we didn't paint, we were going to need to sand and re-varnish them at the least.

 Better with the bar gone, right?

 Oh the chalkboard.  The girls and I love it.  This was a Mandy project.  Ben did help with the saw (not a fan of those). 

 Officially the art station.  Every drawer and bin has coloring books, paint, stickers, paper, markers, etc.  I found some fun knobs from Hobby Lobby (of course) to add color.  I LOVE this; probably my second favorite part of the kitchen. The baskets above is the mail center.  The open slot...the official camera space.  It is easy to grab and out of reach from the girls.

 Another view to show how open it is with out the bar.

 Ok, here is probably my favorite thing in the kitchen.  My $7 find at a garage sale down the street from us.  It just adds so much personality.

The backsplash.  Occasionally we wonder if we should have gone with a gray grout to make the subway tile stand out more, but we were worried about it looking too "busy."  I think we made a good decision.  It is classic.
Some things we still need to do is scrape and paint the ceiling (you can still see the ring where the box was).  And, eventually we would like to tear out the floor and replace it with wood.  BUT, who wants to do these things?  We have done both before and it is labor intensive, so we are in NO hurry at all.
Inspiration...watch commercials.  With infinite funds, Ben probably would have chosen a dark wood with glass tile and I may have still chosen white cabinetry.  BUT, we started noticing this white trend everywhere.  It is in IKEA, Pottery Barn, Martha Stewart for Home Depot and many others.  We figured we could create this classic look with a paintbrush. We LOVE it.  It feels fresh and clean.  That is hard to get when you have two little ones running around all the time.

*Martha Stewart

*Ikea