The new updated kitchen!

This was the kitchen when we moved in... and we lived with it in all its deliciously 60's dated glory for a few years. When there is a roof that you can stick your hand through the houses fug-o kitchen gets bumped down the list on things to do. Despite that the stove was a monster with only one completely working burner and a strong lean to the left.

Eventually the time came to come up with a game plan in the kitchen. We lucked out that the flow and layout were amazingly really workable, so thankfully no plumbing had to be touched or moved! As old as the cabinets were, they were solid wood and in good shape. Not having to demo and replace the cabinets was a huge contributor to keeping the costs down. Pete decided that painting them was the best way to update the look for the cheapest.


Off came all the fronts, hardware and drawers. Everything was carefully numbered so we would know exactly where to put it back. All paint-able surfaces got a good washing to remove any residual ick. Once completely dried we started the painting process. When it comes to painting cabinets time and patience is needed. Between each coat we let the paint cure for a week. Rushing a paint job like this can cause you lots of problems later down the road and we didn't want that. It took a total of almost 4 weeks before we felt ready to place the fronts and drawers back into the kitchen.

New hardware was added, everything is now a great antique-y oil rubbed bronze finish. It fits perfectly in my not bias at all opinion. A normal sized stove was added and the answer to all our domestic problems was installed. Hail to the dishwasher! You have no idea how many spats we had about (not) hand washing the dishes.

A natural stone counter top would look too modern in our house, in our opinion anyway. It was also light years away from the modest budget we were working on. Laminate would have fit the budget, but neither of us found anything we really thought would compliment our house. Large tile was at the top of our options until Pete found the butcher block counter top at Ikea. The butcher block worked with our budget, complimented the house and he was able to DIY for installation.

The back splash was my first experience with tiling and I learned I'm a natural (pats self on back). Tiling speaks to my OCD and anal tendencies that I have when it comes to projects. I like lining the tiles up and making sure every grout line is even. (such a nerd) Pete did all the cuts with the wet saw and I blew through tiling the open walls, together we finished the back splash on one very rainy Saturday.

Finally the kitchen was finished. We ate a meal cooked on a stove with all four burners working and level. The dishes got placed in the dishwasher and all the leftover went inside our non weird name fridge. Live was good.

And, despite my strong Gemini desires to have everything change all the time, I still love the kitchen. Except for a few of the paint choices. But those are really a minor things that don't count.