Kitchen: Before and After

Long overdue...and believe me this was no easy task...not the kitchen part so much, but figuring out how to format and layout these pictures.  Ugh.  blogger.  After doing all this, my son  says, "Why didn't you just....."
and then gave me computer jargon.  I'm a homeschool mom, not a tech-y.  So for those who haven't had a chance to come by and visit or see the pics, here 'tis.
  

The Main Work Area

Below (in the small pic)  is the original view of my stove and sink.    On the right is the completed kitchen.

The Missing Wall

The wall behind the fridge is what I
desperately wanted removed.  It created the
most unnecessarywaste of hallway space since Alaska's
bridge to nowhere.

My Fridge Area

We enlisted the help of a local carpenter to assist with some of the cabinet placement and hanging.  I asked him if he could use one of our existing cabinets, which used to be over the stove as a storage unit above the fridge.  The issue is that the fridge was larger than our old one, so this cabinet was going to look funky unless we did something creative with it.  We created a false wall and only used the front of the cabinet facing creating a HUGE cabinet for out of the way storage.  It now houses holiday items and tableware. And to think that the little cabinet that used to be above the fridge only held my cookie cutters. 

The island provides the most organized solution to my "redneck" tupperware ever.  No more tumbled plastic margarine tubs cascading out of the skinny cabinet.  These are now STACKED.  Neatly. 









 The Coffee Bar

 In order to sort of balance out the large fridge cabinet area, I created a coffee bar on the other side of the dining room doorway.  Those upper cabinets are original--I just plucked out the center panel and replaced it with striped glass panels. I love it!















Here's my hallway to nowhere....well, not really but to the den, which is now the "family room" since it's not hidden away anymore.   I would be holed
away in the kitchen cooking or cleaning while my family would escape and enjoy a football game or such.  No longer!  I am part of the fun now!  Even if I'm
still behind the sink.

If you look closely, you can see the original cabinets that my husband worked so hard at repainting.  This was no easy task. Every cabinet that has an arched panel is original.  The cabinet doors with rectangular panels were stock cabinets we purchased from Lowe's, and we had to sand and paint those to match.  Unbelievable amount of work, and so scary to begin when you are looking at a brand new, shiny cabinet.
That's what I get for watching HGTV one too many times.  It took us several weeks to paint the cabinets and cabinet doors.  Sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint...some as many as 5 times until we got them right.  And then I used a glaze on the detailing to create an antique look which really brought the whole kitchen together, with the mix of new and old cabinets.

I am incredibly blessed to have a family that helped me with this insane project.  Believe me when I say, I don't think we will ever want to go through a remodel like this again.  I believe our next house will stay as-is.