The Kitchen Reveal

As most of you know we just recently went through a kitchen renovation. I think I complained about it in every other post for like a month. Now, I’m not claiming to take any credit on the work because I am just not handy. I mean, I’d like to be but I’m kind of afraid of taking on any kind of big job. Me and Mr. GC are definitely beginners at home improvements. I mean, we can paint and he’s pretty handy when it comes to fixing things but when it comes to big changes………..I’m a total scaredy cat. I say “lets start with some inconspicuous place in the house to practice” but we’ve yet to do that. Anyhow, I did have a say in the color of cabinets, countertops, floor and appliances so that should count for something, right? (nod your head in agreement. ahh, there you go…) And Mr. GC did demo the old cabinets and countertops and did help with some of the insane plumbing issues we had going on so we did have our hand in it a bit. 🙂

Alright, let’s begin. First I should start off by saying our kitchen is tiny…..as is my house. This right here is basically my whole kitchen. The old one that is.

See that teeny tiny little sink next to the fridge? Yeah, that was our one and only sink. Gotta love that attractive brick face back splash huh? You can’t tell by the photos but our dishwasher door didn’t stay shut so to run it at night, we’d drag one of our kitchen chairs in front of it to keep it shut. Our refrigerator had a leak in it so we had a pitcher on the top shelf in the back to catch the water. It was also missing a shelf and a shelf guard on the door. The storage drawer on the oven was broken so every time we opened and closed it, it would mark up the floor. Wait, it gets better. Let me see if I can find a picture of the mirrors we had on the wall opposite the stove.

There it is! Mirrors in the kitchen. Mirrors everywhere actually. From the master bedroom (ewww gross! Don’t worry. Those came down BEFORE we moved in. lol) to the hallway, to the living room to the stairway upstairs. I can officially say we are now MIRROR FREE in this house!!! With the exception of places where NORMAL people would put mirrors! Love the gross radiator under the window and the old back door. You can’t really tell from this photo but the floor was pretty gross too. Ugh!

Okay, here’s a close up of the tiny sink. And notice the worn yucky cabinets below. We lived like this for 8 years people. 8 YEARS!!

More mirrors and another ugly radiator. You can’t really tell from this picture but that little corner on the right where our phone is sticking out had a tall hutch like cabinet that I stored my dishes on and also our microwave. My dad built shelves on top of a butcher blog type thing-y and he did a great job (he’s sooooo talented! can build anything from scratch!) but it just was taking up too much space in our kitchen.

Okay, let’s see what else we have….

Oh okay, here’s a picture of the hutch and the wall next to it that we took down (after we had originally had my dad put up a few years ago! I know. I’m insane) Oh and check out the little cherubs in the living room.

On day one, the wall came down…………..

As did the mirrors. Paneling. Seriously? Put mirrors over paneling? How is THAT any better? Just paint the darn stuff. Sheesh!! Curse you previous owners! lol

Moving right along…..

Progress. Woo Hoo!!! Check out our new back door that we are l.o.v.i.n.g! And no more radiators. Base board baby! And new sheet rock. Oh and yes, NO MIRRORS! Halleluia!!!

The brick backspash is gone as is the first of the cabinets. I think we lived like this for a few days too. My husband demo’d the kitchen cabinets and countertops when he was not working his Investigator job (That’s right! I’m married to a hottie police officer! lol) He did such a great job.

See him working so hard? Awww!!

Alright, now the big reveal! I will save you from seeing every other boring aspect of the new kitchen install since you’ve put up with all of my annoying before pictures. Hey, at least I didn’t put up a picture of every spot on the floor, every magic marker drawing on the wall and every chip in the paint on the radiators.

Now for the “After” Shots!

Check out our GIANT sink!!! I think this is our favorite part of the whole kitchen!!!! I mean, there are so many things we love about our new kitchen but this one is definitely up at the top!

Since this picture was taken, we got our new stainless steel fridge and we also took out the used to be ceiling fan light fixture and got recessed lighting as well as lights under the cabinets to light up the counter tops. I do have one picture that I’ll show at the end but it was taken with my phone since my camera only uploads to my other computer and that computer is hidden away somewhere since my office is being overtaken by my girls for their new room so this will just have to do. 🙁 (run on sentence anyone?)

(Hi little Coach purse peeking out in the corner. My one and probably only ever Coach purse. lol I had a temporary moment of insanity when I spent crazy money to buy it. lol)

This ceiling fan has also been replaced by a nice little chandelier type light fixture. I tried my hand at using vinyl for the first time by putting up that “Bless Our Home” working above our little chalkboard. Kitchen table is old. We still need to get a new one but that will come down the road. Oh, we also need to get some trim done around the ceiling but my dad will do that when he comes to visit soon. Have to save money s.o.m.e.w.h.e.r.e. right?

So, there you have it! We did not really gain any space square feet wise but since we brought our cabinets up to the ceiling and we gained cabinet space. We moved our sink to the corner and gained a bigger sink. We actually have appliances that work! We have beautiful granite countertops and a floor that just ties it all in together. And we took down that wall between the kitchen and living room and now have room for a bigger table to accomodate little Jr. Yay! And just in time for baby! 🙂

Thanks for making it to the end. You guys rock!!