Kitchen (Before & After)

WARNING: This is a VERY long post! 

But, the end results are AMAZING!

For the next couple of posts I will be sharing Before & After photos of my kitchen, entry way & family room.  We have lived in our house for 6 years (in February) and have made TONS of progress in making it a home.  I have to tell you...we moved from a brand new house to a 40 year old house! 

 I know, CRAZY!  

We have put a lot of sweat equity into this place and I have to say...I absolutely love it.
So, come along and see the progress we have made over the past 6 years.  

 This kitchen was a mess...I mean look at it, a dropped ceiling with school lighting, not to mention outdated backsplash and floors.  It needed some tender loving care & we were the family for the job.

 As I said earlier, our house is 40 years old.  This means there was NO pantry.  The above picture shows the wall that we opened up for a pantry (there was a coat closet on the other side of the wall).
 I am sorry...I do not know how people lived without a pantry.  I mean, really...we had 3 teenagers at this time (do you know how much food they consume?)!

 As we were making the pantry, I housed our food on an industrial type shelf in the laundry room.  It made for easy access for food, but was not very attractive.  

The above picture shows the finished pantry.  

P.S. I love the door we chose for the pantry...don't you?

Now onto the After pictures:  

You will be amazed at the progress we have made. I know I was, as I looked back at the before photos!

As you can see, we painted the cabinets white, put in wood flooring, and got new stainless steel appliances.  We also tore down the drop ceiling and school lighting and put up a new ceiling (tutorial to come) and some track lighting.

 After I painted the cabinets, I had the doors on them. But, with all of my colorful Fiestaware I thought it would be a nice way to brighten up the space.  Of course, the other cabinets are still covered because I had to have somewhere to stuff the 'not so pretty' things!

This progress has taken many years.  We had to stop a few times, because we ran out of money and we still have a few more things to do...like new countertops and a new sink!  

I want to do concrete countertops, but my husband says, NO!  

We will see who wins this debate (I will let you know)!

So, if you have an older home that needs some TLC...just remember, you can DO it!  

It takes a lot of time, patience, and money, but it is well worth it!

~Julie