If you are coming over from Today's Creative Blog, I invite you to stay awhile and chat at the sky! Kim included some before and after photos from my old kitchen in my old house (we miss you, Sophie Marie). It was just the inspiration I needed to go ahead and post some before and afters or our kitchen in our new house. I haven't done this yet because some of it is still in progress, but I think the results so far are drastic enough to make it interesting.
Here is a view of the kitchen on the first day we walked through the house. Notice the laminate that goes all the way up the wall. Notice the green. Notice. Just notice.
I couldn't wait to get rid of that green. I am still testing out hardware, as you can see there are many knobs missing. And I definitely miss my black cabinets from our old house. Maybe one day these cabinets may see some paint as well.
Obviously, we left the cabinets as they are. We did replace the countertops, added a back splash, some under cabinet lighting, changed a few fixtures and painted the walls a nice, neutral Ivoire from Sherwin Williams.
And this is what you get. As much as I miss my old kitchen, this one is bigger. It also has a lot more natural light, which I love. Can you spot the 1960's light tube in the ceiling? And two points extra if you can tell the color of the paci in the child's mouth.
I will be posting more before and afters of the kitchen soon. After all, I've got to show you how we remedied this:
Thursday, July 10, 2008
another kitchen do-over
Todays topic:
a house-lover
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55 comments:
I LOVE before and afters. Your kitchen looks great - I am very impressed!
Wow! What a change! It looks fabulous. I love the tile backsplash. I have similar granite countertops and stained cabinets. I am going to remember this look and hopefully talk my husband into do this same backsplash for me. :) Thanks for the inspiration!
I can't wait to see the remedy. You have done a great job. It's funny whenever you mention a color like Ivoire, I get out my SW paint fan to look it up. It's a great color!!
Congratulations on being featured on Today's Creative Blog. So nice to see a blog that I actually visit regularly. Love the way the kitchen looks also. What a difference.
I do believe that is a blue binky--and I love that he has unsnapped himself. My son does that too. :)
Pretty backsplash!
~ Sarah
Wow, your kitchen looks great. I'm sure it will look fabulous with black cabinets if you decide to paint. I can't even tell you how tempted I am to paint my cabinets black because of you! And, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't completely button up the carter's sometimes! Cute little baby!
-Julie
Oh, and I meant to say, "wow, what a lot of green laminate" in the befores. Bluuh!
Love your new kitchen! Your cabinets don't look bad the way they are. I think if you decide to paint them or not, they'll look good either way. Your new backsplash is perfect. You've done a great job updating the kitchen. It's a great size for your family now. I think once you get everything changed out the way you want it, you won't even think about your old kitchen anymore. Thanks for the kitchen tour! By the way, the paci is blue.
Kelly
It looks great!! Love the backsplash, new faucet, new lighting and new countertops. I can't wait to see the next pics!!
This is the one I've been waiting on. :-) Love it! Now, you are right. I want to know what you did with that refrigerator/W/D issue. :-) That is so strange but I'm sure you did something amazing with it. Oh, and the paci is blue and white.
Hugs,
M
this looks great! i LOVE the backsplash! (we're still trying to decide what to do for our backsplash)
Great redo. Nice job.
I was so happy to see you featured on Creative Blogs! Your kitchen (as expected) looks fabulous! I love the backsplash. Oh...the pacifier is blue and white, with a little yellow. No challenge is too big when it comes to checking out your house--and your kids! ;)
Beautiful redo! I wish someone had decided to put a 60's light tube in our house when they built it in the 60's. We have very little natural light in our dining area.
I love the backsplash, and the counters, and the color, and the faucet...need I go on?
Love it! Love it!! Please come do mine!
Blue!!! Such a cute kitchen! I am LOVING that light fixture of the table and the counter tops!
LOVE the new kitchen. Love it. It's amazing what a new counter and some paint can do for a room.
BTW, is the paci light purple?
You know I love it! I love anything with nice lighting and pretty paint colors.
I am so proud of you, Em, and the work you did in this house! Now all she needs is a name!
What a beautiful kitchen and I love the tile backsplash! I see you're in NC...my mom has a place in Franklin and our neighbors have a place in Sylva that we really enjoy.
Wish I was in that kitchen right now eating give me a headache chocolate cake with you.
That paci is blue, white and yellow and it might be the one that BL took from Nathan! Paci police coming your way! Love the kitchen, but I must admit, the pictures don't quite do it justice. It's even better in person!
blue binky...pretty kitchen...uber cool taste! i wish i was there. hanging out. employed (not by you, just in general) ha ha
Yea, for being featured! I have been so inspired by you guys. I am working on 4 different things as I type (that's probably a bad thing) and can't wait to show you. Now, how do I redo my island - do I have to buy a new one? Hmmm....
It looks great! I wish that I had taken some before pics of my kitchen. I have some during pics that would scare the socks off you. It was one scary project!
The kitchen redo looks fab! But I have a question... On the before pics it looks as if the handles on the cabinets are the longer style with two screws. On the after pics, you have a single knob. What did you do with the extra hole or am I crazy for thinking I see one there?
Regardless, I love what you have done. The subway tile backsplash is my favorite.
This is the same anonymous who LOVED your baseball pictures! I think I should just have you come and decorate my house! So, now my question is did you do the tile backsplash yourself? My kitchen has the some terrible countertops and backsplash issues as well. LOVE what you did!
Strawberry - You are right in noticing the extra hole. Hence one reason why I have been dragging my feet in posting after photos...because it's not exactly after yet. It is still sort of "during". I'm not sure I'm going to stick with the knobs in the photo. I haven't looked very hard yet for handles with the same spread as the previous handles so the holes will match. I've been told that particular spread is hard to find.
If I stick with the knobs, I have also been told I could just fill the holes with a wood putty. Is there such a thing? I'll cross that long, high bridge when I get to it, I guess.
How's that for a long answer?!
Hey! I love your kitchen! I am having the same dilemma over hardware! We have been in our house for almost two years so I think I am just going with some from target. After all that waiting and looking! What type of under cabinet lighting did you use? Are they plugged in? Please let me know your tricks! Thanks! Julie
fantastic! what a wonderful redo. I keep hoping I'll wake up one day and someone will have made my kitchen over, too!
Emily ~ Honey they totally make stuff called wood putty and even better than that is stuff called STAINABLE wood putty, you can add wood stain to it to match whatever color stain you have on your cabinets or whatever you need wood putty for.
I love your home, you've done such a fantastic job so far! I love the tiled backsplash and the new countertops. Your decorating style is so classic yet you put that slight contemporary spin on it and your rooms turn out to be so personal, warm and welcoming, fresh, you know? You have the ability to see beyond what is in front of you to the possibilities that await, a rare gift and talent. Then you're a PRO-fessional photographer to boot! Thanks for sharing your home, can't wait to see how you fixed the refrigerator/w&d area...
I'm loving seeing pictures of your new home. It is beautiful, I love how your decorating it. Thanks for sharing.
I will be over tonight to meticulously steal your backsplash one tile at a time, k?
I love the black knobs. They class the whole place up and are at least reminiscent of your old black cabinets.
And little bit's paci is the light blue/white/yellow combo. one. We have the same one.... :)
GREAT JOB! And big congrats on your TCB feature. Love the ladies there!
FAME-OUS - that's all i've got to say. ;) i'll call you from 1502, i'm sure, and pick your brain about patterns and colors.
Ooooh, I LOVE your new countertops. You really brightened everything up!
I looks great! I am getting ready to redo my kitchen and you have inspired me! You said you had painted your cabinets in your last house black....that is what I am planning in my kitchen. Any helpful hints?? Did you use oil base?? and sort of special paint etc...???
I looks really great. Someday, when Im all grown up I will be able to post before and after pictures.....it looks like you did something to spruce up the cabinets? or not? I would love to know if you did and if you used a stain, sanding.. mine need big help right now and then Im adding hardware :)
Emily you are amazing!! I love your house!
I am amazed at how quickly you and your sister can get a house in shape after moving...with kids...and homeschooling...and making tassels...and computers blowing up...
It looks beautiful!
You kitchen is looking pretty fabulous! You must be cooking more!
i stumbled across your blog today and enjoyed reading your entries. i love your blog! also, my husband and i went to CIU as well! we were done there in 2003. what about you?
http://emerya.blogspot.com
the kitchen looks great!
Emily - Thanks for coming over! Your kitchen looks great. You never cease to amaze me with your ideas.
Great kitchen re-do! How did you get that old backsplash off without having to take down the cabinets? It looks similar to ours that go slightly up under and behind the cabinets. It also looks like you were able to get the laminate off the side of the cabinet that houses the oven without any tearing. We will be re-doing our cabinets (paint) and putting in a new backsplash so we'll be facing the laminate behind the cabinet problem that you appeared to have had.
Thanks,
Dawn
Gorgeous! I really like the natural wood of the cabinets--and the style. How lucky you are that they are in great shape!
Hi Dawn! You are right, the old backsplash did go up behind the cabinets. We did not do the backsplash ourselves, but the guy who did just cut it right at the top, below the cabs. At first we thought we would have to take them down...a big pain. Glad we didn't have to.
And we were lucky that it came off the side where the oven is without much damage. Good luck with your kitchen! Let me know when it's done...I love a good before and after.
Love your kitchen. You did great. Fellow NC :) over from NEsting ;)
Your kitchen looks great - though I would have probably been satisfied with the before!
I love the black cupboards in your last kitchen - can you tell me how you got your husband to agree to paint the oak? My cupboards are a very tired oak, and they are begging me to relieve them with a creamy off-white. My husband insists that "THEY ARE WOOD! YOU CAN'T PAINT OVER WOOD! YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK!"
Ummm...that would be the point?
EMILY!
It looks AWESOME!!!
You seem to have the same spectacular "room transformation" gene the Nester has!!! I am working hard on convincing the hub that we should paint our cabinets black. Not there yet, but pictures of Sophie Marie's kitchen are helping prove my case!
Can you tell me where you got your subway tile? I can't find it in a size that small. ???
Thanks for the inspiration!
Karrie
Very nice redo! It looks great.
Rhoda
Emily, thanks so much for the information. I will be sure to take before and after pictures and post them on the blogspot I've created but haven't posted on yet. Though, we probably won't be able to get to it for another couple of months.
Angel Fehr & Karrie, I don't mean to speak for Emily, but the way I convinced my husband that we should paint over some of our outdated wood was to show him a lot of before and after pictures. It's taken a few years, but he's finally seen just how much better some wood looks when painted. I've been trying to talk him into it for several years now without the pictures, but once I showed the pictures it made much more of an impact on him. Hope that helps.
Take Care,
Dawn
Hi Emily! I found your blog today and just wanted to let you know how much I love it! Also, I see you have twins. How old are they? Do you have any advice? I just delived a set five months ago. It is an amazing miracle to have TWO sweet little babies at once, but they sure are a handfull! I have a lot of help, though, 7 older children, who can cook, clean and drive! Thank goodness!
Love your black cabinets - can you tell us exactly how you did it? Did you strip them first, or just sand? What type of paint did you use? Please help!! :)
Hi Jennifer and everyone else - I want to reply to your question about the black cabinets.
We didn't actually paint them ourselves. I hired a friend to do it. He did not strip them of anything. He cleaned them really well and then painted first with a tinted primer (it looked almost purple when it went on). He did remove the doors as well. Then he used I think a Behr paint. The color was something about a bulldog? Bulldog Black, maybe? We chose a semi-gloss finish.
And yes, it was hard to convince the man that this was the best thing to do. But in the end, he was with me 100% and he LOVED the result.
Latex or oil-based?? Thanks for the info - your pretty kitchen has so inspired me - I am determined to paint the honey oak cabinets in my kitchen. I think they are the twins to yours!
Love what you did to update your kitchen- love that backsplash, and am now more convinced than ever that I must get granite. :-)
I'm curious... I didn't see a microwave anywhere. Do you use one? Mine is over the stove and I'm actually considering taking ours out. Just not sure we could survive without it.
Thanks for the pictures- I love everything you have done with your new home!
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