Wednesday, December 12, 2012

A Kitchen Story

Thought it would be fun to share a few pics of the evolution of our kitchen.  We didn't do a major remodel, just a facelift, but I think it's quite a happy transformation :)

Here's what we started with:



Very woody and very brown. (sorry that second picture is so shadowed, but it does show that the walls were very apricot colored.)

We decided to have all the cabinetry painted white.  Here's what that process looked like:

 That's our painter, Matt.  We really liked him.

Then we went for about a month with no cabinet doors while we waited for new hardware to arrive and for the cabinet guy to come re-hang them.  Some little vignettes were kind of charming as "open shelving" - but on the whole, it was pretty cluttery and I felt obsessive about keeping everything orderly to reduce the visual noise.
Easy access, though :)  The kids loved that doorless month for dishwasher unloading.



And finally, here's what it looks like now with cabinet doors and hardware.
 This first picture is from my real camera - I thought it would show colors pretty accurately, but with a fixed lens, I could not get a wide enough angle to see the whole room at once.

So I snapped a few quickies with my phone, too:




I believe in showcasing my childrens' creativity, but I hate a cluttered up fridge -- so we hang all the art on one side of the fridge.  I should probably just let them put it on the front -- but this feels like a good compromise.



and to be real: here are the dirty dishes in my sink.
and here is the pile of the clutter I moved from the kitchen before I took these pictures:


When we bought this house nearly every room was defiled with an awful paint job - lots of sponge paint, dark brown, boy scout blue and traffic-sign yellow in the same room, orange so bright your eyes could not focus properly, and drippy, sloppy ceilings and baseboards everywhere.  I was so overstimulated and grossed out I just wanted a clean slate - white, clean, soothing.  Consequently, I think I was a little too gun-shy when it came to choosing colors.  The kitchen feels a tiny bit sterile, but I think we can fix that up with some accessories, art, window treatments?  And most of the time it's full of kids, a brewing meal, a leftover mess, a creative project...so really, not many sterile moments :)


8 comments:

  1. I REALLY like it!! I love white cabinets. Keep posting new house pictures!

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  2. love this emily! we are house hunting right now and i am already doing my visual "okay, i can make this work" as i look over drab kitchens.
    Yours looks great, white is my favorite!

    rae

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  3. It looks awesome. I am so jealous of all of your storage!!!

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  4. What a dreamy kitchen! So bright and airy and big! Good call on painting the cabinets white. I love everything about this kitchen...I love the bar where the kids can sit, the built-in desk, the the grooves in the countertop so the water drains into the sink, and how the kitchen opens up to the living room! Good work!

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  5. Wow Em!! What a transformation! I love it, and I don't think it looks sterile at all. It looks bright, and fresh, and clean. The kind of kitchen I feel good about eating in! ;) So happy for you guys.

    Nat

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  6. I happened upon your blog by chance...your kids are so grown up (and adorable)! I remember Henry as a baby in so-cal selling pest control probably 6ish years ago.

    You have a beautiful house. I love your bar stools. Where did you get them? I want some just like that (maybe in black though) for our kitchen.

    Loni Waggener

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  7. My favorite pic is the one of the pile of clutter. You know how I love reality :)

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  8. Beautiful transformation.. I love it!

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