I'm finally sharing our kitchen face-lift photos, after over a year of mentioning it! Our previous kitchen decor was left over from the previous owner, who had a mid-90s traditional style going on. It wasn't in bad taste, really, but looked dated & some of the details were kind of cheap.
Here are the befores (God help me if my friends ever find out that I used these photos on the net!!!)....
Notice the dated wallpaper & border, weird cornice that kept falling off the wall & fabric vertical blinds that couldn't be cleaned. And, we have a cat. I don't think that I need to say more.
I never could figure out what to do with that far wall. I put up those shelves, but they always seemed to be floating there & things fell off whenever the door slammed. And, the light fixture...it was really cheap.
The afters...
What we did:
- Ripped down the wallpaper & border
- Painted the walls cream
- Re-painted the cabinets pure white, to match the rest of the woodwork in the house
- changed the drawer pulls & the hinges on all of the cabinets
- Pulled down the cornice & vertical blinds
- Put up curtains on clipped rings
- Changed both light fixtures -- there used to be a flouresecent fixture in the main part of the kitchen & it is now an alabaster-like fixture.
- The cheapo fixture in the eating area was replaced by my "it was really cheap but doesn't look like it" thrift store chandelier. Remember this? See above for the "after". Just some black spray paint & chandelier shades.
- Added the dresser on the far wall. We inherited it & it is like it was meant to be there.
- Added lots of cozy accessories.
There are still several spots on the walls that I'd like to fill. And, I'm not sure about the cottage print above the dresser. I saw a painting at an arts festival this summer & it would look amazing in that spot. If I see it again next summer, I will have to buy it.
Our current project is our powder room, which is much less time consuming than the kitchen proved to be. Of course, I'll share the photos when it is done!
