The Transformation of a Kitchen

We didn't mean to redo our kitchen in phases. 

It just turned out that way. 

I didn't have a long range plan but tackled it project by project over a period of years.

It was a time consuming process that could be accelerated.

We started with orange oak cabinets, formica counters, black and almond appliances and vinyl floors. Did I mention the dark green wallpaper?

It was only 3 years old when we bought the house and still in style but dark green wasn't my scene.

How cute are these cousins?  

The first thing to go was the wallpaper.

I stripped it off, textured the walls and painted them yellow.

This was the only picture I could find of the old kitchen. 
Jonnie was 15. 
The next thing to go was the flooring. 

We ended up with a wood look vinyl.
It has been a work horse.
Regular mopping and an occasional cleaning with Quick Shine keeps it in good shape.

I got to the point where I couldn't live with the gross formica countertops one more day. I decided to tile them.
I love the 50s vintage vibe. 
I also created the open storage. Read that post here. 

The formica layer peeled off in one big sheet.



I didn't do any prep work to the remaining plywood base. The tiles adhered just fine. I've never had one pop off. 

It took about a year to get to the sink corner. We placed the plywood base around the sink because it had water damage and mold.

I got a new Elkay sink that I still love. 
This was just a tad before farmhouse sinks came into vogue but I doubt one would have worked in the corner anyway.
At this point I was pretty content with the kitchen. I was wild about Robin's Egg Blue and brown and this scheme pleased me.
The appliances got replaced as they bit the dust. 
Replacing them all with stainless took about 5 years.
The kitchen stayed blue for 6 years until someone mentioned to me that blue kitchens were unappetizing. 
That gave me the motivation to paint. 
For the record, I never had a problem eating in a blue kitchen. ;)
I wanted something neutral so I could fill up my shelves with red transfer ware.

I finally convinced my husband to let us paint the kitchen cabinets.

I pinned picture after picture of cute kitchens. 
I realized that all of them were white. ALL OF THEM.
 I was just attracted to white. 

My final plea came when I expressed that the orange-y oak cabinets had had a good life and that they would not be in style again in our lifetime. 

That is just the way it works. It takes decades for a design element to come around again. 

Decades - if ever!

Since we don't plan to be here in 3 decades, 
(if we are still breathing in 3 decades) 
he relented. 

He is glad that he did because we love the white cabinets.

We love how bright and open it looks.

We made a faux vent hood.



We will splurge and get stone counters but I'm not sure when he will spring for that. 

In the meantime, I think I might do a tile backsplash. 
Maybe.

Here is a breakdown of the cost:
Sink $400
Counters $200
Painting cabinets $1850
Appliances $3200
Paint is Kilim Beige by Sherwin Williams
Cabinets are Dover White by Sherwin Williams.

I think it's a pretty frugal remodel. I love my kitchen. 
Thanks for stopping in to see it.  

Katie    
Linking with,
Home Sweet Home     
Fridays Unfolded   
Feathered Nest Friday

Updating a Kitchen With a Faux Vent Hood.

I told you last week that I had something up my sleeve for the kitchen. My kitchen had a very 90s look. 



It had dated oak cabinets but it also had all that open space above the cabinets. 
It was better than the soffits in 70s kitchens but still...
Painting the cabinets helped but the linear look remained. 
I added this little cabinet before we painted to break up the line around the room.

It was originally supposed to go above the microwave but it didn't look good.



As I was writing my blog post celebrating the anniversary of my white cabinets I couldn't dislodge an idea that I had a year ago. 
I went back to the internet to get some inspiration and to get just the push I needed to get going. 
I was a little afraid it would look bad.

I love DIYing when Bill is out of town and last Saturday he was up at my brother's ranch taking the cows to get branded. 
I figured it was a good opportunity to putter in the garage.
 I had hoped he had all the supplies but I couldn't find what I needed so I asked Bill to help me with this easy and inexpensive update.

I told him what I was thinking and I showed him some pins on Pinterest for inspiration. 

He seemed excited to head to Home Depot and get started. 

I can tell when he is fired up about one of my ideas. He charges ahead and takes over. We had this thing done in 2 1/2 hours and that included a lunch break.

 I wanted a vent hood look but we didn't need a vent hood.
Instead I had him build a box as if there were a vent we needed to hide. 
We designed a three sided box.

It consists of 2-1 x 12s for the sides. The front is a piece of 1/2 inch plywood. 

We put each piece up on the cabinet and then used the air gun to tack them together.

We covered the box with pre-primed bead board to match the island.

He trimmed it out with dentil crown molding and trim. The most challenging part was the mitered corners. 
There were some other molding options if you feel you can't do crown. I primed the crown molding and then painted the rest with some oil based semi-gloss.

 Our paint color for our cabinets is Dover White by Sherwin Williams.

I'm loving it!
I have had the little antique shelf for about 3 years. I knew I wanted it in the kitchen somewhere but didn't know where until we finished the "vent hood."  

I like it with the tole painted tray. 
I also went to the thrift store and picked up two more silver trays so both sides would be symmetrical.

I love the look of the silver and the crystal together.

The box is very light weight. I didn't want to add an additional weight load to the top of the cabinets. It was easy and it cost less than $75.00 for supplies. The crown molding was the most expensive part.
There is a plug in the microwave cabinet so we added some lights on the top. 

Some of you observant friends may have seen a sneak peak  of it in my Halloween tree post.

 I think a wreath at wreath at Christmas will look fabulous. 





I am so thankful for a handy husband.
Katie    

Linking with,
Between Naps on the Porch   
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia  
White Lace Cottage   
Savvy Southern Style    
Feathered Nest Friday   
Common Ground   
A Stroll Thru Life   
Funky Junk Interiors