Now that our playroom makeover is complete, I’m already itching to start the next room in our house. I had lots of fun decorating the kids space with all the bright, bold colors, but I’m ready to work on a grown-up room that’s more my style. And that lucky room is (drumroll please)… OUR KITCHEN!
I spend so much of my time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning (when I’m not glued to my blog of course), and I’m totally excited to start making it pretty! Today I’m sharing with you the “before” pictures so you’ll be able to see the progression of the makeover and where we started from. But first I’ll give you a taste of the look I’m going for with this inspiration board:
– Soft neutrals –
– Modern prints –
– Vintage accents –
We were so lucky to move into an older home that is full of charm and has been well taken care of over the years. Most of the house has been updated and needed very little work, however the kitchen hasn’t quite made it there yet. The walls have been updated with a beautiful gray-beige on top and white on bottom and most of the trim has been painted white. But other than that, my kitchen is still pretty stuck in the… well I don’t even know what decade because I wasn’t even born yet!
Welcome to my kitchen:
There is a good amount of cabinet space and I love that they go all the way up to the ceiling, but that orange wood color makes me cringe every time I look at it. They would be so much prettier white!!
There is a big opening over the sink looking into our dining room, and it really helps to open the kitchen up. I’ve been contemplating ways to decorate that space forever, but nothing has really hit me yet.
We don’t have tons of counter space, but I make do with what I have.
On the other side of our kitchen is a big, beautiful set of windows that lets tons of light in. It’s my favorite part of the whole kitchen! I have a little table and two chairs that fits perfectly there, and after getting some curtains up and giving the furniture a makeover, I envision an adorable little space to drink my coffee in the morning! I always tell Jeremy this is where I see us getting old together… reading the paper, drinking coffee, and looking out our farm : )
Our Aunt gave us this set of chairs (I have 6 more in the dining room), and although this flower/bird pattern is very pretty, I’m ready for a change. All that white fabric is just not holding up with my messy boys!
Aside from all the gorgeous sunlight we get in the kitchen, there are two light fixtures. I swapped the center fixture, which used to be a basic round light, with this hanging one. I’m still not sure I love it, but it came with us from our old house and seemed like an upgrade from the old one. (Apparently I also still need to fix the paint on the ceiling. After avoiding it for so long, I sort of forgot it was there! Mind over matter, right?) There is also a white ceiling fan next to the windows, which frankly we never use. The light on it doesn’t work that well, and if we ever need a breeze in the kitchen we just open up the windows. As I was taking these pictures I realized how weird the two lights look, and now I’m brainstorming some ideas to switch them up! The ceiling fan needs to go… don’t you agree?
The back wall of our kitchen is a big blank space, and I can’t wait to hang some wall art. I would love to put shelves there, but the refrigerator opens right up to the wall. Maybe I’ll install some above the refrigerator towards the ceiling and add artwork underneath.
Our house is older and has so many charming details like this little cove in the wall. I was informed by our Grandmother that it was where you would put your telephone! How cute is that? You better bet I’m on the lookout for a vintage rotary phone : )
There is also a short wall that covers the old chimney that needs a bit of beauty. Maybe some shelving here?
Aside from putting some artwork up on the walls, there is also some work that needs to be done on our countertops, such as a makeover on the paper towel holder, prettier storage for dish soap, better organization next to the stove, etc. There are definitely better ways to display these things!
Next to the kitchen is the stairs going up to our bedrooms and the door to the backyard. That cute little window needs some curtains too, and I’d love to pick out a new rug.
Across from that little window is a small sink and a closet that I turned into our pantry. I used to think this was a very odd space, but I found out the reason it was set up that way:
When farmers came in from the field, they would come through the back door so they wouldn’t make a mess in the house. They would throw their dirty clothes down to the basement (where our washer/dryer is) and wash up at the sink. I love learning the history of old homes!
Other than converting the closet to a pantry, I haven’t done anything yet with this space. I love the old medicine cabinet and think it would be so cute to bring back some vintage elements to this little washing station. There’s also a lot of blank wall space that needs to be decorated!
Oh, I almost forgot to show you my gorgeous counters, backsplash, and floors…
Puke! This is the part of the kitchen that has definitely NOT been updated in awhile. And I know what you’re thinking… why go through all the trouble decorating if you’re not going to makeover the major parts of the kitchen? Well, we rent our house from the family farm (our Aunts and Uncles), and until they decide it’s time to renovate, we’re stuck with the kitchen the way it is. So no white cabinets, no hardwood floors, no farmhouse sink, and no granite countertops… for now : )
This makeover is kind of like putting lipstick on a pig, I suppose.
And here’s a picture of what first inspired me for our kitchen makeover: a simple pot holder from Target. It’s funny how much the littlest things can inspire us so much! I hung it up on a little Command hook to remind me how I want to decorate the kitchen, but I think I’ll find a classier way to display it for the makeover : )
So there it is folks! The good, the bad, and the plain ugly of our kitchen “before”. I have so many awesome projects planned that I can’t wait to show you!
{ Tell Me } What do you think of our kitchen so far? What projects would you love to see me do? What projects do YOU want to tackle in YOUR kitchen?
Let’s Keep In Touch!
P.S. I’m sharing this post at some awesome link parties… Check them out HERE!
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This post has been sponsored by:
The Weary Chef features weekly menus of tasty, quick dinners PLUS kid dinner ideas, bonus recipes, and Friday cocktails! Follow The Weary Chef on Facebook and Twitter to never miss a recipe!
Great inspiration for your kitchen…..I bet you are excited for some changes to it. I just finished having granite counters installed in my kitchen….I just love it.
Love the vintage inspiration! Excited to see what you do 😉
Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com
Love all your storage space in the kitchen, but yes… a coat of white paint would do the trick! Greetings from Australia♥ ~Pernilla (your newest follower on GFC and Linky followers)
Wow, fabulous inspiration board! I have a feeling the finished project is going to be amazing!
Krista
So, you can’t paint the cabinets, huh? I’ll bet you can do beautiful things with red accents against those just the way they are. What colors are you thinking of?
Lisa @ Helene’s Legacy
can’t wait to see all the personal touches you add from your inspiration board! it already looks so gorgeous and light
Great plan! The drapes are fabulous! Would love to have you come link this up to my party and follow along. http://alivedinhome.blogspot.com/2013/05/get-social-sunday_18.html
Great inspiration board — and I love the little telephone alcove!! I spotted it in one of the first pics and wondered what it could be 🙂
– Lora
Can’t wait to see it! I love the grey color you have on your walls. I’d love if you’d like up to The DIY’ers: http://homecomingmn.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-diyers-and-some-favorites.html
Great kitchen to work with so clean and crisp and your idea of all white cupboards sounds perfect. I love your nice eating area and your sentiment re growing old together. My honey and I have been doing it for 50 years and believe me it flies by so do a little every day.
Blessings from Canada
Bernice
Just to add– if you cant paint right now then add a few blue things or paint some good old stuff blue for now. Blue is the complementary colour of orange and it should take some of the heat out of the orange of the cupboards. Just a suggestion.
Bernice
All those vintage touches will look great in that kitchen! And the little telephone shelf is adorable…I love that you’ve found out about the history of all the quirky old features 🙂
Love, love, love your inspiration board. Can’t wait to see the end result! Hopped over from DIY Dreamer and I’m happy to be your newest follower on G+, T, FB & Bloglovin’. Hope you can stop by for a visit! Blessings ~ Judy
I would knock out (at least part of) the wall with the pass through. Once that’s done, I’d take the opportunity to update the cabinets. Open shelving is popular now, and it makes a space look larger. I love the look you’ve chosen; it works very well with your home. If you’d like, I think adding touches of aqua or yellow would enhance the design.
Darling kitchen. If it were mine I would use the chevron drapes flanking the windows, on the chair seats & across the whole wall were the pantry door is to make the space read as one. In the pass thru use 3 old graters with tea lights under them & hang 1-3 ball canning jars from the top to use as flower vessels/sea shells/pine cones whatever. How about a cute canning jar chandelier to replace the fan. Keep the ceiling light fixture but repeat the black iron feel by hanging the fork & spoon on the skinny wall where the hot pad is & paint a graphic or get a vinyl of the old bicycle on the wall above the adorable phone stand. Of course get a black rotary dial for the niche. I would put a simple table over the garbage can at counter height to give you a small landing zone to the right of the stove. Or maybe a narrow cupboard & move the garbage can. Decant your soaps into ball jar pump dispensers & get a magnetic paper towel holder to adhere to the fridge or undermount it to gain counter space. Turn the microwave’s back to the fridge if the door swings on the right. Put your napkins on top of a scale on top of the turned microwave. paint the door/drawer pulls black if allowed. Get the widest, longest black & white wide striped rug a/la/a Nate Burkess you can find to cover much of the floor or paint one on canvas. I have one that lasts 10 yrs with poly coat. Put some big glass canisters filled w/dry goods on top of the medicine cabinet & fill it with oils, spices, etc. Maybe you can turn it upside down or move the hinge so the door swings the other way for easier kitchen access.Use that graphic grey/wt print form the pillow to make the little window
curtain & your done! Suzi
Joann Fabrics has burlap printed with the bicycle motif. It would make a cute pin board
Just found your blog thru Pinterest as I am in the process of updating my 20 year old kitchen now that my kids have grown. Your kitchen brought back memories of my childhood! I would say that the cabinets date back to the 1950’s. That’s when my parents had the family home built and we had cabinets just like that, sans the handles. I remember that material on the counter tops (not sure what it was called or made out of) and the linoleum on the kitchen floor. Some of your readers had some great suggestions for updating (without changing the cabinetry, counters or floors) and they are what I’m getting ready to do to my kitchen! Great minds think alike, I guess. 🙂 I think you can make some changes of your own and you will have a new to you kitchen. Be patient and maybe once your family sees what changes you have made on your own, they will be more apt to approving your painting the cabinets. Thanks for your wonderful blog!
How fun, Sharon! I bet your kitchen will look beautiful! It’s always a fun challenge when you’re working with an older home, isn’t it? Thanks so much for stopping by to share this!
I discovered your blog this morning while looking at recipes, and I quickly got interested in your DIY projects. I love that you have a potholder as your inspiration and that you are fixing up your rental house. I grew up in a rented house and wish blogs had been around back then. My Mom would have appreciated these posts. 😉
Welcome to Love Grows Wild, Linda! I’m so happy to have you here! I completely agree, it’s so wonderful to have endless inspiration at your fingertips now!
At MTA in my city, they had look-alike “rotary” phones, pretty much the same, but the holes in the dial were buttons 🙂
So fun!
Hello! I was directed here after seeing the mason jar soap pump on pinterest. We just recently got a “new” house and I am going for the same look in my outdated kitchen as well! (Mine doesn’t have nearly the charm yours does tho…so jealous! :o) )I know I’m way late in the game here but have you considered contact paper for your countertop issue? My mom has done it for years and it actually holds up pretty well. Not ideal I know but it might make everything seem more “done”. The make some really nice ones now. The metalic variety comes in stainless steal and copper that look pretty good which might be good for your backsplash. Maybe the chalk board kind for the cabinet fronts? Or maybe renters wall paper for the cabinet doors? They all can be easily removed if it doesn’t work out. Also, could you share what color you used on the walls? I’m in love with it! Great blog…glad I found you!
Thank you for all the suggestions, Carol! I’m thrilled to have you here! The gray color on my walls is Valspar Woodlawn Colonial Gray.