Rotten Apple.... Kitchen Before/Afters!!!!!

Hello Bloggy friends, 

or if you are here with me in the Northwest I should say

 SOGGY friends!

So sorry I have been absent for a LONG time!

My Apple (Mac) is being ROTTEN.

There is a short in the screen and so it only opens about 8 inches

before the screen turns black.

So, imagine typing with the laptop on its back (fold) and

resting the keyboard part on your stomach

trying to type straight down ....

and peeking under the top to see what you are actually typing.

I just have to say...its not working well.

Why not just go have it fixed?

Since the kitchen re-do my husband has put us on a 

strict budget....booooo the b word.

But its all for good.

I mean, I have fun money, but I'd rather buy flowers for the yard

or a pretty spring outfit,

ya know what Im sayin girls?

So...in the meantime, I will curl into a pretzel as I write.

Just bare (or is it bear, cuz Im not naked!) with me!

Oh..PINTREST!

I know Im a little late on this boat, but better late than drowning.

I loooooove it.

Will love it even more when I can really SEE the pictures

(see note above...)

I've started a page, I tried to name it fresh vintage home,

but I believe its under my name Jodi Green.

Feel free to follow if you would like,

and at some point I will figure out how to do a pin button on here....

some day....

Now, the kitchen.

These are photo's that my mother in law took a few weeks ago while here. 

Her camera is much better than mine, so I am stealing borrowing

her photo's so you all can REALLY see the difference!

Jeff and I did it all ourselves except for hiring

a plumber to move the sink, and electricians to fix

the crazy wiring, and a handyman to take down the wall

adding a support beam. 

The rest was ALL us.

Anything that is not perfect we call character.

And we will just leave it at that.

ok? K.

Because I love it so much!

Before we moved in:

New sink now here, and wall above is gone

Looking from stove towards the Laundry Room

Note the "hole" under the microwave and doorway to the right that went to the Master & Bathroom

The wall to the left is the wall we partially removed. We kept both china cabinets intact.

Laundry Room when moved in.

Progress.....We changed some little stuff

and lived with it for a year like this...

I painted the walls a khaki color, painted over the dark grey colored trim, made the alcove into a chalkboard, and covered the hole with a fabric skirt.

The fan was so close to the stove it had melted in spots...yikes.

 The lighting was awful at night, the flooring made us dizzy, and it was so closed off from the rest of the living spaces. The new cabinetry we purchased from Craigslist was custom made for a different kitchen, so we used blue tape on the counters to mark the segments of cabinets.  We had to cut apart one cabinet and also get creative to fill the gaps.

 More piles in the laundry room.  The mess was because we had started to empty out
the armoire and cabinets below.  We had used the large Armoire for small appliances, and the small table for folding laundry.  Jeff had built small shelving for the cans.

Then, with much anticipation, we started to tear things up!

We removed all the stuff from the Laundry room.

As we started to remove the soffit we found a web of wiring that needed to

be professionally redone.

We had to pile kitchen stuff all over the house. This is the corner where we eventually closed off the doorway.

There were so many paint colors and types of wall surfaces. Some cement board,
some drywall, some plaster.

We framed in the doorway between the kitchen and Master bedroom & Bathroom.

It made the hallway darker, but we love the way it makes the area feel like

a master suite!

 The day the wall came down we did a happy dance!  The difference was amazing!

This is from the dining room side looking in. We still needed to change the lighting, flooring, moldings around the windows and opening, counters, etc.

Working on the finishing details....

We bought legs at Lowes, painted them to match, 

and inserted them into the cabinet on each side.

 It worked perfectly.

We installed the laminate tiles with real grouting.  They look real, and are much warmer on our feet.  The cabinets were 30" cabinets, so we had to raise them and install a tall
base board under them.

 Jeff built the moulding for the windows and I primed them before installing them.

 This is one of the butcher block counter tops from Ikea. Its the 1 1/2" Oak.
We had to cut it to fit around the farm sink. After trying to use the router,
Jeff found a chisel and hammer to be the most effective.
We used the sealer recommended at Ikea, but I would like to stain it darker
and put a heavy finish on it.

This is the new counter in the laundry room. We installed the uppers, and

then I refinished a huge dresser & distressed it. Then Jeff added the legs

and countertop.  We also added subway tile, but its not installed yet in this photo.

The breadbox is a gift from my son. He made it for me:)

 We re-hung the antique cabinet in the Laundry room above the washer & dryer.
Jeffs grandpa made it for his mom when she was a little girl. She
kept her doll collection in it.  I loooooove it!

Jeff installing the subway tile in the kitchen.

This is NOW....

 We used a leftover upper cabinet to fill in the hole under the microwave. It holds all my cookbooks and baking dishes as well as baking ingredients. The white wood wainscotting is actually a neighbors pine flooring they were tossing. We primed and painted it to add character. You cant even tell there was a door next to the microwave!

 Looking from the kitchen to the dining room.

 Ok, so I wish the red towel wasnt on the stove here...but thats real life. ha ha.

 Kitchen to laundry room

I'm such a happy girl!
Thank you for stopping by
xoxoxo