Kitchen: Before & After

I was totally sick of our kitchen. It's a great size, and has a lot of cabinets, but they were very poorly thought out. The green counters, yellowish wood cabinets, and peach floor looked gross together. The oven didn't work.

We considered installing a new Ikea kitchen, but it was a little above our budget. So we decided to work with what we had. First I installed some pull-out wire racks in a couple of the cabinets to make them a little more functional.

Over the course of a week, we refinished all the cabinets. This involved removing all the doors and washing them (and washing the hinges, while we were at it), sanding everything, and then staining it all a nice cherry color. We also installed new lights under the upper cabinets, which make a huge difference in the mood and functionality of the space. (Though we're still dealing with where to put all the extra cords, nothing seems to hold them up in place!)

Several weeks later, my uncle came over for a day and helped me install new self-stick vinyl tile flooring. We chose a slate look with beveled gray edges that look like grout lines. People actually have to do a double-take to see that they're not real tiles! After pulling off the peach linoleum, we found a different tile floor, which was luckily smooth and in good condition, so we didn't have to do much to prepare except wash it. The tiles were actually very easy to install, even though we had to cut out around a lot of radiator pipes and other odd shapes.

The final pieces of the update were a new table and chairs and a new, working range! I was so excited when we got it, I baked a pan of brownies right away! It's nice to have an oven with a working thermostat.