Before and After Kitchen

When we bought our present home, we fell in love with the overall style of it... the wide trimwork around the windows, the wainscoting, tall ceilings, and big porch. We had to make changes to it however, to make the house our own. Here are some before and after pictures of the kitchen. As you can see, the kitchen had a contemporary flair. I went back and forth on the thought of changing the cabinets altogether, but decided to work with them instead.

We took off the top set of cabinets and added some arrangement up on top. I think it looks less overwhelming. We also took out the cabinets above the oven and replaced them with a stainless hood for a more streamlined look. Still contemporary, but more modern country.

The existing sink was incorporated into the Corian countertop.

We snatched up 4 ft. old surgeon's sink for $100 on Craigslist. It was taken from a local hospital. It had a very awesome crackle finish glaze, but there was so much discoloration that we couldn't keep it as it was. We had it refinished for $300. So, for $400, we got a truly unique piece for our kitchen! (Have you seen the prices of farmhouse sinks? This was a good buy!) We got it because we loved it aesthetically, but it's actually extremely practical, especially for our large family of 8! Do you know how many dishes and giant pots we can hide in there? There are dirty dishes in this picture in fact!

I used a simple linen curtain for underneath. The sink itself makes for a very handy towel holder. I love the look of the dish towels hanging over the front, and it has proved to be very practical as well!

There used to be a half wall with pillars seperating the kitchen from the living room. I wanted a more open feeling to the whole space so we tore the wall down. The living room used to be a huge vaulted ceiling but we floored it in. That will be another post for another day.

Another Craigslist find was an old dark wood buffet that we made into an island. The frame holding the mirror made the perfect brackets, so we took the mirror out, flipped the brackets upside down and attached them to the back for the overhang. We cut out the panels on the front doors, and replaced them with wire sheeting and backed them with gathered linen fabric. Of course, we painted the whole thing a bluish-green and replaced the hardware. My handy husband made the top with furniture-grade pine. We mixed two colors of stain until we got the perfect color. We love the result and if we ever move, this island is coming with us to our next home! The whole thing probably cost us $350.00.

Of course, I had to distress the paint finish!

For bar stools, I found inexpensive wood ones from TJMaxx. One of the spindles on the top was broken so I decided to make little back slipcovers for them. I found two plaid Ralph Lauren pillowcases from HomeGoods and used them to make the slipcovers. The ruffles were already there... so perfect. I made bows from the fabric for the sides.

For kitchen accessories, I found these adorable spice jars from Anthropologie that are perfect for the top of the range. They hold spices and tea bags. LOVE them.

The top of the fridge holds some cookbooks and a handy basket to hold odds and ends. I found the fabric label from Michaels. It says "grow where you are planted". The dogs came from Sundance.



The vintage locker baskets on top of the cabinets came from a local antique store. I was thinking of making fabric liners for them, but I ended up keeping them plain and empty. I sort of like them just the way they are.



To the right I have a mixed arrangement, including a Red Wing antique crock. I had fantasies of collecting a whole slew of Red Wing crocks and lining them up, but the price deterred me. :) I enjoy the one I bought off ebay.

Last but not least is picture of my trashcan. Who takes pictures of their trash cans?! One of the blogs I frequent, Remodelista , highlighted these trashcans on their blog one day. Ironically, a day or two before they posted about them, I found one at TJMaxx for a steal.




Thanks for stopping by and looking at our kitchen!