Thursday, January 13, 2011

[ my kitchen before ]

SO HERE WE GO with the horrendous before pics! I snapped these pics when we first viewed the house, prior to putting in our offer (disregard our real estate agent in the pic!).

As you can see, this place was filled with pine. The pine ceilings are high and vaulted, all trim, doors, kitchen cabinets were pine. I like wood, but I'm not a huge pine fan so while we were viewing this place, all I could think of was 'how would I tone down all of this pine?'. It is also one big open room so I knew that the whole room would have to work together.

Our main complaints:
The kitchen layout was almost a square, with one small opening into it, making direct patio access awkward.
The weird L-shaped sink had caused water damage at the center seam which had bubbled up the laminate countertops in both directions so the entire length of countertop was going to need replacing.
And of course, too much pine.


I knew that the cabinets were going to become white. For me, this place would be more Hamptons beach house than cozy ski chalet so I knew the pine had to go. Although painting the ceiling would be great too, I was tackling this in baby steps and decided to revisit the ceiling issue once the kitchen was done and then decide if it was something I still wanted to change.

Since the cabinets were solid wood and a nice beadboard style, we knew that we would make use of the cabinets we had. Our goal was to complete this project as luxuriously as we could on a small budget so replacing cabinets was out of the question. As was paying someone to do the work. My guy is extremely handy so we knew we were going to tackle this ourselves. We just had to decide where we would put our money for biggest impact.

Even though we didn't have a plan yet, I'm impatient and decided to paint the top cabinets to start with just to see how it would look. And once I did, I was excited with the difference it already made to the space and realized that I might actually get the white beach house kitchen I was dreaming of! Stay tuned tomorrow to see our plan and the reveal!

lisa

20 comments:

iheartart said...

Looking good....Praise the Lord for paint!

Katie

Formerly known as Frau said...

What a difference the white made! Love your floors!

Kellie Collis said...

The white is so divine! It looks so much better! Have a wonderful day, Kellie xx

Meeling said...

Beautiful high ceilings!!!
White paint makes such a difference...really any paint does, but white just opens up a space...clean slate.

Can't wait to see the rest!

Lissa Pierce said...

Wow, that is a lot of pine, and amazing what a change the white cabinets made! Can't wait to see the final reveal!!!

Sherry said...

So fun to watch, did you use the pine for firewood?

xo

Lynda @ Happenstance Home said...

Oh, how fun! I really like your update with the white paint. Your ceiling is really beautiful. It will probably be more meaningful when the cabinets are painted and you tackle the breakfast bar. I am going to enjoy watching your updates while I'm doing mine. Looks like were both working with what we have and then adding a little newness!

Lynda @ Happenstance Home said...

Sorry, one more thing ... I can imagine some pretty crystal chandeliers hanging above. The feminine mixed with rustic!

Marianne said...

Love the white!

Maureen Cracknell Handmade said...

Wow, what a difference! I am loving the white, can't wait to see more.

Karena said...

Lisa i love the white against the pine, perfect, gorgeous FLOORS!

Do come and join in my giveaway from Blydesign!!

Xoxo
Karena

Art by Karena

Aimee@ the Functional Space said...

It's amazing what paint can do. I can't wait to the the full transformation!
Have you had any trouble with the pine knots bleeding through? We painted our (no where near as nice) pine cabinets over a year ago (and primed them really well too) but I'm starting to get bleed through on the knots. It's maddening but I have to say it still looks better than the before.

Launa said...

LOVE the white! They look brand new. I can't wait to see what else you do!

Dionne said...

The white opens it up so nicely! Can't wait to see more pics!

Razmataz said...

So typical of people trying to do the "muskoka" thing. We had the same pine everywhere in our cottage which we have now completely whitewashed to the horrors of our agent, neighbors and other skeptics.

It is going to look fabulous!

jandjhome said...

I love the white! Wow, that's a lot of pine. I can't wait to see the transformation.

Anonymous said...

Love the white! So clean and it breaks up all the pine! xo

High Street Cottage said...

Hi Lisa, thanks for the nice comment and for following. How very sweet of you. Be sure to check out my "giveaway" page. I have random giveaways all the time. Also, your kitchen...looking super fab! I noticed also some white slipcovered chairs in your dining area too, soo pretty! Can't wait to see it all when you're finished. I'm following now so I won't miss a thing, xoxo tami

The House Creative said...

I LOVE the white! So glad you found my blog, because now I found yours! :-) Kitchen is gorgeous

Homeowner Insurance said...

WOW! Such A transformation. I appreciate you revealing the “ugly” parts of redecorating–things we sometimes forget about when we’re too busy being excited about a new look.
Homeowner Insurance

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