A Kitchen Worth Cooking In

The first time I ever saw this kitchen I wanted to run immediately to the nearest shower.  It was so gross!  Everything looked dingy and dirty and just plain worn out.  In fact my biggest hesitation when we bought this house was this kitchen.  I just wasn't sure we could make it workable...   

I guess it is a good thing that I loved the rest of the house enough to give this kitchen a chance, because after a lot of sweat and hard work, it really is a wonderful space!  And amazingly enough, this kitchen has more storage space than the bigger kitchen in our last house ever thought about having.

Anywho here it is:

We chucked all of the old appliances and replaced the faucet.  Everything that I could paint was painted.  Everything else got one heck of a good scrubbing. 

Here is my new gas stove (which I absolutely LOVE by the way):

See where our fridge is?  And how it is all tucked neatly behind the back door?  Well there used to be a closet with a water heater there...  I like the fridge there much better! 

And of course something I will always be grateful to Aunt Sarah for mentioning is the chalkboard paint on our pantry doors.  I. love. it.  I think I might paint a chalkboard for every room in our house.  It is so fun!  Jay loves it, and I can let him color while I cook so that I know right where he is....pure genius!!  And I think everyone that has come to our house has colored on it...even my dad!   

We still have to put the glass tile on top of the dishwasher that we installed (where the plywood is in the first "after" picture) and get the microwave put in above the dishwasher.  So I will get those pics up as soon as we get those things done, but I am pleased as pie with where the kitchen is right now!  Who would have ever thought!?