Showing posts with label Cats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cats. Show all posts

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Kitchen "Before" Photos


I had to put "before" in the title in quotation marks, because really - there's already so much we've done to this kitchen (like filling it with stuff! and changing out some things that had been in there for years). BUT - we are doing a major overhaul, and I thought it would be fun to post what it looks like now looked like January 1st, when I took these photos.

(The only before photo I could scrounge up on short notice was this one below, that I've scanned and added in. This was taken shortly after I moved in - over 12 (!) years ago. I know I have some true before photos somewhere - will see if I can find them and share at some point).



The doorway into the kitchen has always bothered me - we have this beautiful molding, trim, and casing in every part of our home but here (the house was built in the early 1920s). I could not for the life of me figure out why there was no casing around the kitchen door. When we my guy ripped up the linoleum, we figured it out. At some point, the doorway had been moved (half the doorway floor was missing the original hardwood we found in the rest of the kitchen). So I guess when they moved the door, they didn't bother to even try to make it match. We've got plans for that...


Here's more photos than you could possibly want to see of my kitchen. Enjoy!




The dishwasher! 😂 I considered adding the bottom piece back on for the photos, and then decided 'forget it' - this is really what it looks like now! Our old dishwasher gave up the ghost completely and we couldn't use it at all. We got this dishwasher for $40 from a neighborhood sale group, got it home and installed it, and discovered it leaked from the bottom (and could see that it had been for some time). The people we bought it from hadn't realized it, and reimbursed our money. So for a little while we lived with this, with a cookie sheet under it to catch the leak. Classy! But it wasn't worth replacing with a new one until after we redo the floors - that way we only need to install it once...


We have a teeny kitchen and I love kitchen stuff, so I sort of toyed with replacing the dishwasher with shelving. We were just fine for quite awhile when our old one wouldn't work at all. But apart from the convenience for day-to-day life, it is really useful for canning, so I decided maybe it's worth the space it takes.


Those lights above the sink are a DIY I conceived of and my guy installed - I haven't finished painting behind it cause I'm still trying to decide if I should go white to match the rest of the kitchen or go with chalkboard paint. It's only looked like this for you know, maybe 6 months or something. I'm sure I'll get to it at some point.


(Kitty on the table). 😻




This stove is new to us but will also need replacing soon. Our old one was mostly black (like the dishwasher in the scanned photo above) and the oven temp was way off and two burners weren't working. My guy got this oven for free when he removed it from a home he was working on. We scrubbed it down and put it in, and it has been working well (considering what we were used to) but is definitely a temporary fix. We'll see when we get around to a new one.
























A few photos by night.











So there you have it! Don't hold your breath for the 'after' photos - we're squeezing this kitchen redo into late nights after work, here and there as we are able. It's taking a bit of time! But it will be worth it when it's done (that's what I keep telling myself, anyway). 😉



xo,
Katherine

Sunday, May 22, 2016

In Our Garden - Mid May


Happy Sunday! The kitties have really been enjoying the porch weather...



Here's what's blooming now in our garden. The cherries are still green:


So are the serviceberries:





The peonies (my absolute favorite) are almost here!


The chives are filling in:


I spent today clearing out the herb garden just outside our kitchen door, and then planting the new herbs I got (went to a lovely greenhouse with my friend - photos coming soon!).


Planted in the herb garden:
  • Cilantro
  • Curled parsley
  • Dill
  • Italian large leaf basil
  • Mojito mint
  • Lavender ('Munstead')
  • 2 Arugula plants 
Already in the herb garden, back from last year:
  • Another type of mint
  • Thyme


Also planted some fruits and veggies in pots. We're planning on building raised beds this summer, but don't know that it will happen in time to plant much besides garlic in them, so for now at least we have these pots going...


Planted in the pots:

  • 2 'Hansel' eggplants (1 per pot)
  • Jalapeño
  • Super chili
  • Yellow bell (sweet) pepper
  • Carolina Gold tomatoes
  • Husky Cherry Red tomatoes


Sunday dinner at my parents' house as usual...


And a few shots of my mom's garden. She is the most talented gardener I know, and her yard is always lovely:






xo,
Katherine