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

Corners of My Home 1

Hello again!

I love home tours and before-and-afters, and I have both in the works here, but just haven't had the time to finish them up and post them.  I decided that in the meantime, I would start a new feature on my blog - Corners of My Home. Each Sunday, I will post a photo (or several) of a little part of my house that I find beautiful, inspiring, or is just making me happy.

If there is anyone still reading this blog, feel free to join in! In the comments section, leave a link to your corner. I would love a peek into your home!

Above is a shot in my kitchen by the sink. The planter on the left was made by a local ceramics artist, and I got it at a craft fair a few years ago. If I find a link for it online, I'll add it here. The second planter I spray painted red (there's a lot of red going on in my kitchen). And finally, the dish soap is in a Ball jar, with a lid and soap dispenser that I purchased from Midwest Finds on Etsy. I actually have three of them throughout the house - two are just the lid and pump that I put on jars I already had, but one is a vintage jar I purchased from them. I really love Midwest Finds! The whole kitchen looks prettier now that I'm not using a plastic dispenser that the soap came in. :)