Our Kitchen Tour

Well, fellow cooks -- I can't tell you how excited I am to share our renovated kitchen with you today!

During our first year of marriage, we took a Dave Ramsey course.  After that, we started planing and saving so that when we were in a position to buy a house we'd have some money saved up to do some updating.  We fell in love with our house, and saw great potential in the kitchen.  In August, we moved into our first home - a big change from our tiny apartment kitchen.

Although we loved the space in the kitchen, there were a few things we wanted to change:

First - the cabinets.

Laminate front, dark and um, not the most pretty looking. Since we spend so much time in the kitchen, we wanted something light, airy and fresh.

We painted the cabinets a Delicate Lace, painted two accent walls blue and later added some hardware.

Second - the corner cabinet

The access into the corner cabinet (just to the left of the stove) was painful.  Since we planned to replace the counter top, we got my dad's help to swap in a lazy susan!

Third - the counters {and sink}

Sea foam green, although a pretty color, is not our color.  The old laminate counter tops had to go.  We decided on a solid surface countertop - and we LOVE it.

  

We went with a double sink, with one side larger than the other.  It's amazing.  That thing can hold so many dishes, and even fit in our biggest pots and pans.

It's also seamless -- which makes clean up a breeze.

Fourth - the back splash

We wanted tile, and found a beautiful one at Lowe's -- for, get this - ~20 cents a tile.  

That gave us a few extra dollars to apply to our new faucet {which we purchased with garage sale money!}

Fifth - open the kitchen up

We love the layout and flow of our home, but the kitchen was entirely closed off from the rest of the house.  

This is a view from the dining room to the kitchen.  See that tiny door?  That was the only "openness".  

We decided to transform this space into an eat-in kitchen.  My dad built us a cabinet with amazing storage space, and then we put counter top over the cabinet with extra hanging over into the dining room for an eat-in-kitchen, island kind of thing.  

That, is my favorite part of the kitchen, friends.  It's amazing.  The openness is wonderful and allows for fluid conversation and for people to "hang out" near/in the kitchen.  

So, here's the grand finale -- 

And, a side-by-side comparison

{it's fun to see the transformation right next to each other}

Thanks for sharing in our excitement!  In the coming weeks, I'll give you a overview of what's in the kitchen - to kind of show you around a bit.  And, I'll be updating our "In My Kitchen" page to include these new photos and a tour!  

This post is linked to Metamorphosis Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Strut Your Stuff, Show Off Your Stuff, Transformation Thursday, Hooking Up with HoH, Show and Tell, I'm Loving It, February Before and After Party, Amaze Me Monday, Parade of Homes.