Our Kitchen Makeover: The Before

So my husband and I have been itching to makeover our kitchen since we first moved into our new house almost a year ago.  At first glance when we moved in it seemed fine - the counter top was ugly but livable, and the cabinets were white which is one of my favorite looks for a kitchen.  We always thought we would just put in a new counter top, put a fresh coat of white paint on the cabinets, maybe add a back splash and be done! 

After living in the house a while we knew it needed more than that but also realized that other rooms needed more than we originally planned in terms of paint and renovations.  After completing those other renovations in the house we are pretty much sick of living in a construction zone and don't feel like putting out the money for a big renovation either.  With all this in mind our brains got creative and we thought up some other ways to make a big impact on the room with a small budget and small time frame.  Check out some 'before' shots below.  It's not terrible, but we know we want to be in this house for a long time so we just wanted to make the space feel more like us.

(please note the hideous counter top color!)

The previous wall color was not terrible but the yellow-beige just wasn't working with the rest of the house.

Planning a new home for the microwave to free up some counter space!

The white cabinets just didn't work for us in this space.  I like a bright kitchen but I also like a warm kitchen with a "homey" and almost craftsman or rustic feel.  Something about this particular kitchen with the white cabinets just felt cold.  We also use our side door as our main entrance and when you come up the stairs from the porch, the kitchen is the first room you see.  Because of that, we wanted the room to make more  of a statement when walking in the house.  I came across some inspiration photos on Pinterest with cabinets painted more of a taupe or 'greige' color and, well, it was love at first sight.   I also came across an aqua colored ceramic tray in the stationary section of Target (I think meant for paper or office supplies) and thought it would be a perfect tray to sit next to the sink to hold dish and hand soap.  See - keep your eyes peeled because inspiration can hit you anywhere!  Keep an open mind and you will find things or ideas for your home in unexpected places.  

That completed my vision and inspiration for the space.  We decided to go with a darker taupe or greige on the cabinets, a light greige for the walls and white for the counter tops. Did you catch that?  Yes we are painting our counter tops!  A few people I've told think we are a bit crazy but we are so excited!  We know that one day down the road we will do a complete renovation of the kitchen with new cabinets and such, so it is fun to experiment for now and try new things!  I am not afraid of painting and am excited to see the result.  The counters are not pretty right now so really, anything will be better! There is a section of butcher block beside our stove as well that we are keeping which I think will look great with the white and really contribute to that craftsman look I was talking about. 

The photo below is our paint swatches on top of that tray I mentioned which will be an accent color.  It is basically a visual for me of the final look to keep me on track.  

 

 That's all you get for now!  Stay tuned for some after photos coming later this week of the transformation.  I'll also do a tutorial on the counter top painting process for anyone interested in that.  It's amazing how for less than $200 we have totally changed the look and feel of the space - I can't wait to show you the results! 

Hope you all enjoy your week ... Happy Monday!