Out of all of the rooms in our house–the with the dark, ivy wallpaper or the one hazardous wall-length mirror–nothing has been as much of an eyesore as our kitchen. In some ways our kitchen has been great; ample cabinet space, pretty tile backsplash, cherry cabinets that, while not our taste, are in beautiful condition, and it’s an eat-in. But between the horrible linoleum floors and the gray laminate countertop, the room in general is just not good.
When we were looking to make the bid on the house and had our contractor in to assess the work that would need to be done, I pointed to the kitchen floors, and pleaded with him to find a quick and affordable solution. “Rebecca,” he said, in his thick Irish accent. “You have to pick your battles.” And with this floor I’ve been stuck. Apparently the laminate has as well. With tons of glue. And nails. Over the existing hardwoods. So I’ve lived for the past year with the floors that look like this:
Do you see now? The WORST.
For a more clear picture, this is what the kitchen looked like before we moved in, from the realtor’s website.
See? Big, bright, but just off. And we have plans to turn our garage into a great room someday in the future, so I don’t want to (and, frankly, cannot) do a full kitchen renovation. But we are doing a few projects, a facelift of sorts, that will make a big difference to a room we use so often and so happily.
Here is what our kitchen has looked like now that we’ve moved in. You may recognize a few spots:
and, as you saw, our table.
We do what we can with what we have.
Or, should I say, we did. Until this Monday. Stay tuned…
511 Ever After 