My New Kitchen: Phase One

My kitchen is not *finished* by any means, but we have made a big start on it and I am already loving it. Before, not so much.

Frankly, it was just depressing. Let's start with some *BEFORE* shots:

(notice the linoleum that never looks clean no matter how much you clean it)

(notice the missing stove top burner)

And now for the *AFTER: PHASE ONE* shots:

Here's the china hutch I found for a *song* on a local swap/sale website. My plan is to paint it an antiqued white. In my spare time, you know:)

The top holds some of my blue and white pieces that I've collected over the years.

It was so fun to unpack my wedding china after having it in storage for 2+ years! It was moved 5 times during that time and, thankfully, not a piece was broken!

This is another antique hutch that we picked up at a favorite local junk store for yet another *song*. This is also going to be painted an antiqued white. Yes, I have a lot of painting in my near future.

Here is one of the new light fixtures we put in, this one is over our table. You can't even believe the lighting that was in here previously. It made me think of the kind of lights you'd see in a interstate rest stop bathroom: those round florescents flush to the ceiling...terrible! I don't even know how the previous owners could see to cook between the bad lighting and the dark walls. The new lights really brighten things up!

Here's my great-grandmother's table that I inherited a few years ago. I just LOVE it! I'm going to sand off the finish (which is bad) and give it a lighter stain, then paint the chairs black to go with it. The chairs I've been collecting here and there: the larger one with arm rests is from a great-great-aunt, the others from an estate sale.

And now for some of the little touches around the kitchen:

(antique flow blue plates)

(my beloved Kitchen Aid mixer and my favorite canisters)

(my fave Fall cookbook, *Autumn* by Susan Branch)

(a grouping of plates over the sink)

(my collected plates hang all around over the cabinets...

and don't you love my little Big Boy up there to remind me of

my fave burger? hee hee)

(and my fave calendar, Susan Branch's, completes the fridge decor)

So there is Phase One.

Phase Two will include some or all of the following:

• painting all of the upper cabinets white
  
• possibly painting the lower cabinets black (what do you think about that?)
• new cabinet hardware
• painting/staining the hutches, table and chairs
• a new dishwasher
• new oven/range
• new flooring

Of course, some of that could get bumped to Phase Three...you never know!