Monday, September 20, 2010

My Kitchen

As you know by now, I bought my first home last year. I bought it super cheap, as a HUD foreclosure.

Now, if you’ve ever had the luxury of viewing foreclosed homes…it’s…um…a real treat. People do awful things to a home when they are about to lose it to the bank.

One home I visited, in a nice neighborhood, had the entire kitchen ripped out! Cabinets, floors and all! The wires had been ripped from the furnace…they basically destroyed it.

One home had been used as a cat’s liter box. Most had holes in the walls. And everyone I looked at needed A LOT of work! A lot more than I thought this single woman could handle or afford.

Except the one I bought.

It was ugly! It was dated!! It had spindles and rooster wall paper borders for heaven’s sake!

But someone had once loved this home. Someone had lost their dream. And someone had respected this house.

I saw a home that mostly just needed some paint and updating. My inspector agreed. Appliances, except the fridge, were still there and working! A/C, furnace, and a newer water heater were in place. And I instantly knew this was going to be my new home!! And I knew it would be beautiful!

Here’s what I first visited:




It even had….spindles!!!




With a whole lot of paint and elbow grease and a lot of thanks to my ex-husband and his girlfriend who helped me out tremendously on the kitchen especially…I ended up with this!


 Fred (my ex) installed beadboard as a backsplash for me…something I had always dreamed of! Joanie did a good portion of the cabinet painting, and I hired a neighbor to put in new laminate floors. This was a very early on after picture (notice no range hood yet!)


I still need to paint the insides of the cabinet doors…but hey…we were on a time crunch to get moved in. :)

Since these pictures were taken, I’ve repainted the walls. Since it’s somewhat open to the living room, I needed it to flow between the two rooms. But I am still completely in LOVE with my two colored cabinets…those won’t change anytime soon.  Oh, and the dishwasher bit the dust...so I brought in Mr. Stainless Steel!  Someday all my appliances will all match...probably as each one dies off! ;)

Although there is plenty of work still to be done…especially accessorizing since the new color palette was put into place a few months ago…here are some more recent pictures:



Here is the rest of that accent wall I started showing you last week in my living room updates, it wraps around into the kitchen:

Notice the ironing board? I left that in this picture on purpose to show you where my laundry area is. The washer and dryer are right behind that orange wall! Small is an understatement. I can’t even call it a laundry ‘room’. I call it my laundry ‘area’. :) And it’s getting a makeover very soon!!

And I had to replace the gorgeous table I had JUST bought before I purchased my home because it just took up too much space in my small kitchen. So, this little number seemed to fit the bill…especially since the chairs can be tucked underneath it for even more space!  Let's be honest...it's not like I'm hosting dinner parties around here.  And I have a table outside that seats a minimum of 6 if need be (and the weathers nice).

(This is a staged photo for a project I'm going to show you soon!)

Sorry for the bad photo, it was a night time shot. And usually those curtains would be open if wasn’t dark. I always open the blinds in my house…I love to let the light in…plus the cats would plot my demise if they couldn’t see out! ;)

You will see more of this room in the, hopefully, near future. As I said, there is some serious accessorizing needed here, with pops of color to bring that beautiful copper orange onto the kitchen side of the room!  I have some plans I’m working out in my head.  And THAT'S a place you DON'T want to be! LOL

But in the mean time, be sure to come back on Wednesday. We are having a guest blogger!!!! I am SOO flippin’ excited about this, I can barely contain myself! She has a darling SMALL home with some VERY impressive…you know what…never mind…just stop by on Wednesday and you’ll see why I’m so impressed!

Until next time...


18 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for the comment on my blog! I got all the scrapbook paper at roberts if you wanna do the project too!

    I love your house, sooo super cute. Beadboard is my favorite! I'm going to follow your blog now so we can stay in touch. just love your style!

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  2. What a transformation! I really love what you've done with your kitchen.

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  3. Seriously, did you sneak over to my house before you started updating yours?! Our styles are SO similar it's a little scary my friend!

    Well done....you have fabulous taste if I do say so myself!! LOL!! :o)

    Many Blessings,
    M.

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  4. WOW! Your kitchen looks great! What a difference a little paint (or a lot in your case, haha). The cabinets are beautiful. And it sounds like you have a good relationship with your ex.

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  5. Great transformation, your kitchen looks great. The paint makes such a difference!

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  6. Hi Erin, even though your little jewel of a home has come through less than perfect circumstances, it looks like you are making it your own little jewel. It will be fun seeing what else you do with the space. (I tried to "follow", but blogger was temperamental, so I'll have to check back).

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  7. Wow!! Great job! It doesn't even look like the same kitchen! You've inspired me to do some much needed uplifting in my own kitchen:)
    Thanks for stopping by my blog today!!
    justsewsassy.com

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  8. WOW! You did an amazing job on your kitchen! It looks beautiful and I am such a sucker for lighter toned cabinets. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today and leaving a sweet comment. It is so nice to meet new people here in blogland and I'm a new follower now!
    Vanessa

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  9. Beautiful transformation. I love the two color cabinetry & bead board. I think both of our homes had a similar starting point. Eek! I'm going to follow you because of that (and your talent, of course)! Can't wait to see what you do to the rest! My pad is only 1,550 sq. feet and my laundry "area" is the basement.

    Hugs,
    Jami

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  10. please, please tell me what color the green is on your lower cabinets!! I am completely in love with it! Beautiful, beautiful redo!!

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  11. Thanks for stopping by my blog the other day!

    I had to tell you how much I love those bicolor kitchen cabinets! Great makeover!

    ~Ashley

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  12. Laura - I don't have the name (and sorry it's taken me so long to respond!). It said on the can it was a custom color. I didn't think so...but maybe I guess.

    I got it at Lowe's. It's their Valspar Ultra Premium, Kitchen and Bath paint. The info on the can says: Base 2, 101-1Y26, 107-2Y36, 111-22. Hope this helps!!!

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  13. Oh no Erin you're not partial- it looks fantastic!!! Great job! If you do end up distressing I suggest getting some thin gloves!!! I still don't have all the skin back on my pointer fingers! ;)

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  14. When choosing kitchen cabinets, it is important to know a little bit about cabinet construction so that you can choose a style and quality that best fits your taste and budget.

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  15. Wow what a transformation Erin! I love that you chose 2 different colors for your cabinets. Your kitchen looks great!

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  16. Your kitchen is gorgeous -- nice job!!!!

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  17. Wow! You did an amaaaaaazing job. It's a total turnaround!

    Sarahx

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