It's been a month? Really?

I can't believe it has been a month since I posted. I really didn't think it had been that long. We've been busy with activities and with the kitchen. Oh my this kitchen. Several months ago we had the remains of Hurricane Ike blow through Indiana. We had some roof damage from the high winds and ended up with water going down into a couple of the walls in the kitchen. Since this is an old house with plaster walls, they just started disentegrating. So, after the roof was replaced, the guys came back and fixed the walls and painted the walls and ceiling. We did the trim which is saying a lot. This old house has really nice wordwork around the baseboards, windows and doors. The kitchen cabinets are original to the house and also had to be painted. It felt like we painted for days.

Now the painting is done and new curtains have been hung. (Material $12, Curtain Rods $9, Sewing by mom...priceless) I still haven't done any decorating because I want to be really sure before I put holes in the wall. It's kind of plain but that's actually nice because it was a cluttered disaster before.

I'm actually a bit embarassed to show these 'before' photos. I don't even think I realized just how bad it was. We never painted this room after moving in and it had really become a dumping ground. This house is small, under 800 sqare feet, so clutter really accumulates quickly. I have gone through all of the dishes, cookware, etc and only kept the items that I really use and love. The rest is yard sale bound.

Now for the photos...

Here are the before and after photos of the sink/cabinet wall. Keep in mind the fact that what you see here are ALL of my cabinets. Storage space is at a premium.



This is the before and after of the fridge. The weekly calendar board will probably go back up because we really do use it, but the junk stacked on top? Never again.



Here is a before and after of the table. We do not have a dining room so this is the only place for eating, homework, crafts, etc. And yes, that is a tv sitting on the table. Not one of my prouder moments. Oh, and these are from different angles. You aren't losing your mind.



This is the closet off the kitchen. It was a disaster! I'm trying to turn it into a pantry. We put a set of shelves in there and I'm trying to organize all the food items. I still need to do some work on this but it looks much better than it used to.




So, that's it. My 'new' kitchen! I'll have to take some more photos after the decorative stuff is up. I have a plate rack that I want to hang which will hold my grandmother's Blue Willow china. I think it will look nice with Granny's teapot which is sitting on top of the fridge. I have some other items that match the plate rack that will go in the room too. My mother and I are searching all of the consignment stores for a smaller table and chairs. I'm hoping to find a drop leaf table that will be a lighter color and not take up so much room. It may take a while to find just what I want. Then I can get a pretty table cloth and start displaying my pretty white Pfaltzgraff that is currently hiding in a cabinet.

There is so much to do but I'm really loving the sunshiney yellow walls. They sure do wake us up in the morning. Now we just have to redo the rest of the house....