Tuesday, January 4, 2011

House Beautiful

Remember many moons ago when I said the MiL and her sisters were engaged in an epic struggle to re-paper and paint the kitchen? It's done now. Wanna see?



A thing to note: I do not have before photos. Except for this one of the breakfast nook back when it was still home to the dog couch. The dog couch (which is actually a pretty nice wooden settee) is now up in the MiL's room and the dogs no longer have a couch of their own. I would feel somewhat guilty about this, except the banishment of the dog couch--and the removal of some soffits that were covering defunct pipes--resulted in the placement of the table in the breakfast nook.

This changed my life.

I am not even exaggerating in the slightest. That table was so inconvenient it verged on ridiculous. It filled the entire kitchen, so the oven door couldn't be opened if A. was sitting in his chair, the refrigerator door couldn't be opened if the MiL was in her chair, and no one could get across the kitchen without sidling around the table by turning sideways and sucking in stomachs. Plus, it blocked my path from the stove to the refrigerator, which is all of three steps now that I don't have to walk all the way around the table every time I have to go from the stove to the refrigerator. Getting that table out of the middle of the kitchen is probably the most exciting event of 2010.

Okay, maybe Cubby beats the table as the most exciting event of 2010, but only by a little bit.

Another thing to note: Where the hell did all that light come from? It came from getting rid of the brown and yellow flowered wallpaper that sucked all the brightness out of the kitchen. ALLELUIA. Man, I hated that wallpaper.

And a last thing to note: This is probably the first time in 20 years that the entire kitchen has been cleaned from floor to ceiling. It's glorious, I tell you. GLORIOUS.

A round of applause for the MiL and her sisters, please.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

All that light....wowee. I bet it feels like a new house.
Gonna make cooking more enticing.
Poor doggies...but yeah for Kristin, not having to dance with the table. Beth
Oh, and certainly a standing ovation to the Mil and her siblings!!

word verification - vaesol
pine scented vasoline with a southern accent

Drew @ How To Cook Like Your Grandmother said...

I've got some "before" shots ... I should probably send you those anyway.


Word verification: sacti -- plural of sactus.

Phoo-D said...

Hooray! You have a beautiful shiny new kitchen! I love how much light is bouncing around and can't imagine trying to cook with the table in there. It must be a huge relief to have it gone.

tu mere said...

What an amazing improvement, especially the new table area. I would think the dogs are just as happy on the floor waiting for something to drop anyway. Now you have space for Cubby to play/scoot around the open area, effectively giving you back a little of the inconvenience of the table. Kids (and dogs) are like that you know.

Mayberry Magpie said...

Okay, I hate to be a whiny baby because I begged for photos and you obliged, but I want a CLOSE UP of that wallpaper. It looks gorgeous -- a faint green or blue? Come, on, show us more!

PS I'm still totally envious of your vintage sink. Couldn't you rip it out and sell it to me?

Rae said...

Beautiful and bright! A kitchen space you enjoy makes cooking so much more fun. Congrats!

mil said...

The wallpaper is what the folks at the store call a faux finish -- it's blobby shades of blue and soft, soft white with some yellowish underlay -- so it gives the effect of a sunshiny day. The same effect can be achieved with paints of different tones and colors, but the paper is an easier way to get a uniform effect. The cabinets are painted a soft white called vanilla milkshake.

Daisy said...

Wow! That's impressive.

moi said...

Wow - that looks AWESOME! And such an improvement - although without the table where will you cook prep? Maybe a (smaller) rolling butcher block for more space?

Anonymous said...

Applause, applause! Mary in MN

FinnyKnits said...

Incredible work, one and all - it IS much lighter and brighter! I imagine this will improve your time in the kitchen many fold, though I do still expect tomato ranting. Don't let me down, now.

rls said...

clapclapclapclapclapclapclap! It looks AWESOME!