{Kitchen Makeover - The Big Reveal}

Our house was built in 1987, and whoever it was that had the house built decided to go for the cheapest kitchen layout possible. I have cursed this unknown person for 7 1/2 years! Our house has a great layout otherwise, but the kitchen is tiny and closed-in. Add in the builder-grade-honey-oak-turned-orange-stained cabinets and you have one heck of a miserable room. Just ask me...I've been letting it get to me every stinking day for 7 1/2 years!

We finally decided that something needed to be done, but we didn't want to put in the thousands of dollars it would have taken to get our dream kitchen. So for now, we decided to lighten it up and see if we could handle another few years here.

We removed all the cabinets and cleaned, sanded, primed, painted, glazed, and poly'd them. It all sounds so quick and easy to squeeze all those things into one sentence! Believe me, it was no easy or quick task.
We also painted the walls and the trim.
We added beadboard where we had shiny laminate panels before.
We added knobs that match the hinges (and the rest of the hardware in the house).
We took out some cabinets and installed an over-the-range microwave to free up some much-needed counter space.

 All the elbow grease and patience payed off, and now we have a light, bright space that feels so much bigger! It gives our home a whole different feeling. We are amazed at the difference it has made.

See for yourself!

This is what it looked like when we moved in:

 We put in the tile floors and countertops and painted the walls red.
And this is what we had for the next 7 1/2 years:

I forgot to take the before picture of the laminate panels before my hubby ripped them off...but I'm sure you can use your imagination.

This is the view from our family room looking into the kitchen:

And here are the after shots:

Let's see those befores and afters again:

Ahhhhh, much better.

--Tammy

ETA: Paint colors are Behr, Ryegrass on walls, Swiss Coffee on cabinets. Glaze made by American Finishes, Glaze Effects, in Van Dyke Brown.

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