Ta-Da!

And here it is! Not yet totally done (trim work, sealing grout and a few other minor details to go), but certainly ready for the big reveal.

Just a reminder of what we started with:

This is from shortly after we bought the house. Yes, we were broke - that's a folding table we used for eating! Ugliest floor ever, and we never put food on the counter. It was, I think, the original linoleum, which would have made it about 60 years old at this time. It was so full of scratches and divots that we never felt it clean enough to safely put food on it!

Here we've got our first remodel underway - I include this to show you the extent of our counter and cabinet space, plus the color of the cabinets. We lived with this for 29 years. It wasn't so bad at first. Our cooking was simpler - we didn't know all that much about cooking yet - and, especially when Kendra was small, food had to be ready quickly. When you get home at 6 with a hungry kid, you're not doing any gourmet cooking! (We were hungry, too - I have to be fair here.)

But our tastes changed and our cooking abilities improved, and working in this room, especially together or on more than one dish at a time became more and more frustrating. Imagine doing an 8 course dinner here. We managed, and I know others who have done more with less, but it was just time for a change. This last year (yes, we started plans for this last August!) we finally had the right combination of frustration, ideas, and money to make a real remodel happen.

I give you the new section, with space gained by closing off a door.

We love this new space. The counter is just that much higher that it's much easier to work. And having multiple work spaces is fantastic! I do wish we'd been able to come up with a good way to put our main work surfaces next to the sink - we're always dripping water from clean produce, etc., from the sink to this side - but it's still such a vast improvement that that's a small quibble. Joe was skeptical of the open shelves and glass fronted cabinets to start, but now really likes them. This is still a small space, and not having everything closed in makes it feel at least a bit larger. It's a bit hard to see here, but we did not paint the back of the open shelves to the left of the stove. We got 2 prints of an old world map (16th or 17 century - can't remember offhand) and put that up to add some color interest. We love to travel (something I'm sure all y'all know already), so it seemed apt. We're going to do something in the back of the glass fronted cabinets, too, as otherwise that whole wall is really white, but not quite sure what yet.  Having a built in dishwasher is a marvelous thing - no losing access to water for two hours at a stretch anymore! 

And the original side - this may be an even more dramatic change!

Still the original hardware and cabinets - isn't it amazing what you can do with paint?! For those of you with sharp eyes, the cabinet by itself on the left is the one next to the door in the top picture. We had it moved. It stands out further now, as our wall isn't thick enough to allow it to be inset and still have the required insulation behind it. But it works and we're happy to still have it. You can see a very rough draft of what the valances will be - I'll post more pictures when they're all done. I did a search for 1920s fabric - that trying to keep the bungalow flavor thing! - and found a site with 1920s

and 1930s fabric, including replica flour sack fabric from the Depression. I never knew just how huge the variety was. We quickly found some patterns we both really liked and ordered samples. There's that thing again  - if one of us doesn't like something, keep looking because there's a better choice out there. These weren't the first fabrics I found, but Joe didn't much care for these, so I kept looking. These are WAY better. Please note the room isn't as dim as it appears here. I think it looks that way because the light is between me and the wall. The other picture showing this wall is far more accurate.

And here, a close up of the tile:

It's mini subway - 2x4 instead of 3x6 to fit the scale of the room better. I'm sure I've said that before...

We sure like this - it's all so bright and cheerful. Even with the new cabinets taking up floor space, it feels open and at least reasonably spacious. I know, I know, this is still a tiny kitchen compared to many in newer homes, but look at what we had! Size is relative, and this is just so much more workable.

We had a friend who's very gifted in putting things together in most attractive ways come over and help us figure out what to put where. She pulled things from other rooms and helped us come up with what you see throughout the room. We're most grateful.