Kitchen Reveal!

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It's been almost two years since we moved into our house and I apologize for slacking on my renovation posts... Sorry :( ... To be honest, I'm weary of posting anything that could make our lives look "perfect". I'm sure you've heard stories of social media's harmful effects due to the nature of its content. Nobody posts the bad or the ugly. People post vacation pictures, outings with friends, their new vehicle purchase and (ahem) home renovations. There is nothing wrong with posting these things, not at all! I just want to be sure you know that the clean and pristine kitchen you see is not our real life. My posts on home updates bring in significantly more views than any of my other posts and I'm fearful of why-- fearful that I'm portraying a false reality.

We worked really really hard to renovate this room. Our home was in shambles for two months and we broke our backs a few times completing the labor. When taking pictures for this post, I scrubbed down my kitchen hardcore so it would look its best. This is not our everyday. I want to share it with you out of satisfaction in our accomplishment and as an invitation to see our handiwork and our home. Maybe later I'll post a picture of me in my pajamas feeding my fish with my right hand while accidentally spilling coffee all over the floor with my left... Now that's our everyday! :)

The before pictures do not give justice to the kitchen's previous nastiness. There were no appliances; we purchased these ones and had them delivered on move-in day (ok, there was a cruddy old stove, but I'm pretty sure it would've burned the house down). The cabinets were covered in a sticky, brown residue, there was a painted-over wallpaper border peeling up in various places, the floor looked liked it came straight out of a barn (and no, not in a shabby chic should-be-on-Pinterest way) and the overall scene was pretty repulsive.

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Ooooh how I HATED those florescent lights!
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Gross, but it has lots of potential. The kitchen is one of the reasons I fell in love with this house. I love its openness and I'm obsessed with all the sunlight! Let me quickly walk you through our updates.

We replaced the old dishwasher because somehow it spewed dust and dirt everywhere instead of water. Maybe it thought it was opposite day... Whatever. This was one of the first projects Dan had never done before but attempted anyway and he did a marvelous job!

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It works!!

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Next, we bought and installed laminate counter tops. I LOVE THEM! People ask me all the time if they're granite. :) I'll write a how-to post later to show the installment process, but here's a few pictures for now.

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We had some AMAZING help from two of our AMAZING friends, John and Baird. I felt that they deserved a quick shout-out. :):) Without them, we probably would've broken everything.

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The sink fits!
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In the sinkhole... Ha.
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The most terrible part of this renovation was the wallpaper border. IT HAD BEEN PAINTED OVER. Why, oh why, oh why on God's green Earth would you paint over that???

Wait, I think I know: because painting over it seems much easier than taking it down. Yes... This is true... Until is starts peeling and turns everything to crap. If you're thinking about painting over wallpaper, please please please please for the love of all things DON'T. Take a weekend, rent a steamer, and do it the right way.

Why?

Well, just because your wallpaper is peeling does not mean it will come off. We tried chemicals, scouring, and even renting a top-of-the-line steamer and nothing would take it down. The layer of paint was just too thick. In the end, I took down what I could and Dan plastered over everything else so it would be smooth. That's right-- he had to plaster the entire border of the kitchen. Not a fun process, people.

In short, wallpaper borders are a product of Satan. I'm sure it says that somewhere in Genesis...

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Here are a few other hiccups they don't warn you about with kitchen remodels.

1. When you take out your counter tops and sink, you no longer have anywhere to do your dishes. This will result in the following:

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Dirty dishes waiting around to be cleaned. Narstyness! I told you the pristine was not our everyday! :)

Gross. Don't enlarge this one, haha.
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2. If you're a little scatterbrained like I am, you may accidentally turn on the faucet before the sink is ready to be used. This result in your husband making the following notice:

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3. If you buy a foreclosure, chances are you'll come across a few critters who had taken over the house during its vacancy. The board under our sink was rotting out, and upon removing it, Dan found the nearly decomposed carcass of a mouse. Eww eww eww eww eww. Don't worry, the mouse bones aren't pictured, just the hole.

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 That's better!

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In the world of cellphones, we decided to cover up our old phone jack with the backsplash, but we hid the note inside of it first:

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Goodbye, note! Stay away from mice carcasses!
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Work completed:

1. Painted the cabinets

2. Painted the walls

3. Sanded and stained the hardwood floor

4. Installed new countertops (how-to coming soon!)

5. Installed new lighting fixtures

6. Added under-cabinet lighting (how-to coming soon!)

6. Added hardware to the cabinets

7. Had a few breakdowns

8. Did a happy dance when it was done!!

Here it is!!

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So much sunlight!!
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I love this view!
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I have a little "command center" on the side of our fridge where I keep track of our budget and such. And my pseudo BFF and little-bitty-cutie-fish hangs out there!

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Remember how excited I was to get a fish? Eeek! We're totes magotes besties.

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So much sunlight!
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What's that on the far wall, you say? Our coffee bar! Only my absolute most favorite part of the kitchen. I got the idea long ago from Pinterest and I love that it's my first stop each morning. :):)

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We bought that piece from Habitat for super cheap. It's an outdoor bar... And it came complete with a black widow living in a corner... But Dan killed that so it's all espresso and awesomeness now!

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Ah yes, I have a vast collection of mugs.
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Trying to be artsy...
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Ok, I'll stop now.... Buh, I just love it!
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We wanted a backsplash to help tie everything together but they can be SO EXPENSIVE!! Instead, we used bead-board which is cheap and super easy to install. Just paint, nail, and you're done!

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Hardware is also super expensive. I bought mine on at a 50% off sale from Hobby Lobby. Each piece was only $1.50! I feel like they give the kitchen such a vintage vibe. I'm obsessed!

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And, like always, we bought lighting fixtures from Habitat and spray painted them. The fixture below is my favorite one in the whole house; there are beautiful etchings all over the globe, it's a total antique, and it only cost me $20. I'm probably taking this with me when we move, haha. I just love it!

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And I have to show off the BEAUTIFUL job my husband did on the floor. Professional sanding machine? Yea, you've never seen your house covered in dust until you use one of those bad boys. (We even taped everything off! Sneaky dust...) But it was well worth it! Our realtor told us we should paint the floor. Heck no, smoky joe! I'm a fan of the Nicole Curtis method-- if it can be restored to its original state, then restore it! (Assuming that original state is pretty. Sorry, brown bathtub upstairs, you've got to go!)

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My second favorite part about this kitchen? How cheerful our colorful dishes look against the white! I love opening this cabinet! :)

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I won't be writing a post on how to paint kitchen cabinets because it's really popular right now and there are already a lot of really great posts. If you're interested, don't hesitate to ask me any questions and I'll point you in the right direction! 

I feel so incredibly blessed by this kitchen. It looks really lovely, doesn't it? I know, and I'm amazed by how inexpensive it was because of doing it ourselves, some lucky finds, and of course, the Lord's sweet provision. One day while I was out, my husband completed the final touches and clean-up so I came home to a finished kitchen. I just dropped to the floor and cried. Overwhelmed with gratefulness, I stayed there for a half hour, thanking God for this sweet blessing: that Dan and I, who are first-time homeowners and have to count every penny we earn, get to prepare our meals in this gorgeous room. It still brings me to tears sometimes. Isn't our God glorious?? :)

That's why I want to share this with you, sweet readers. Because just over two years ago, Dan and I sat on the living room floor in our apartment, looking over our finances and student loans, broken by the realization that home-owning would probably not be in the cards for us while Dan remained in teaching. But God was chuckling at our lack of imagination. He's provided for us in miraculous ways! I pray that every time Dan and I prepare a cup of coffee at the bar in this kitchen, we're reminded of that. :)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed it. Look out for more updates on our house this summer!! I can hear that brown bathtub upstairs calling my name now... Update: here it is!

Agape,
CC