kitchen

Here the kitchen we got when we bought our new house.

It was big and bright

but not the best quality!

I apologize for the mess, just normal state at our house!

We first had to buy a fridge since the previous owners left with their!

But already it was an uplift!

Shortly after that I changed the handles everywhere.

Then we had to wait....

until our previous house was sold!

It took almost a year

(we rented it in the meantime, but it was not the same)

We finally were able to purchase new appliances:

a stove with a convection oven, with

 a flat cooktop (no more uneven heat)

and a dishwasher that actually washed the dishes

(the swearing level dropped dramatically after that!)

So here was our kitchen after 1.5 years.

Still the same cabinets with not efficient storage and

 dangerous drawers.

And same level of mess!

After going many times to our local IKEA, we decided

to redo our kitchen ourselves!

Doing on a budget, one section at a time!

Less overwhelming and less money at once.

So we started with the corner.

That little countertop would always get all the mess,

so it disappeared!

Voila!

Clean and modern and plenty of storage!

We waited a few weeks, and then

we removed  the top cabinets!

The new day, we learned that my husband's position was in jeopardy!

Talk about stress!!!

By then the backsplash was gone and there was no going back!

We installed the upper cabinets.

We waited there for quite some times,

wondering what to do.

The kitchen was half done,

not ideal to sell a house!

His situation got a little better,

so we decided to carry on and to make it work.

The island was next, it is much bigger

and with a lot of storage, great for pots and pans.

We reused our old countertop!

(for a few months!)

Then we waited, wondering which countertop to purchase.

Laminate to save money or

granite to keep up with the neighborhood?

I spent a lot of time at Home depot and Lowes

and local countertop places,

pricing out options.

My local granite supplier made me a great offer

and we ran!

It was slow season for him, and

fast pace for me!

We had to install the bottom

cabinets in 2 days!

and there it was!

Finally it was coming together!

We did not install the countertop,

the pro did it (not easy at all!)

but I love it! 

True joy!

By then it had been over 9 months since we had started

and IKEA was changing its color and style!

So I was able to get the last few cover panels and details I needed.

Of course I also needed to repaint the kitchen

as the previous color turned pink with the wood color.

We chosed a beige-green (depends on the light!)

And there it is, almost done.

We decided against a backsplash.

We added a picture frame above the stove,

with 3 pictures of olives.

(the middle one is from here)

I must say I love it!

so here it is

before

and after

Happy day!

PS Mon cheri's situation is resolved!

He had to find a new job.

We will be moving soon!

I hope all our work will please potential buyers.