We’ve spent our three-day weekend painting the kitchen, so I’ve been away from the internets. There’s still a lot of touch-up work to do, but the bulk of the work is finished. My kitchen was pretty fugly before, so the new paint is a serious improvement. The cabinets had been painted a dark green color, and the walls and ceiling and trim were a dingy off-white that always looked dirty even after everything was scrubbed and clean.
Now the cabinets and ceiling and trim work are bright white, and the walls are “spring squash” which is a bright yellow-orange color that looks really sunny and happy. I’m really pleased with how it’s come out; the room looks much bigger and cleaner. There are still some other improvements I’d like to do; I want to mount a light under the cabinets so I can see my food while I’m preparing it. (As Lisa did in her kitchen) and I want to replace the overhead light with the clean, simple, unobtrusive ceiling fan I bought ages ago. I also want to replace the backsplash behind the stove with a clean aluminum panel. The ones that want to get the best paint can have a peek here to get a great finish.
Also, my friend Kathy came over and cut out the extra pipes that ran up the wall in the corner to the now non-existent kitchen that used to be upstairs. I’ll still have to repair the drywall in the corner, but that’s a future project.
The kitchen really needs to be completely ripped out and done over. The floor is bad, there’s very little cabinet or counter space, and the sink is in a really poor spot. The drywall in the whole room needs a makeover. But none of that is realistic right now, so the simple improvements will at least make a grungy room tolerable and cheery.
it looks great! clean white cabinets always improve a kitchen.
i can’t say enough about improving the lighting, either. it’s such an inexpensive thing for the benefit you get.
i chose halogen spotlight bars instead of the flourescent bars i set out to get, for my under-cabinet lighting. they look soooo pretty. for several days after i put them in, i would wander into the kitchen every so often just to look at the lighting.
Kitchen improvements rock! We’re planning to remodel our kitchen this year, and I can’t wait. I recently removed the doors on our kitchen cabinets so we could try out the open shelving feel. That’s pretty hot right now, and we’re thinking about doing either shelves or cabinets with glass doors. The cheap ass in me says shelves. That gives us more money to spend on the floor and lighting. -v
My cupboards never stay organized enough for the “open shelving” look, so that’s out for me. I like to hide stuff in the cupboards. 😉