FIXIN' MY KITCHEN : THE BEFORE

After having our house on the market for awhile a couple years ago, then showing it a few times since then, we have decided we are staying place.  Partly due to the market and partly due to whats available in comparison to where we are/what we have and partly due to us really loving our house, save a few areas we have seriously outgrown.  The first and most apparent place is our kitchen.

The main "problem" with our kitchen has never been its aesthetics...however much I do not love them.  I actually have an intense hate affair with our terra cotta-y orange FILTHY ceramic tiles that absorb grime.  Black sink = yuck.  Plastic laminate countertops are also not by #1 choice.  But they have been a durable companion to the ever messy three children we have reared {and are still rearing} in this kitchen.

Upon first inspection, our kitchen is great.  Pretty, white, simple...Stephen even thought the counters were granite when we bought the house {oops}.

To me, a smart kitchen renovation would include using existing cabinetry, possibly resurfacing the counters, chaging hardware, painting cabinets or walls, possibly changing out the backsplash.  Appliance updates if necessary.  Aesthetics.  Making smart use of what you have that works and just changing what you can, biggest bang for your buck.

This is not possible with our kitchen, and we REALLY wish it was.  Our problem is the cabinets themselves.  They are original with the house, with four wood-on-wood drawers that are approximately TWO inches deep and leave a nice sawdust-y residue on everything in the cabinets below them whenever opened and closed.  We have no storage and are constantly ducking as we open cabinets to avoid the waterfall of plastic cups and bottles and plates and bowls etc we have stuffed in every available nook and cranny.  With one child, the kitchen worked great.  With two, it started wearing on us.  With three, well, we bit the bullet and are renovating our kitchen...that should explain :)

I feel like I've been so whiny about it over the last few years, mentioning it here and there and always dreaming of something "new."  But now that we are about to start I have to say I am VERY glad we waited like we did.  Just like the interior decoration of our house {forever ongoing}, we sat and thought about it all for years before we finally bit the bullet on the "big" items.  And now we both know exactly what we want and what will work for us.  And we had time to save ;)

We are scheduled to start demo the week of Mardi Gras {middle of February for those of you who don't live in the select few cities who celebrate this silly holiday :)}.  I imagine this will become a regular series on the blog as it will definitely be something we are living smack dab in the middle of for the next few months.

Fingers crossed that a "few months" is all that it is!!! #wishfulthinking ;)