Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of the home – at least, that is what my family seems to think.  In their opinion, all of life revolves around the table and the food that is prepared and regularly place on the table.  I can’t say that I disagree with them too much, since a lot of my memories were made around the table with family.

The kitchen is long and skinny, and the hallway leads to the laundry/scrapping room.  It has doorways that lead into the dining room, living room, sunroom, and garage as well.  It was very dark and heavy in the room, due to the dark wallpaper, dark paneling, and dark cabinetry.  The totally retro light fixture was a trial to my soul, but I was determined to deal with the hard things first.  Like wallpaper.  Three layers.  Plus two layers of border. 
The first order of business was to remove the wallpaper.  That was fun.  Under the wallpaper, we found evidence of terribly shoddy sheetrock jobs, and the added bonus of termite colonies.  Suffice it to say, we did a lot of sheetrock mudding, sanding, and smoothing in the kitchen.  It still isn’t perfect, but it is tremendously improved, and I have no complaints. 
Next, we primed and painted all the dark woodwork (except for the cabinets) white.  It is amazing what a good coat of paint will do to a room.  We actually painted all the trim in the house white.  What a remarkable difference!  I picked out my paint colors, and the kitchen is painted with Patience.  Really.  That was the color of the paint.  I thought it was a very appropriate color for the room in which I would spend a great deal of time.  Actually, I still have an almost full can of Patience sitting next to my cabinets, in case any of you are running low on that particular virtue.  :)
After painting, we had new linoleum installed, and it is wonderfully different.  We have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore not far from us, where they sell used construction/household items rather than junking them.  I found some new glass globes for my light fixtures, as well as the 2” blinds for the windows.  Total cost of the blinds and globes was $8.  Eight dollars – you got it!  You can’t do better, unless it is free!  I love the ReStore!
These are the renovation pictures along with a few of the finished product. 

		ok - having issues with viewing the pictures. Sorry, all - I will try to get them up and running.