Beautiful Kitchen Renovation! Welcome to the 102nd Metamorphosis Monday!

Happy 2011! It's the start of a brand new year. I have so enjoyed viewing all your 2010 Blogging Bloopers! Your posts had me laughing and nodding my head thinking, Yep, I've done that before. :)

I'm starting our new year off with a post that's sure to inspire! Recently, I asked Jennifer Grey with The Old Painted Cottage if she would share one of the amazing "Before and Afters" from her home. Jennifer and her hubby have been renovating their home and the results have been absolutely stunning.

Today, Jennifer is going to take us through the amazing transformation of her kitchen. When I first saw the "Before" pics of her kitchen, I thought the previous homeowner had started a renovation by priming the kitchen cabinets for painting and then stopped. I was so surprised to find out that was the "finished" look. Just wait until you see the "After" pics...they are just beautiful! Here's Jennifer to tell us how she and her hubby tackled this fabulous metamorphosis...


The Little Kitchen That Could

Hello BNOTP readers! I was honored when Susan asked me to write a guest post for her Metamorphosis Monday feature. I played around with many different topics to share with you today, as I love to tackle the hard stuff and learn as I go. After giving it some thought, of all the projects my husband and I have tackled in the past two years we’ve lived in our home, our kitchen would have to be my favorite makeover. Let’s begin, shall we?

This is how our kitchen looked the day we closed escrow and the keys were placed in our hot little hands…







I know what you’re thinking….what were the previous owners thinking with those blue wash cabinets, the missing door on the oven, that weird blue wave that running along the top of the wall, and that horrible tile floor. I should also share with you: the counter tops were so sticky, our realtor’s forearm actually STUCK to the tile counter top tile during a meeting we were having before closing escrow!

The insides of the cabinets were all rotted from water damage and were covered in rat feces. We knew there was no way we were keeping anything in the existing kitchen so I bought my husband a sledgehammer and he went to work! In no time at all, we ripped out all the existing cabinetry and those sticky tile counter tops…




We bought all our cabinetry, counter tops and farmhouse sink from IKEA. Each cabinet had to be assembled (by me) and then one by one, my husband and I installed each piece together.

Below you can see our progress. I was patching over all the old floor tile to create an even surface, while my husband started installing our flooring (looks like hardwood but it’s not, it’s vinyl). I should also point out, at this stage of our kitchen remodel I had installed most of the subway tile backsplash (my husband cut all the tile and I installed it). You’ll also notice we had not yet installed two of the base cabinets, the doors above the range, the four upper cabinets on the window side of the wall, as well as the cabinet hardware…




Next we removed that huge space-age looking bay window, which I disliked with a passion, and we replaced it with a beautiful french window. Here you can see how we slightly widened the window opening and also shifted it a few inches to the right so that our faucet would be centered with the window. These little details are so important…




Now it’s time for a little Before and After reveal!

BEFORE



AFTER



BEFORE



AFTER



BEFORE



AFTER



If you’re curious as to where we purchased things, I’ve included sources and links below. Meanwhile, here are a few more shots of our kitchen I think you’ll enjoy…




Yes, that’s our fridge! I recovered it myself. Read about how I did it HERE.




This old metal piece used to be a barber shop’s comb display rack…







The “silverware caddy” with the antique spoons and forks was actually a pen/pencil holder I found at Home Goods. I love repurposing!



Sources:
cabinets, butcher block counter tops, farm house sink: IKEA
flooring: “Country Pine” by Allure – Home Depot
cabinet hardware: eBay
french swinging door: Home Depot
pendant lamp above sink: Restoration Hardware
striped rug “margarita”: Dash & Albert
island: JC Penney
pendant lights above island: eBay
“Bakery” wall letters: woodlandmanufacturing.com
number plates above sink: The Beautiful Life, but they no longer carry them
large spoon picture: Z Gallerie
metal barstools: Agoura Antique Mart

I want to thank Susan once again for allowing me to guest post here today. This was fun! If you would like to stop by my blog, I’d love to meet you!
oxox, Jennifer




Jennifer...thanks so much for sharing your amazing kitchen renovation! What an inspiring transformation to start off 2011!

Jennifer has a wonderful shop filled with beautiful vintage/antique finds. You can visit her shop, The Old Painted Cottage HERE and her blog by the same name, HERE.




Metamorphosis Monday:
If you are participating in Metamorphosis Monday: Please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

If you'd like to include the MM button in your post, just copy and paste the Met Monday button to your computer or grab the html code from underneath the MM logo under the "Join the Party" header at the top.

Please include a link in your MM post back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. Why is this important? When you include a link back to BNOTP, it ensures your regular readers/visitors will find the other awesome "Before and Afters" linked for this Metamorphosis Monday. If everyone links back, this maximizes the visits for all participants.

Please DO NOT type in all caps...it spreads the links waaaay out. Thanks! :-)


Little Reminder: Thank-you for linking back to this post so the regular visitors to your blog will find all your fellow Blogger's posts linked here for this Met Monday. If you find your link has been deleted, it is because your post didn't mention you were participating in Metamorphosis Monday and didn't include a link back to the other participants and/or was not a "Before and After" subject/project.