Not finished but getting there

Now that the kitchen is almost finished, I'm brave enough to post some before and during pictures. Don't be jealous of the kitchen we started out with. The previous owners decided instead of replacing ugly laminate countertops from the 60's they would just unevenly put tile over top of the laminate and put wood on the ends. These things just looked dirty, and you couldn't do anything on the countertops like write notes because of the huge grout lines. Don't you love how the tiles were not cut to really fit around the sink?

I've never been so big on faux painting, but these cabinets were hideous and also just looked dirty. The original stove and windows from the 60's didn't make the kitchen very appealing either. I'm not sure what the people who picked out this hardware were thinking either.



And a close up of the faux painting on the backsplash. Notice the switchplate cover which has more holes than switches in a lovely faux copper.

These 2 walls are still a bit of a mystery. There was wallpaper painted white above the chair rail and no wallpaper below the chair rail. Under the wallpaper were these odd bright yellow walls. Of course, the wallpaper came off in a mix of decent sized and tiny pieces. That was a very frustrating weekend.
The tile really wasn't bad in the kitchen, but we figured dark floor and dark cabinets would make the room way too dark. Dave took out enough of the tile to put the cabinets against this well and let the contractor take out the rest. There was lovely vinyl flooring under the tile though.
I'll post some of the pics with the new countertops, appliances, cabinets, flooring and painted walls soon. We need to get outlet covers and replace the ugly light fixture, but most everything in there is finished. Wish us luck on that and the rest of the house.