When I bought my house two and a half years ago, one of the key features that convinced me to buy it was the kitchen. But not because it had shiny new appliances, granite countertops, or an island with breakfast bar. No, I saw beyond the small condo-sized fridge, across the two different types of countertops circa 1982, and through the wall that I would one day knock down and extend the counter to create an overhang for a breakfast bar. I saw the kitchen for all the potential it had. It's a good sized kitchen, large enough for a table and chairs. I've lived with it the way I bought it for two and a half years, and I've only recently starting making changes to it. It all started about 6 weeks ago when I had a gas line installed so I could convert from electric to gas stove. I can't believe how easy this was - no indoor construction was necessary; the line was run from the gas connection at the front of my house, along the outside of the house, and through the wall directly into my kitchen. I got my hands on a like-new, used gas stove and voila! I'm cooking with gas now! It's so much better than electric. I can't tell you how many times I put a pot of water on my electric stove to boil, only to find out several minutes later that I turned on the wrong element. I like how idiot-proof a gas stove is: turn on starter, flame instantly appears, know which burner to use. It's better than turning on the element and then seeing the coils of the wrong burner glowing brighter than the embarrassment on my face for making the same mistake yet again. Not to mention, gas provides more even heat, and when you turn it off, it's off - you don't have to wait for the element to cool down like you do with an electric stove.
Next, I'm going to paint the kitchen. I've had so many ideas in the last 2.5 years but could never land on a colour scheme. I must have gone through the entire colour spectrum at least twice. But I've finally decided what colour to paint it! ...White. Yes, white. White is not a colour, I know. But my accents will be colourful! In the end, I decided that I want a clean, bright kitchen. It's actually white right now, but not the clean and fresh kind. It's more like, 12-years-of-indoor-smoking white. The walls have that brownish-yellow stain to it that you find in long-term smokers' homes. After painting, I'd like to re-hinge the cupboards (they are a little crooked) and put on new hardware. New countertops would be nice, but I'm on a budget and there are some things that aren't worth spending money on unless you are going to go all the way. I'm doing what I can to rejuvenate my kitchen on a DIY budget. There is one exception, though. I really want a Big Chill robin's egg blue retro refrigerator!!! Here are my new inspiration pictures:
I am so sure that I will one day own this fridge, that I had the company mail me a metal colour sample so that I could match paint to it (I plan on painting my mudroom off the kitchen this colour, and tiling the floor in there with checkered black and white tiles). I would eventually like to have wood flooring in my kitchen (I prefer the lighter colour of the two pictured above). Currently, my kitchen floor has grey ceramic tiles. I hope my new fridge will look good among my DIY efforts until I am able to afford a complete kitchen reno!
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| Gas stove! New range hood, too. |
Next, I'm going to paint the kitchen. I've had so many ideas in the last 2.5 years but could never land on a colour scheme. I must have gone through the entire colour spectrum at least twice. But I've finally decided what colour to paint it! ...White. Yes, white. White is not a colour, I know. But my accents will be colourful! In the end, I decided that I want a clean, bright kitchen. It's actually white right now, but not the clean and fresh kind. It's more like, 12-years-of-indoor-smoking white. The walls have that brownish-yellow stain to it that you find in long-term smokers' homes. After painting, I'd like to re-hinge the cupboards (they are a little crooked) and put on new hardware. New countertops would be nice, but I'm on a budget and there are some things that aren't worth spending money on unless you are going to go all the way. I'm doing what I can to rejuvenate my kitchen on a DIY budget. There is one exception, though. I really want a Big Chill robin's egg blue retro refrigerator!!! Here are my new inspiration pictures:
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| www.bigchill.com |
I am so sure that I will one day own this fridge, that I had the company mail me a metal colour sample so that I could match paint to it (I plan on painting my mudroom off the kitchen this colour, and tiling the floor in there with checkered black and white tiles). I would eventually like to have wood flooring in my kitchen (I prefer the lighter colour of the two pictured above). Currently, my kitchen floor has grey ceramic tiles. I hope my new fridge will look good among my DIY efforts until I am able to afford a complete kitchen reno!
