There was a such a great response to Claire’s room “before and after” that I’m going to share our kitchen – an even more dramatic turnabout. I don’t want to turn into a decorating blog, but with our house on the market we’ve been living, breathing and squealing “house, house, house!” Even Claire has been pitching in to clean “afore the real-ladies come by.”

Besides — since I’m my own boss here, I can make the rules, right?! 😉

Here’s the before. We passed a year surrounded by roosters, blue checked (bathroom?) tile and dark brown Formica cabinetry. A new kitchen was out of the question (and out of the budget) but we managed to turn a dark, depressing room into one of my favorite spaces in our house.

You’ll notice as you look through the archives we kept the tile for a long time (once the cabinets were white, it was entirely bearable). When we put the house on the market 2 weeks ago we ripped up the tile and put a new formica countertop in. Granite would have been fantastic, but for around $300, the Formica (on clearance!) was cheap, easy and totally changed the room.

All of the paint is “oops” paint from the Home Depot, and yes, I PAINTED the formica cabinets. Automotive primer is a girl’s best friend and it was a summer project to remember – lots of fumes, tons of suicidal insects and an unintended “open cabinetry” look that lasted well over 4 months. Such is life!

What do you think? Looks like a whole new room to me! I’m no design star but I’m loving my “new” kitchen and am soooo not sorry to see that nasty grout gone.