When some people say kitchen remodel, they mean they called in their contractor and a designer etc. and had it remodeled. We on the other hand, say kitchen remodel, and do all the work ourselves. So doing it that way takes a whole lot more time.
Being a story teller of sorts I always think I need to start at the beginning. So sorry. 🙂 I love to tell where it all began. LOL I figure you can’t appreciate the end as much, if you don’t understand the beginning. That’s true with many things.
This kitchen has had two remodels, one that was necessary, so we thought, to function for our family. The next one was a well deserved one,(about 19 years later) bringing it to it’s amazingness(So we thought anyway). I hope you can be patient with me as we journey through.
Oh one more thing I have to remind you of, we always do everything on a very low budget. Please keep that in mind.
Not to terribly long after we moved here we started working on it and I really didn’t get great pictures but I will try and explain the details. You know me and details. LOL
Along the bottom was a painted plastic 4×4 tile that came up to the bottom of the wall paper. Yes, I said plastic tile. You can see it on the other side of the door if you choose to zoom in. This is a very important detail in the next story I’m going to tell you.
The refrigerator was right up against the door frame, and the stove right next to it in that corner. I was making macaroni and cheese for supper and I was boiling the macaroni. However I needed to drain it. So leaving the burner on high no less, you know the one right next to the plastic tile. I took the pan to the sink and drained the macaroni. When I turned around to go back to the stove the tile was actually melting. Well I guess it was time for a small kitchen remodel. LOL!!!
We removed the large window, and put in another one further over that we purchased at a auction. My husband’s employer was a window and door manufacture that allowed their employees to buy anything that was a mistake, returned, etc. for whatever it brought at the auction. Major blessing always!!
Where we put the window, there was a cabinet that we removed and put over the radiator in the other corner.
We took out the door and made a wider opening into the next room.
Unfortunately the kitchen didn’t have a dishwasher but we bought one at a garage sale and put it in.(the angels sang, well I did anyway)LOL!!!
Later, he built some cabinets to match the other ones that were there. To all of them he added crown moulding on the top, and another piece of moulding to the bottom to hide the under cabinet lights. We made our own counter tops from MDF and covered them with formica. (remember budget friendly) We even ran the formica up the back.
We painted the walls a beautiful Martha Stewart purple color with a hydrangea border, ceiling-a lighter purple, and added crown moulding. When I told people I had a purple kitchen, I think they thought I was crazy. I did like it at the time.
Several years later it found it”s new identity. So this post doesn’t get forever long, I will leave that for next time. I can’t wait to show you the update.
Don’t miss the story of how God gave us a stove during this remodel here.
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