Our kitchen, when we moved in, was a brightly lit pale lavender and white, girly, nightmare.
The circa 1976 green electric stove was unusable, filthy and had to be replaced immediately. There are no photos of it.
The ochre colored refrigerator smelled so bad and was so dirty we only put food in it that was in backpacks. As we removed it the day the new one was delivered, enough dog hair came out of the bottom to build a standard sized poodle - no exaggeration. Obviously the fridge was replaced immediately. Again, no photos of this monstrosity
The dishwasher leaked during the home inspection prior to buying the house so it was replaced before we got here with a model that we choose.
The countertops were 6-inch tile laid with 1/2 - 3/4 inch grout lines that captured any crumb, spill, or goo that got on the counter and never let go. I scrubbed them endlessly, it seemed. We replaced them with granite-look laminate very quickly after getting new appliances. Look closeley at the before photos and you may see some filth stuck in the grout.
The ceiling fan worked, but was way too fru-fru for our more classic historical taste. It was low priority, but also had to go. It was replaced.
The strip of track lights above the sink didnt work. Sure there were lights and bulbs, and a switch on the wall, but there was no wire between the two. Richard fixed that and added a new, outlandish light fixture we found at Home Depot (go figure).
There was also a switch, and wire, for a sink disposal, but no disposal. We got one within 6 months.
The floor wasn't our taste, but it was nice ceramic tile that was fairly inoffensive, not broken and not installed too poorly. It stayed.
The sink was stained and the finish was dull and ruined. It was just replaced with an 18 gague stainless sink last week.
We kept the cabinets, though, repainting them more appealing colors. I would have loved to do away with the upper cabs, but we needed the storage, so I painted them a glossy color similar to the matte color of the walls. We also changed out the door handles and the handle position for some we scored on sale at Ikea.
My father and I spent three days installing that over the stove microwave. Mom and Dad got it for us for Christmas, 08. We had to install electric and build a cabinet before hanging the micro. THANKS DAD !!!
One other thing, note the huge cabinet in the last photo that overhangs the window. That was replaced by open shelving that lets more light in. (boy, did I learn alot about where the studs are from this experience ... there arent many ...)
Check out these before and after photos. They are the only 4 before photos I have, so look carefully thru the out of focus ... I tried to pair them up as well as I could so you can clearly see the change. I think our style is pretty vintage 40's meets industrial, but you can tell me otherwise ...
The photos below look like a glare on a windshield its all so white ... totally not our taste. the bright trim makes the huge windows look tiny against that pale lavender wall color.
Look to the left in this photo to see the overhanging cabinet sticking out past the wall and into the window. the table and garbage can are in the same spots in both photos, along with the red clock on the wall.
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