My kitchen reveal in reverse!
I just found some pictures from when we bought our house. I know you’ve seen the after shots but I thought you’d enjoy seeing a few before and ‘now’ pictures for comparison. This is one of the reasons I started blogging – watching the transformation of this old house and while I tend to see all that we have yet to do, these pictures are a reminder that we’ve come a long way, baby! Of course a really ugly before makes anything look like an improvement. So, even though our kitchen isn’t quite done, I have shared these after photos (there aren’t any super new ones) but it’s a reveal in reverse…before pictures to prove that we’ve made some changes. 🙂
Warning: The before photos are very scary and a lot of ‘yuck’ from neglect/previous owners. Our home sat empty for awhile. A year or two maybe? I don’t remember. But it’s the location and size and character of this old house that won my heart…not the dirt and outdated/cheap finishes. I saw past the grime. I had a vision.
Kitchen before – it’s love at first sight, right? ha! love the Mr. Yuck stickers on the bottom cabinets, don’t you?
kitchen now
Kitchen before: that’s a ceiling fan pull cord hanging down.
Kitchen after…
Kitchen before – what is that on the wall? I’m guessing the location of the previous owner’s kitchen garbage can? We don’t really want to know, do we?
kitchen now
Kitchen before…I’m amazed how much smaller this door makes that wall look!
See the ugly sidewalk and rusty grape arbor in the background below? French door installation in progress:
Kitchen now…let there be light!
I know…these aren’t really “now” pictures as in “today”. They are at least six months ago before the move to WordPress as you can tell by the watermark. But, I did just return from Haven so you know my kitchen isn’t photography-worthy but thanks for looking – I was happy to find the before pictures!
{patio & grape arbor after too}
So, what do you think? A better idea of where we started and our home is a fixer upper for sure! If you haven’t already, you can see more in our home tour. 🙂
Now if only the upstairs bathrooms still didn’t look like the before pictures. I’m doubting it, but was your house move-in ready or did you have to work at cleaning some filth?
Happy to join the linky fun today at
Your new kitchen is beautiful Roeshel! Gives me such great hope & inspiration for ours :~) We bought a short sale house which at 1st seemed pretty clean {especially after all the foreclosures we saw} but once the owner removed all her stuff the grime was revealed. Dead bugs everywhere {including in the cabinets}, what looked like a blood bath coagulated on the side of the stove, piles of dirt, rust stained tiles, & the absolute grossest thing ever — frogs living in the water holding tank {we have a well}. gag! Believe me, I feel your pain & disgust LOL Our homes are our own Cinderella stories, right?
I can’t get over the difference. It’s difficult to tell it’s the same space.
The “before the before” pics really put things in perspective! It’s amazing…
Haven’t seen Mr. Yuck in a LOOOOOOOONNNNGGGG time! How funny!
What a difference! Wouldn’t it be nice for the previous owners to see what you’ve done? They wouldn’t believe it! I love everything you’ve done and you’ve made it look two times bigger. Your kitchen gets messy? I don’t believe it! 🙂
Be a sweetie,
shelia 😉
It looks amazing! I know you are enjoying your new space. The kitchen is truly the heart of the home.
Love the new kitchen! Especially the ladder and the chalk board wall, and your floors are gorgeous!! Beautiful!
Oh, crud, I forgot to say that we just celebrated our one year anniversary in our new house. Our kitchen is everything I wouldn’t pick on my own – black, with gold flecks, granite counter tops – which they also put on the backsplash – CHEAP blah cabinets in my least favorite color of wood, with copper-ish handles – black appliances – cracking tiles (throughout the entire house – lucky us) and to top it off, it was FILTHY! I want light, bright, airy. It will happen, it will just take a while.
Roeshel, your kitchen looks awesome. What a transformation. Our current home was purchased brand new, but our first home was purchased and totally redone. They both are work and I prefer to buy a house that needs work. Even as a kitchen designer, I preferred doing remodels to designing brand new 6,000 sq ft custom homes. Not sure why. Homeowners doing a remodel are so much happier when things are finished because the after is so much better than the before, but those building a new home want things absolutely perfect and are never 100% happy. So many of them had unrealistic expectations. I remember a homeowner who at her final walk thru told the builder she was upset because the large rocks(small boulders) in the backyard had dirt on them. No lie!
I love seeing before and after pictures and your changes are amazing! Gives me hope that one day my kitchen will be exactly how I can see it in my head!
Your kitchen looks amazing! Thanks for sharing the before pictures. I love that you were able to make it look to fresh and modern without totally gutting it or rearranging cabinets. We are also in the middle of a kitchen redo and decided to paint our cabinets – I wish more people would consider it because it’s so economical and can totally change the look and feel of a kitchen.
Roeshel,
It is so beautiful. It is so great when we can look past the ugly and see the potential.
xo,
Cheri from Its So Very Cheri
Love those before and after pics!!! It’s BEAUTIFUL!
–Katie
It looks so light and clean! What a difference!
Amazing Roeshel! Such a huge transformation!
Wow! What a transformation! Love the entire look. Your hard work paid off!
sigh! my absolute favorite part of your kitchen besides everything is the huge wood storage cabinet next to the trashcan! It is ahhhh-mazing!
Beautiful. Is your island two school desks? Such a big change.
Katie
Fun to see the scary before pics – you’ve come a long way baby!!
Every time I see your desk island – I get a little pang of jealously! And that sliding ladder – I want one. Ok, enough whining – but I am in love with everything!
Kelly
You guys did a great job on this room. It was a little yucky! I love the desks in the middle -simple but awesome. Our house had been partially “redone” when we moved in. That just means they did everything as cheaply as possible and left the real work for us.
Your kitchen is beautiful! I hope our remodel looks this good! I have found that kitchens are such a long process. This reminds me that hard work pays off….eventually! Thanks for sharing!
Your renovations are gorgeous! We are in the same boat the kitchen, dining & lounge rooms are done and look lovely until someone has to venture down the hall to the toilet where the before photos are still a reality! I love renovating, but it takes time and a lot of money & is very messy, it’s the feeling of achievement afterwards that is so rewarding and the fact you get to know your house inside and out, that brings about the real connection to a building which turns into a great love for it 🙂
Your new kitchen is amazing!!!!!!!!
Wow I love your kitchen!
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I just stumbled upon you tonight and I will definitely start following you on Pinterest. You have great ideas. I love your kitchen transformation. Beautiful
OMGoodness! I LOVE your home! What a great kitchen remodel! I somehow need to put a ladder in my kitchen!! LOVE it, and it would keep me from climbing on my counters to get to the items stashed on the top of my cabinets! You are sooo inspiring me on this dreary Saturday evening! Thanks a bunch!!
Christie
I love the white cabinets and wall color in your kitchen. Can you tell me the name and brand of both? I am considering painting my cabinets white…yet there are a million different whites.
Thank you.
Holly
Hi Holly! The wall color is True Value Platinum “Old Fashioned” (can probably have that mixed anywhere in another brand if you prefer). The cabinet color is Benjamin Moore “Moonshine” (Benjamin Moore Impervo paint). Hope that helps!
You’re kitchen is lovely, can’t wait to see the rest of the house. Those cabinets didn’t exist before you painted them! They are gorgeous. I love the colors and am planning on using them on my kitchen too. Thanks for sharing the color info. I also think the best style is to do exactly what you like and that’s what you’ve done. good job 🙂
Thanks, Cheryl! Good luck with your kitchen remodel! I’m so glad you stopped by! xo
What a beautiful transformation! I have the same cabinets and was considering replacing the doors before painting but your beautiful makeover has me changing my mind.
2 questions – where did you get your cabinet hardware and do you have a post explaining how you painted your cabinets?
Hi TJ! I believe the cabinet hardware is from True Value Hardware. And it’s been quite a while since we painted the cabinets, but here’s the link: https://diyshowoff.com/2011/02/27/painting-kitchen-cabinets/ No regrets! They’re holding up well (Benjamin Impervo paint is awesome!). Hope that helps! Good luck!