Kitchen Before and After

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 But it’s the location and size and character of this old house that won my heart…not the dirt and outdated/cheap finishes.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?

farmhouse kitchen before

kitchen now

farmhouse kitchen

Kitchen before: that’s a ceiling fan pull cord hanging down.

kitchen before

Kitchen after…

farmhouse kitchen

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 before

kitchen now

Kitchen before…I’m amazed how much smaller this door makes that wall look!

farmhouse kitchen before

See the ugly sidewalk and rusty grape arbor in the background below? French door installation in progress:

kitchen French door installation

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?
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Happy to join the linky fun today at

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

DIY by Cuckoo 4 Design

Julia from Cuckoo 4 Design is sharing some of her awesome inspiring DIY talent with us today. I’ve introduced you in the recent past {you’ve never been more envious of a crazy cat lady and her deluxe DIY cat tunnel before} but I wanted to give a shout out to a few more of her DIY goodies! {We hosted a sweet German exchange student named Julia too and I love pronouncing “YOOL-YAH!” every time I visit her blog.} You can see all of her DIY projects and more at

cuckoo for design

BUT here are a few of the super amazing things I love most (click the pictures to be directed to her original link):

  • What?! Can you believe this super transformation? wood chair makeover
  • Julia paints cuckoo clocks! How cool! I’ve been looking at yard sales and thrift stores ever since I spied this beauty taken apart, painted and re-assembled by Julia…cuckoo clock makeover
  • Ever wonder what to do with a collection of trophies, awards and medals? Well, Julia’s creative idea is awesome…DIY medals trophies project

Just pop over, walk right in. She won’t mind. In fact, I have a feeling it’d make her day. She’d love for you to visit. Take a look at her before & after tab and the gorgeous inspiring projects on her side bar. I’m patiently waiting for a home tour. The sneak peeks are gorgeous…

DIY mirror makeover

See more from Julia at Cuckoo 4 Design.

You might also enjoy:

easy DIY cat window perch

 

Before & After Series for Habitat for Humanity

Supporting Habitat for Humanity

The work that the non-profit organization, Habitat for Humanity is so important. They’ve had a huge impact all over the world. It’s only fitting that DIY’ers support the cause (since we too love home improvement). That’s the reason for One Project Closer’s annual Before & After series. OPC started this event four years ago as a way to help raise awareness for Habitat, and to support their mission to provide decent, safe and affordable places to live.

How it Works

If you’re not familiar with the series, here’s the basics: you submit pictures and a story from a home improvement project you worked (no contracted jobs) sometime over the past year. Every week of the summer (June 20 – September 21), a winner is selected and their story is published online. Each winner gets a $50 gift card to either Lowes, Home Depot, or Amazon, and we make a donation of $100 to Habitat for Humanity in their honor! At the end of the Summer, the best submission, as voted on by readers, wins a bonus $150 gift card to one of the three stores above.

This year is different and even more AWESOME because One Project Closer has asked 13 blogs to get involved, each hosting a week, picking that week’s winner, and featuring the Before and After article on their site.

This week’s host is OPC’s The Better Half and the first before and after story is being feature TODAY – here! I hope you’ll check it out and submit your own before and after story!

Supporting Habitat for Humanity

How to Enter

If you want to submit a before and after story, email your submission to beforeandafter@oneprojectcloser.com or enter via the link party to show off your great transformations HERE. You have all summer long to link up. I’ll share a reminder and link each week.
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