kitchen update....part three

About a month ago, I wrote two posts on the progress I've made in redoing my kitchen.

I had meant to write part three soon after, but there were a few small things I needed to finish first.

 

So.....here's part three of my kitchen remodel series. 

Subtitled.....what I did this summer.  :)

 

Here's what my kitchen looked like back in Fall 2009:

 

Here's the update I did last summer.....first, painting the cupboards white.

To learn about this process, read this post. 

 

Then, late in the summer, I got new black countertops. 

You can read about that process in this post.

 

 

This leads us to this summer, and my goal to do the following:

 

repaint the walls of my kitchen and dining room

purchase new appliances

install a tile backsplash

replace the outlets and switches

install curtains in the kitchen and dining room

decorate the dining room wall

add a few more kitchen "accessories" to coordinate with my vision

 

 So, I started right away in June so I wouldn't run out of time.  I also wanted to get the painting part done before the heat wave came.  I learned my lesson from last year!

 

Some people asked me why I decided to repaint my kitchen after it had been that color for less than three years.  The reason was simple.....with the bright white cupboards and dark black counters, the green I had picked seemed too drab and muted.  I wanted something bright and cheerful to match with the changes I had made.

 

First, I had to tape plastic tarps everywhere.....over the cupboards, over the counters, over the sink, over the hanging light, over the appliances.  I was taking no chances of the paint getting on any of my hard work from last summer!

 

 

Here's the new paint color.....I picked the blue because it was a complementary color to the bright accent colors I had in my kitchen- like my orange Kitchenaid mixer.

 

 

The second change of the summer was the most expensive.....by far.  In fact, I think it's the most expensive change I've made to my house since I bought it.  But it just might be one of my favorites. 

 

I got three new appliances!

*My sister, who just moved out, needed a refrigerator at her new house.....and my housewarming gift to her was my old fridge, which still works great but the beige color didn't match the look I was going for with my remodel. 

*My stove had been acting up for a while, taking forever to preheat, and not cooking food all the way through.  Perfect reason to get a new stove!  

*Since the stove hood matched the old appliances and I was going to need to replace that, I decided to go with a over-the-stove microwave. 

 

Here's what the dreary old appliances looked like:

 

 

And here are my fancy-dancy, stainless-steel, beautiful new appliances!

 

With so many other projects going on this summer, and not having any experience in tiling, I decided to go non-DIY for the tile backsplash.  (Is non-DIY a word?  If not, I'll make it one!)

 

A friend of mine has a handy husband, and after I went and bought all of the supplies, I hired him to do the work for me.  Smartest decision I made this summer.

 Really, that's hard work.  I don't know if I could have done it without messing up....a lot.

I'm so glad I swallowed my pride and didn't do it myself.

It's JUST how I wanted it to look!!

 

 

 

 

With the new bright white backsplash, I knew I wanted white outlets and switches.  My multi-talented Mom helped teach me how to install new ones....and let me tell you, it's a great skill to learn! 

You can read about the process in this post when I did it myself in my guest room.

 

Old beige outlet:

 

 

New white outlets:

 

 

 

And a last few other details that I made.....

 

Taking down the ugly vertical blinds and installing new curtains in the dining room

 

 

Kitchen window curtains:

 

I found this sweet vintage spice rack at an antique store, and knew it was meant for my kitchen!

 

New wall art for my dining room....described more in this post.

 

Accessorizing my new counters with bright colors is so much fun now that everything else is how I envisioned it!

 

What a difference a couple summers and a lot of hard work makes!

 

And I think I'll finally be done next summer.....new flooring in the kitchen/dining room and changing the ugly dark paneling in the dining room are the plan. 

But for now.....I'm just enjoying the "new" kitchen that I pictured in my head coming a few steps closer to being complete.