New Kitchen Part 3: The Before Photos

Part 3 is all about the 'before' shots. Should this entry have been the first post of this series? Hm. Oh well. What's done is done.

I was debating whether or not to tidy up our kitchen before snapping these photos but you know what? I was too lazy; typical lazy Rach. Then, I decided it would provide more contrast with the 'after' photos and I was pleased with myself for making such a great decision not to tidy up. Our kitchen and dining area are incredibly cluttered (extra cluttered, as we'd started the cleaning-out-the-cupboards-to-get-ready-to-demo process by the time I took these photos). We really need to stop being people who are terrible at putting things away. We are also weirdos that use the dishwasher as a giant drying rack instead of as a dishwasher. That will all change once we get a new one (as our current one is broken).

We also don't leave ourselves much counter space. Way too many appliances and pots and pans are stored all over the place because the cabinets are poorly organized so after a while, well-used items get tossed on the counter and left out for convenience's sake. Our new kitchen design includes more storage placed deliberately and strategically in order to ameliorate/prevent this bad habit. Will you check out that ancient microwave? We actually tossed it in the bin and we have no plans to replace it. We're not the type of people that use the microwave all that often. It got used maybe once a month, if that.

There are so many things I hate about our kitchen. There's so much brown; brown is my least favorite color. Everything is grimy and old and dated. The wood paneling on our walls is hideous and it makes me feel like our house screams 60s and not in a cool fabulous way but an embarrassing and tacky way.

Here's our oven, cooktop, and exhaust fan. The sink is also a matching aqua color. Everything is still functional but all of it is just so old. I thought about selling the set but they were just too worn in and I don't think all the TLC in the world could have brought them back to life. I know that this "vintage" 50s/60s kitchen look is pretty popular these days though, so it was a little heartbreaking to see them go. But my heart got over it pretty quickly once we picked up our new appliances. Sorry, guys (I'm talking to the oven et al).

I totally didn't get to take a shot of this area before my dad went ahead and took out this humongous frame with slats that separated our "foyer" area (if you can really call it that) from the kitchen/dining room. I really wanted to get rid of the slats and make the room seem more open. However, I didn't want to get rid of the divider completely because we keep our shoes in the entryway area, so this was the best compromise.

It's kind of awesome what we've uncovered behind the frame. There's some scribbles and we now know who installed and painted it. The photo just below (on the left) says, "This was installed by Scotty Coluns 1962; hourly rate $1.50" - um, $1.50, are you serious? Scotty Coluns, wherever you are, please come over and I will pay you $1.50 per hour to install our cabinets, please. As much as I'd love to leave this $1.50 thing visible, you know, to work as a conversation starter, we'll be covering up this exposed area with some trim.

Here's a look at our dining table and a giant buffet hutch. The dining set and hutch are awesome in quality but the style isn't really my thing and they are huge so they had to go. We donated the dining set to Furnishing Solutions. If you live in Morris County, please consider donating and/or patronizing them. The hutch is currently in our basement, taking up a tremendous amount of real estate. Maybe someone reading this blog wants it? Or maybe I'll put it up on Craigslist (despite my fear of getting murdered by a stranger).

Excuse the mess but this is how we'd been living while we were emptying out all of the cabinets and readying ourselves for the demolition and I might as well be honest and share things the way they really happened, right? I mean, if you are readying yourself for a renovation, you should be prepared for things to get kind of messy.

This nasty, messy, horrible pile of stuff is also the bane of my existence. I can't wait to have a proper pantry so that we can put all of this stuff away! We'll definitely keep that little shelf (I think it'll be nice to have a slightly industrial storage element) but I haven't decided what it'll be used for. I think a bar would be nice, but I don't really drink too often these days. Maybe a breakfast bar instead? Maybe with a nice coffee machine, a selection of teas, honey, sugar cubes, and a pretty container of homemade pancake mix.

So that's it for the before shots. Thanks for stopping by. Next, I'll be sharing demolition photos.