Gettin' There!

This post is for those of you who don't hang out over at Facebook, which is my new hangout these days.  There are only so many places I can be at once, right?  ;)

Kitchen before I moved in:

I just finished laying these peel-n-stick 18" tiles from Lowes last week:

This microwave cart was my grandmother's...I hated to paint over the fabulous Contact paper with mushrooms circa 1972, so...

I had Kathleen do it for me!  Ha!

This was the kitchen before I moved in.  I think the homeowner was giving  a nice fresh coat of dark green paint to that faux tile wainscotting.  Yum!  NOT!

And this is what I've done with the place!  Morning Fog on the walls, white on the newly installed beadboard wainscot paneling, Ikea Lidingo kitchen cabinets, new countertop, a new stove, 

This was the kitchen when I first looked at the house...the tops of the walls were still yellow!

And here it is "after."  My plan is still to paint the hutch a dark raspberry red.  I have the paint.  I just have to sand down what's there, and get on task!  I may have to put some fun paper or fabric behind those shelves.  We'll see.

This corner is such a nice spot to sit in the morning!

...and here it was in the throes of renovation.  Note all the dark stained trim everywhere. 

...and now note all the WHITE painted trim everywhere.  It's amazing how much brighter the kitchen is now.  I love it.

Before:

After:

Tonight my friend Dwight is coming over to hang two upper cabinets for me, that he made out of vintage windows.  I can't wait!!!

Ba-da Bingo, It's Lidingo!

IKEA, Elizabeth, NJ
I didn't like the Elizabeth store as much as the Paramus store, but since I had to go to their warehouse in Elizabeth to pick up my door and drawer fronts, I figured I'd check it out. Of course I didn't leave empty-handed. I'm especially fond of my new cheese grater. :)

I took this picture out my passenger side window while driving home. It's NYC! Don't tell anyone what a hazard I am on the road. Oy.

Et voila! My new kitchen doors! Yay! We stayed up until midnight getting it all put together. But I'll tell you what. It's EASY-PEASY to assemble this stuff. I can't get over how wonderfully clever everything is. Seriously, if you're vascillating on whether or not to do-it-yourself with an IKEA kitchen, I'm telling you right now to GO FOR IT. If I can do it, anyone can. Seriously.

Of course, now the floor looks like TOTAL crap. But I need to paint first. THEN the floor. These things take time.

I put handles on the sink fascias because I like the symmetry of it all. BF thought I was a little nutty, but whatev. He also thought I was a nut because after I put those slow-stopper-thingies on each drawer, I pushed it closed and clapped my hands with glee. It's the small things, people.

A friend of mine came in to have a look today and mistook my Pragel stone effect black countertops for Corian. Pretty cool, eh? I guess she didn't see the raw edge to the left of the sink? Heh. (It's on the list. Geesh. Stop rushing me.)

OMG how much am I loving my giant drawers?!!?!?! Oh, like SO MUCH!

And my pull-outs? Hell-OOO!

And everyone must have their very own Boholomen sink cover. I mean, really.
I've already made a batch of salsa today in my shiny new kitchen. One of these days I'll get all the holes filled everywhere, so that I can paint, then lay the floor, then get a table in there, maybe some window treatments--or not. I can't wait for it to be ALL DONE. But for now, it works, and I love it!!

GOOGLE WEB SURFING FRIENDS! PLEASE LOOK AT THE TOP MENU BAR AND CLICK ON "MY KITCHEN" FOR MORE PICTURES OF MY KITCHEN IN PROGRESS. I LOVE MY IKEA KITCHEN, AND I'D LOVE IT IF YOU WOULD POST A LINK HERE TO YOUR IKEA KITCHENS TOO! I GET A LOT OF SURFERS COMING TO SEE MINE--I'D LOVE IT IF YOU WOULD ADD YOURS TO THE MIX!

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!

~sharon