Kitchen revealed!

After a very long delay, I am finally updating our (nearly) completed kitchen!  It's been done for a while, but was just a matter of finally documenting it.  (Check back here and here for previous posts on our progress.)

It was a lot of really hard work, but we are so pleased with the end result, and would definitely do it all over again.  Renovating on a budget definitely requires more time and a lot more sweat, but we are really excited that we didn't drop 8 to 10 Gs and IMHO did a pretty darn good job on the cheap(er).

The most expensive thing was replacing the countertops, which just had to be done.  We quickly ruled out granite or any of its close cousins due to price, also acknowledging that our house (and neighborhood) just isn't a granite kind of place.  We're okay with that.  We instead stuck with a laminate, switching from that charming dingy yellow to a charcoal gray.  We were really pleased with how well they contrasted with the bright white cabinets and they actually made us like the floor a lot more, so we're glad that we kept that as-is, too.  We decided to extend it out about 18 inches on one wall to get a bit more workspace out of the relatively small kitchen, and I'm so glad we did!  It also provides a nice little nook for the trash can and the dog dishes.  Still need to choose and install a nice support thing (it has a special name that escapes me right now) so it doesn't look so awkwardly dangly, but here it is:

My favorite part of the new kitchen is the SINK.  It's so roomy and white and clean and makes doing dishes a pleasure!  That last part isn't true.  But you get the idea.

Of course, we discovered along the way several imperfections, especially once all the cabinets went white. Like the fact that absolutely nothing in this whole room was level or properly measured.  Ergh! I'm sure the flaws are things only we'll notice (like that the cabinet doors don't line up in the corner), and we fixed the things we could, like gaps in the carpentry:

Another issue to still be worked on is some type of backsplash tile, because the new industry standard for countertop backsplash height is apparently lower than it used to be.  So until that happens we have this nice line of ripped drywall all the way around:  

This pic is of the most dramatic section, and I don't think it's too noticeable when you're not standing with your nose next to the wall.  Which is a pretty un-normal thing to do.

One little detail I'm still not done with is new shelf paper.  Check out this adorable little gem of a paper I found at the Dollar Store!  Doesn't it just beg "unload the dishwasher and enjoy me!"?

Choosing a wall color was really hard.  We actually thought we'd settled on a gray with a hint of blue, but once we got to rolling we shot each other frightened glances because it was clearly a blue-blue.  I hope it doesn't scream "baby boy nursery," because it's actually grown on us a lot and I like the cheery brightness to it (it also goes quite well with our light beige in the dining/living room, and I'm glad we branched out of the neutral family).

Okay!  Time for the best part!  Before and after pictures!

From the front entrance door:

From the bay window:

From the stove:

Old doors and hardware vs. new:

This is a good place to give a big shoutout to my dad for helping many hours to measure, drill new holes, and re-install most of the doors and hinges.  Also a great time to thank Danny's parents, who though they couldn't help physically due to distance, helped us out financially a bunch.  We are so thankful for our parents!

Beautiful bay window:

 Corner pocket:

Eek!  Just seeing these side-by-sides gets me giddy.  I am really proud of us for scrapping the "replace everything" plan and persevering through the many hours of sanding, priming, painting, ram your head through the wall, repeat... We're not exactly pros at this sort of thing but are learning a lot as we go!

Presto-change-O!  Hope everyone likes it cuz we sure do!