The Kitchen is done, sort of

I finally finished the half done projects in the kitchen - I painted and polyurethaned the backsplash, painted the wall (not in the pictures), got everything back in the cabinets and got the doors on. Here are the before and after shots and another view of the kitchen.


I broke down and ordered some new hardware today online because I found some inexpensive stuff. Plan A had been to spray paint the frilly brass stuff black as a temporary solution, and to save money by not replacing the hardware now because we hope to rip the cabinets out before too long and redo the whole kitchen. But since that will probably be years and I don't like the black hardware on the black cabinets, I ordered some.

The kitchen in progress

We've also been working on the kitchen. The trim in that room got painted white and the wall will be beige as soon as I get too it. The cabinets we painted black on the outside and white on the inside. Its not done yet but it looks really fabulous. We are excited.

Here are some pictures of it all exposed with the cabinet doors off, the doors getting painted outside, and the cabinets black. Since Mom and Dad left on Saturday morning, all I've managed to finish up some spots we missed on the cabinets, get the second coat on the trip, tape so I can paint the walls beige, and start getting some stuff back into the cabinets. Hopefully some night this week I'll get that room done because its quite chaotic to rummage through boxes in the dining room to find food and dishes, and then go to the living room to find glasses and the microwave.

Finished Family Room !

So with the french door installed and the fireplace and windows painted - we could finally clean up, wall mount the TV, and get the furniture back in. We still need to replace the lighting to something more modern and get something on the walls, and get something under the TV to hold the components, but the room is starting to feel done and much more our style.

Here are before and after shots.

The fireplace

We went crazy when we got to the fireplace and put down the black paint .... and instead used gray! There were lots of different schemes for the fireplace ... painting it white, black, some sort of faux finish involving sponges and multiple shades of gray and beige. The mortar joints are pretty deep so each one had to be painted with a paintbrush before the surface of the bricks could be painted. For the second coat we were using a tiny artists brush to really get paint in each joint. Mommy did most of the work, but I think everyone was involved at some point on this major project. Here is an in progress picture.

Things Painted Black !

As mentioned earlier, we really went to town with a couple of cans of black paint. Both the master and hall bath vanities upstairs got painted (and new hardware), as did all of the doors to different rooms downstairs (later I'll get to the upstairs doors), and the two windows in the family room (much later I'll consider other windows in the house).