Kitchen Overhaul: Before

Interiors

kitchen-vert

The big week is finally here! No, I’m not talking about my birthday (ahem: Thursday).I’m talking about our kitchen overhaul – which is probably a bit of an exaggeration. No, we’re not getting all new cabinets or anything crazy like that. I actually love everything about our kitchen and family room – everything, that is, except the color.

In my grand finale in the War Against Beige, we’re finally going to paint over every last bit of the combined family room and kitchen, the final frontier in putting our own stamp on this house. And I couldn’t be happier. But wait, you ask – wasn’t your kitchen already painted? Yes! When we bought our house back in 2007, it had been completely gutted and refitted with a lovely new kitchen, all new bathrooms, an opened-up bonus room converted from attic space, and a whole new master closet. It was like getting an all-new house but in an established neighborhood with mature trees and lots of charm. And while the house was lovely, no doubt, it wasn’t totally our style.

We’ve been here for 5 years now (wow – where’d THAT time go?), and the antique-y French vanilla-toned cabinets are going to say sayonara. In fact, the more I think about,  I think I’ve boiled it down to this: you’re either a cream or you’re a white. And I, my friends, am a white. So. Goodbye beige, goodbye cream. Hello bold pretty white.

Here’s the inspiration board for what we’re going to do – this one’s mostly for the living room:

LivingRoom-MoodBoard

image sources clockwise from top left:  1/ 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

And here’s what it looks like right now — now styling of these photos! This is exactly what it looked like Sunday afternoon as I’ve started cleaning everything out in prep for the guys to show up Tuesday morning. Furniture shoved to the middle of the room? Check! Rug removed to be cleaned? Check! Every last item out of the kitchen cabinets? Erm, half-check!

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I haven’t officially introduced you to the new campaign dresser I ordered from Etsy. You’ll notice that top middle drawer is out – the entire thing has been such a debacle. It arrived totally damaged, and the moving company that brought it said I could either have them repossess it to get my money back on it or I could keep it. I can’t say I’ve been happy  at all with the way the seller has been handling it either, but oh well. You win some, you lose some. It was custom-painted just for me, as you’ll remember, and so I really hated to just junk it. The fixed drawer should be back anytime now.

campaign-dresser

Speaking of repairs, does anyone have advice on a good leather conditioner to use for furniture? I’ve had this leather club chair for 15+ years (gulp) and it looks like it’s seen better days. Suggestions?

club-chair

Oh look – somebody got a haircut! Shaggy no more!

jude kitchenliving-it-up Nook view-from-kitchen-to-living

I can’t wait to show you the big reveal – and we’ll also be chatting about creating color schemes too!

 

with love,
Rachel

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