Cookin' up a new Kitchen

The past two weeks have been some hard work.  I have been working on my kitchen and have mashed a few styles together in order to come up with a somewhat compromised look and something that can be a bit more affordable.

The people we bought the house from installed an Ikea kitchen which is just fine, it was just a bit too woody.  Wood for days, fake wood for days actually.  Priority one, break it up.

We went to Ikea and priced out some new doors and it seemed like everything we liked was just out of budget since we have a perfectly good kitchen.  So, the compromise turned out being a partial replacement and a partial painting of the cabinet fronts.  I have been nervous about painting these cabinets since I was unsure how they will hold up.  But, I did ask several expert opinions, especially from the local Benjamin Moore paint store down on 4th Ave South.

With these fakey-laminate wood fronts, I would have to sand them, clean them, prime them twice and then paint them with 3 coats.  A lot of work for sure, but well worth changing the look.  It took a few days of removing the doors and hard ware and then painting, plus a couple of weeks of food on the counters.  Now that it is wrapping up, it is really coming together. Take a look!

Here is the before. It is actually great, but I couldn't handle the colors

 And here is the after.  We are keeping the Teal walls for now, but we may tone them down now that we painted the cabinets.  The Teal was more of a temporary solution to get rid of the pukey light green and ruddy-orange.  You can't say the kitchen isn't happy!

The bottom cabinets are all painted and the upper ones are a bit more complex right now. 

 I really like the colors better than the wood tones that it was before. 

 The shelving above is a new addition at Ikea and I think they are a lot of fun.

So here is something that I need to think about.  They didn't have the cabinets available I wanted (the ones on the left with white glass and aluminum trim) for the sized cabinets on the right.  At least they match colors but Bob and I are still not 100% on the mix yet.  At least I have 90 days to have a second guess on my purchases!

This was a last minute thought on my part to get the Microwave off the counter . I think I need to do something else with this one, but I am going to sit with it for a little while to see if changing it again will help or not.  I really like the exposed beans and grains above and our Soda Stream maker below!

Here is the last quandry right now.  A large closet that has a metal shelf inside for use as a Pantry.  Not efficient, and I think one day it will solve my microwave question.  This will take a bit more thought for now, but for now, it seems like we have an all new kitchen.  :)

Kitchen Remodel?

Kitchens are an extremely hard space to consider and reconsider.  People redo their kitchens and spend upwards of $20,000 easily and sometimes much more than $100,000 on kitchens such as Varenna and Baultaup(which I adore).  I am more in line with a mini-Ikea renovation price tag. 

It is really hard to justify spending too much on a kitchen that is pretty new and functioning really well.  Definitely, the color has to go.  I could never stand the tendency for Seattlites to paint dark dull colors in their homes when there are so many days of gray here.  See below for what I am starting with:

Now the colors aren't unexpected or so bad that you want to projectile vomit.  I just can't handle the orangey red.  I also can't really handle the fake maple floors, with the ikea fake maple cabinets.  It is just too much fake maple.  The layout is just amazing to work with, and an extra wall in the kitchen which is perfect for use as an 'appliance garage'.   One other thing I really like is that we have a beautiful and still functioning vent! 

And then one thing in the kitchen I detest is the lighting. Not only is the lighting inadequate but the lights the previous owners 'updated' look more like a biopsy of a Grecian statues' breasts.  Is this really the statement I want in my kitchen?  I understand that you can buy these breasts at Lowes for $30 for a box of 5, and while that is great and all, I just have to say good bye to these gems. 






So far, Bob and I have agreed the colors need to change.  We landed on a color after a bit of debate.  The color is less 'appropriate' for the kitchen, than just makes us happy. It is a Teal Blue/green that is just a cool color, and very of the era for the house. Check it out.

Like my pal Chasten said when I asked about the color, he said the woods would start to look a bit yellow.  While I agree with that estimate, I just know that the rest will be changing sometime very soon.  I have been really attracted to Ikea's Glossy kitchens and I think a re-facing would do a lot for this kitchen. How much refacing to do, is of course up for debate, but just look how amazing the kitchens at Ikea look these days.

 I just love everything about this kitchen. I love the asymmetry the variability of the colors and the life it has.  I really want a colorful carpet and some wall shelves. 

The next two pictures show only the Gloss kitchens that Ikea carries.  This could help give some dimension to our kitchen with the reflective quality.  I also like the way Ikea brings in the outdoors with some greenery.

There is definitely a lot up for debate at the moment.  I think I have to hit the drawing board first before biting off too much. The blue-green makes Bob and I very happy at the moment, and I think that is all that matters right now.  I will try to sketch out some ideas of what to do and post those soon. I will leave you guys with the kitchen color and some samples of the cabinet choices we currently like from Ikea. Just not sure how we are going to mix and match the colors quite yet.