The Kitchen - the evolution

One of the selling points of this house was the kitchen.  For. Sure.  It's large, it's airy, and it has a huge island that looks into the living room so I can cook and watch the kids simultaneously.  I love the white cabinets!  I've always been drawn to them.  Better yet, the lower cabinets all have pull out shelves, so no reaching into the back for that elusive item you only use once a year.  

However, as you can see, it had it's cosmetic issues.  I don't know if you can tell from these pictures, but the color of the wall was Cheerio box yellow.

And the tile... need I say anything?

I had visions of going very bold in this room, because I thought the white cabinets would play down anything too bright.  I wanted teal and red, originally.  Then my friends, Lydia and Joan, talked me out of it.  We all need friends who protect us from ourselves.  I had made a file of pictures of kitchens I loved.  They pointed out that none of them were crazy bright.  I had not noticed that.  They were more like these:



Really neutral!  Who knew?  I think it's because these kitchens look so incredibly clean and airy.  Just looking at them makes me sit up straighter and taker deeper breaths.  And want a salad.  Is that weird?  Probably.  Anyway, I think they are beautiful, so I decided to go light. 

However, because of the layout of the house, I wanted some color on the walls, so I chose Clear Pond by Behr, which I tried to copy and paste on the blog so you could see, but it wouldn't let me.  Trust me, it's pretty.

My mom made a roman shade for the kitchen window, which gets lots of sun in the morning.  It's beautiful.  I love it. 

And then there was the tile.  I wanted to replace it the moment we moved in with really inexpensive beadboard, an idea also from Joan.  I had never considered it, but I love the look. 

We {and by we, you know I mean Handsome Hero} took out the tile, which was a huge project.

Okay, Ladies, this is where I need to learn to defer to Handsome Hero.  I let him know what I wanted, and he said that it would be a bigger job than I realized.  I was thinking, No, Mr. Engineer Man, it's easy!  Just tap out the tiles and put up the beadboard.  Simple!  In fact, I'll do it myself next time you're out of town and won't you be surprised by what I can do!   I hatched a plan {picture me rubbing my hands together, baring my teeth, and then laughing maniacally}.

But Handsome Hero has a sharp noodle.  Before he left on his next trip he said, "Do not touch the back splash.  I'll do it when I get home." Now picture me actually deflating while stammering, 'Who, me?  I wouldn't dream of it!'

So, when he came home, he did indeed take out the tile, which took out nearly all the drywall behind it.  This meant replacing that before the beadboard could be installed.  It took over a week to do.  I looked very sheepishly at the walls each time I came in the kitchen.  He was right.  It was a bigger job than I had realized.

But it's done, and this was the result.  Beautiful, eh?  My mom is now in love with beadboard, too.  It's hard not to be.  It's a clean, uncluttered look without being boring.  It's inexpensive but looks high-end.  To quote the great ever quotable Charlie Sheen, it's winning.