Lagoon, Meet Your New Sister, The Deep End.

Ever since I painted the floor in The Lagoon, I've been jonesin' to give the kitchen a little makeover. It's not that it was awful (at least, I didn't think it was awful until I changed it), but it wasn't particularly pretty. See, the cabinets were a color that I like to call "Formerly White, Now Nicotine Yellow" (the people who lived here before us smoked in the house). The cabinets were chipped, the trim was looking rough, and the whole room was just kind of dingy. One of the walls even had [hopefully not lead] paint chipping off of it.

And don't even get me started on the wallpaper.  Sure, there was a certain charm about the strawberry print that had probably been there since the late '70s.  But it was peeling off, and also sported the smoker dinge.  Yuck!

(see the chipped cabinets at the top of the picture?)

I had resisted the kitchen project because I knew that it would be a bitch, and, plus, we rent this house.  To do it right would require days of work and waiting for paint to dry, and more work.  Plus, we wouldn't really be able to use the kitchen during that time.  I knew that the expense would be minimal, but I didn't know when I would have the time or energy to take on such a feat.

And then Matt made plans to go out of town for the weekend.  I didn't have much to do, and I had four nights with nothing planned.  Hmph?  So Thursday night I was talking to Cassie about how bored I was going to be all weekend, and threw out the idea that I might just tackle the kitchen project, and she encouraged me to go ahead and do it.  For about fifteen minutes we discusssed what to do, and then, inspired, I set out for Home Depot.

Eighty-two dollars later, I had three gallons of paint and some supplies (and two new friends from the paint department).  I made myself a little schedule:

• Thursday night, remove wallpaper
• Friday, remove everything from kitchen and prime all walls and cabinets
• Saturday, paint all cabinets
• Sunday, paint walls, clean up, and put everything back in its place

Easier said than done. 

I think at this point I'll just let the pictures tell the story. . .

Phew!  That was a lot of work!  But it sure was worth it.  Check it out.

This bin was the only new item (with the exception of the Amish Butterprint bowls) to enter the kitchen.

(That note on the refrigerator says, "This is your last chance to forgive me and that's what God wants."  Cassie found it at the kiddie table at Old Navy and gifted it to us.  Oh, and do you see where I missed a spot?) 

I had to frame part of the border, just like how Uncle Jesse on Full House framed the pink bunny.

Howl if you love the new kitchen!

Total cost: $89 (and the brain cells I lost while priming).

And how's this for a before and after?

Oh, and I know it's been killing you that The Lagoon has such an awesome name while the kitchen has to settle for "the kitchen."  Well, no more!  Starting tonight, we will refer to the kitchen as The Deep End. (Thanks for the suggestion, Cassie!)