These pictures were taken in December of 2004, about four months before we closed on the house. Since it was a foreclosure – and a complex one at that – it took MONTHS to close the deal. It was a nightmare! We had an accepted purchase offer in November and we didn’t close until the middle of April. In other terms, I was about 4 months pregnant with my first child when we started the process of buying the house and I had a one-month old little boy when we officially moved in.
All black appliances, baby!
Look at that HIGH gloss finish on the forest green cabinetry!
And the sweet wallpapered border traipsing along the ceiling? You bet!
All in all, not my favorite kitchen. But right off the bat, we tore the wallpaper down (could have been worse), ditched all the appliances and painted a lovely tan throughout. Our new white appliances brightened the place up a bit, but we’ve lived with the cabinets and countertops AND the black sink for a long time now. And we survived!
But as we’re readying the house to sell, we realized that now is the time to change what we’ve always disliked about the kitchen. We didn’t want a perspective buyer to walk into our house and think they had a ton of work to do. So we did the “ton of work” this weekend.
Here are pictures of the kitchen as we were beginning work last Friday:
The crusty dishes contribute to the ick factor, but what I was really highlighting here was my sink. My black sink. BTW, the crockpot was dirty from making Post Partum Pot Pizza from the Prairie Princess. I highly recommend this recipe.
And now for the afterglow:
Love, love, love that double basin sink after not having one the last 5 years.
There’s Ruby! Say hi, Ruby!
There you have it! It looks better, it feels better, it is better. Much better.
We simply could not have done it without my dad and his expertise. My mom helped out so much, too! My sister and brother came also to pitch in and their help was greatly appreciated, as well. Team effort for sure.
Now, I’m putting the house back together after the monster work weekend and our realtor is coming tomorrow night to fill out paperwork for the listing. By the end of the week, it’ll be online and ready to rock.
I have been checking your blog by the hour, hoping to see pictures of last weekends endeavor. What a difference, it looks so nice, maybe you will hate to leave it?
I sure hope the sale is quick, that things workas you wish, the biggest pain in the neck would be trying to keep it in apple pie order for showing. Realtors do have to allow you some time, don’t they?
The house next to us has been looked at a couple of times in the past week or two. It’s cheap, and that is what worries us.
It looks fantastic! I’ve been so anxious to see it with the doors and hardware on!
Yowza! Looks great! That’s a lot of hard work – congrats!
Whoa!!!!!! It looks spiffy fine!!!! Love the transformation! Way to go…and in a weekend? I’m jealous!
Looks so nice!!! I admire your hard work and determination:) Praying for a successful and timely sell of your home….how exciting:)
It looks awesome!! Man, all you people getting your houses ready to sell is really giving me a movin’ itch. Hope everything goes well with it!
And yuck on the waiting. Ours wasn’t forclosed, but a short sale and took 4 months to close as well. What a mess! But sure makes for a good deal!
That looks awesome! Can you tell me how you got the cabinets ready to paint? Our daughter just bought a condo, and we’re going to paint her cabinets.