the kitchen- during.

here are some "before" pictures of our kitchen:

these pictures are specifically edited in instagram to hide dust, dirt, and imperfections.
in other words, our kitchen isn't really that cute.

billy and i are trying to work on redoing the kitchen.  it desperately needs it.
we are still saving up for new floors... lowe's came out and measured and gave us a quote that made our knees buckle... so in the meantime we are trying to make improvements ourselves.

a few weekends ago mom and dad came up to help out with the little guy so billy and i could paint the cabinets.  it was a lot of hard work, and after we were finished, it didn't look all that much different form afar.  shucks.  but up close, huge improvements.

here is a picture of what a nervous breakdown looks like.  or, what my kitchen looked like while we were painting the cabinets and simultaneously installing a new dishwasher that we picked up on accident.

hear that noise?
it's me wheezing and scratching my hives.

in order to escape the madness, i took over the task of cleaning up our cabinet hardware.
our cabinets were installed in the 1950's. 
that gives them a lot of character. (nice way of saying they're strugglin'.)
the cabinet door hardware had about three layers of paint, rust, and i think skin deposits on them. yum!

billy gets major props for getting all of the hardware off!

i originally thought that everything was black, but then i got to scraping and discovered that it was originally metal.

must not think about the mess in the kitchen, must not think about the mess in the kitchen..

see all that stuff that looks like dirt? it's just lead based paint don't worry!

here is a before picture:

like my manicure?

and here is a picture after i got them cleaned up for painting:

 

it took a long time to do everything and my hands hurt.

but it was really fulfilling.  i don't think they make  homes nowadays with cupboard door handles that can last for as long as these have... over 60 years and counting.  they're american made, and really gorgeous once i got to know them.

there are lots of times when i curse our old house and the amount of work that it takes to do little things around here.  but it is always rewarding to see the beauty in our home after we peel back the layers of dirt and time.  

our kitchen is still a work in progress, but we did get the cupboards repainted and put back together!  here's a sneak peek:

stay tuned :)