Kitchen remodel

Good morning  

This is a post I have been waiting to write for a long time.  As you may know I live in a rental unit in San Francisco.  It is a lovely old building.  And I have been making small, slow improvements since I moved in.  Not huge renovations....just lighting, painting, panelling.  These things make a big difference, as you will see below. 

 What I am currently focused on is the kitchen.  After a small facelift I still am bothered by the countertops.  I understand that these were quite popular back in the 70's :) I decided to speak with my landlord to see if I could replace them.  I found beautiful oak butcher block at Ikea. (These have since been discontinued.....such a disappointment)  They said that they would have to think about it.  

Here is what I started with and the improvements I have made thus far.  (sorry for the poor quality of the below photo.  It was the only one I could find).

The cabinets and underneath the countertops were another thing that drove me nuts.  I realized that painting wood like this was not going to yield a kitchen worthy of Country Living.  But anything, I figured, was better than this.  

I also played around with color on the walls.    

For the purposes of this post I will show you the before, and the in progress photos.  

I wish I had a pic of the old lighting.  

Below is what it looks like today.  I added mercury pendants and baskets above the cabinets for storage.  I painted the cabinets, walls, and changed the hinges.  

The addition of the wainscoting, in my opinion, made a huge difference.  

Now back to the countertops.  A few months ago I went on a short business trip.  I returned to an apt resembling a hot sauna.  The tap, faucet, (not sure what the correct name is) which brings the hot water into the washing machine had broken.  I drove up to find all of the windows steamed up.  As I entered I heard the distinct hissing sound of spewing water.  It was so hot that I could barely touch it as I tried to turn it off. I don't know how long this had been going on.  Somehow, though, the water stayed in the kitchen and drained to the garage below me.  I am grateful every day that it did not ruin the hardwood floors, and everything in the apt.  

I call these photos the in process ones because there is a favorable outcome.  It turns out that the water created mold at the base of the cabinets.  Therefore the insurance company will pay to have new ones installed.  And fortunately for me, that means new countertops as well!!!  

I am grateful to have such considerate landlords.  Though I obviously need to stay within the budget, they have consulted me on what I want, and are making genuine efforts to create a kitchen that I will be happy with.  

The remodel begins on Friday.  I will update you as soon as it is complete. 

Thanks for visiting

Michele