And so it begins...

When I went off on mat leave, I had a "bucket list" of items I needed to address before heading back to work.  With 8 weeks left, and still some "biggies" on the list, I figured I better get crackin'.  And so begins the....Kitchen Mini-Reno. 

I'm calling it a "mini-reno" because this is the sort of reno I'm doing to live with a not-so-bad kitchen for the next number of years.  Truly, the kitchen isn't horrible...when we moved in, the walls were green, so the bleached birch cabinets took on a green tinge, and the ceramics on the floor sported a certain kermit-ness to them as well.  A big BLEGH...and a much-needed paint job (Ben Moore's Escarpment...awesome!), and now, finally, the rest is being addressed.  The bleached birch isn't bad- but they haven't been treated well.  The old spinsters who lived in this house prior to us decided it was a great idea to nail. things. directly. into. the. cabinets.  Who does that???  So a few dozen holes need to be filled.  In addition- the cabinets are really weathered along the bottom where they meet the ceramic tile.  Almost as though they bathed the floor every couple of days in 2 inches of water (which, might I add, would also NOT surprise me). 

So, we're painting them.  Probably ultra pure white, but I'll be certain after my visit to Uxbridge's Ben Moore outlet to buy the goods. 

We're also replacing the knobs- not sure with what, but they'll be black.  (Any ideas out there?  feel free to forward on some links!).  Lighting is going to go (except for our table pendant- I bought that beautiful gem from Crate & Barrell when we moved here!), under cabinet lighting is going to be installed, and new white subway tile backsplash (getting the existing 15yr old backsplash off is going to be a b*tch!!!). 

THE "BEFORE"

damn I need to figure out how to rotate pics in this program...

Pantry- this is the first area to tackle.  It'll hide itself if I royally screw this up...

So, here goes...I would have loved to have ripped out the tiles as well...definitely NOT my choice!  But Glen and I have drawn the line at that.  In 5-10 years, when there are no more hot wheels being driven all over our hardwood, we'll do the whole main floor.  For now, I can live with it!

Also wondering if this new kitchen reno comes with an organization fairy...I'm seriously lacking: