{A few more pictures but no after}

So, I've been sharing with your pictures of how we have slowly changed the look of our house which has been such a fun, long and challenging experience.  I have also been working on a few projects in the kitchen too that I will share with you today. 

Here is the kitchen when we moved in.  I don't have a formal before picture but this gives you an idea.

Happy 1st Birthday Hayes...This was the ONLY before pic I could find!

The owners had the brightest colors in the whole house.  It was like a rainbow.  The kitchen was red and the living room was yellow and the dining room was bright teal! I lived with the red for about 6 months and just had it one day and decided to give it a more neutral palette.  I did what I always do when I paint and went to the garage and found something that would work and started painting away.  I'm pretty spontaneous like that.

Here was the kitchen a short year ago when I started my journey.  It too was dark (but not as dark as the red walls) which is surprising considering every surface in there is WHITE! I love the paint color I painted the walls.  It shows up pretty dark here but it's actually pretty neutral.

First thing I tackled in this room was I removed every single red, black, or dark accessory.  I took down all the curtains I had made when we moved to this house about 3 years ago. 

This is what it looks like today...
**please excuse the dark pics.  Of course I took them on the cloudiest day we've had!

I purchased a Dash & Albert rug in a blue/light brown trellis pattern for the floor (which I despise...the floor not the rug, that I love). I also hung some white plates above my window.  The white curtains you see in the back window are full panels from P's nursery that I draped over the rod so that I could live with them for a while to see if that's what I wanted for that window. 

 The doors removed from these cabinets is new to me.  I am not sure yet if I like the look, but again wanted to live with it for a while to see.  It needs to be thinned out and reorganized, but I have always loved the look of open shelves/cabinets in the kitchen.

You can also see over the sink where I have literally thumb tacked up some fabric for the curtains.  Don't worry, these will not stay this way, but again I wanted to see what It would look like. 

 This old piece was refinished by my talented mom and is one of my favorite pieces.  The mirror goes with P's bedroom furniture, but wasn't being used so I carried it down and set it on the dresser.  The lamp is a favorite and was from Home Goods.  That glorious place!

So you can see with those simple things, I have completely changed the look of my kitchen for under $130.  Of course I have lots left to do, but it's a start in the right direction.  You don't have to wait until you can completely change the entire room to make a difference.  Just remove the things you don't like anymore and add more of the things you do like.  (almost) Nothing is permanent.  Just step out there and do it!

I'll share tomorrow about the sweet, lantern light that you got a sneak peek of that only cost me $8!  Seriously!! It's one of my favorite parts of the kitchen!