The Kitchen and It's Current State

I've shown you the horrible before pictures and the work in progres pictures, so here's the kitchen as it stands today. The last of the cabinets have been installed, finally! There's a few more things to be done, but it looks like an actual kitchen now. I love having a place for everything! So here is a before shot: And here's the after! Taking down the closets made the hugest difference, and raising the ceiling and adding can lights really opens up the space too! Oops, I still need to put the air vent cover on! I opted out of a dishwasher (I know, I know!) for more cabinet space and Eli was able to put in a gas line so we could use our gas stove. The original stove was on the left side of the kitchen, and we also moved the fridge to the spot that was previously a closet. The before view from the dining room: And the after! We gained a little more counterspace by getting a microwave/hood in one and while I love the look of a nice hood vent, this works for us. I don't like the gap that's between the last cabinet on the right and the fridge, and am hoping to come up with something creative to make it look a little more finished. A tall skinny wine rack maybe?

Rather than keeping the same set-up with the snack bar (don't know if that's the right name for it), I choose to have a large extended countertop with lots of drawers facing the dining room. The drawers are smaller/shorter...only 12 inches deep rather than the standard 24 which would have been too deep for the space. They are perfect for storing all of my baking things, linens and some tableware. And the extra big counter space is awesome for rolling out cookies! I have shelves to hang up to the left of where the last upper cabinet (above the cake stand). Just have to do it!

I have a thrifted frame that ended up being the perfect size for this little piece of wall and am planning to turn it into a chalk/magnet board.And here's extra storage we were able to create by hanging a few shelves. We keep a few small appliances and Hez's food, dishes and bottles here for easy access. And under the shelves is a perfect spot to tuck away a trash can.I couldn't put cabinets above the fridge because of the attic access door, so I keep two big baskets on top that usually hold things like paper towels and wine. If the attic access looks like it's falling, that's probably because it sort of is. It still needs to be nailed in, so it's just kind of sitting there right now.The biggest thing we have left is the backsplash. I'm not looking forward to spending the money on it, but am trying to keep an eye out at Home Depot for clearance tile. I picked up some little subway glass tiles for the bathroom for around $2.50 sq/ft and would love if I could find another deal like that, but it might take a while since the kitchen needs quite a bit of tile! I think eventually it might be cool to hang something in front of the little shelving nook, but as long as it stays uncluttered I'm not to worried about it. I also need to finish the teapot canvas painting, I started them when Hez was just a newborn and still have to do some final painting on it. At least it's hung up?

It took me forever to take pictures of the kitchen, mostly because with all the baby bottles and dishes we seem to go through, the kitchen never looks clean! Here's to hoping it can stay like this at least for a few days...