Welcome to my Farmhouse Kitchen - Before

Can't you just see this with a fresh coat of paint and new hardware?

It has been said that the kitchen is the heart of a home.  I believe it, especially if there are warm brownies waiting to be eaten.  Yummmm...  There is something about a farmhouse kitchen that I love and I fell in love with this kitchen before I ever set foot in it.  The listing photos included one picture of the kitchen with its large glass doors and I was sold!

Once I got past the peach and red color scheme (interesting, just not my favorite...) I noticed the open shelves at the top.  I'm sure they had doors at one point, but I love the idea of open display shelves.  I have some of my Grandmother's dishes I would love to display, milk glass anyone?

When we finally purchased the house, we had to decide which projects would happen first and which ones we could take our time with.  The kitchen sort of got put on the back burner...  Ahemm...  But, once you get the sledgehammer out, things just start coming down.  It turns out that the lovely red walls (not so much) are actually painted wallpaper applied over thin paneling.  With hopes that there might be drywall under the paneling we started tearing it out.  There was no drywall, but it was so nice to see the old layers of wallpaper.  I've found three different wallpapers in this kitchen (four if you count the layer on top of the paneling).  My favorite is the one pictured below.  

I love this wallpaper!

I think this kitchen was given a face lift sometime during the 50's with the wallpaper, but it could have been earlier.  

The ceiling had an exceptionally thick coat of popcorn sprayed on, so we decided to scrape it down and apply new texture.  This has to be easy, right?  I mean there must be 100 videos on YouTube showing how to do this.  The problem we ran into was that the ceiling was loose and sagging, so there was not going to be any scraping.    So, the tearing out had begun and was over before I knew it.  

West Wall

Somewhere along this adventure, we decided to remove the tile back splash.  Once again, we found a concrete monster!  There was at least two inches of concrete behind that tile.  I'm so thankful that my son is at an age where he enjoys destroying things.  We gave him a hammer and other tools and he went to work.  Talk about a mess, though!

The tile back splash was made to last.

Ummm, doesn't his mother know he should be wearing safety goggles?

Our plans include refinishing the wood floors, adding cabinets, new counter tops and a new back splash.  New drywall and paint and new lighting will be added.  We will be making one of the three doors that goes into the kitchen into a pantry door.  This door actually leads to the back porch, while the door on the left goes to the hallway.

Pick a door to reveal your prize!  

Today, I am thankful and grateful for kitchens and all the love they facilitate.  Some of my happiest memories are from the kitchens at both of my Grandparents' homes.  Whether sitting at the table while bread was baking in the oven or helping cook a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, there was always a sense of unconditional love, peacefulness and happiness.  So many lessons have been learned in the kitchen and some didn't even involve cooking!  The thing is that it doesn't even matter how updated the kitchen is or how new the appliances are, the kitchen is just where it all happens.  I want my new kitchen to be that place where my family and friends want to sit and talk and maybe even eat a bit.  Come on over, I'll let you know when I have brownies in the oven.  :-)

~Jen