New Home Tour #1 kitchen

It is so hard for me to give a tour of our new home when it is still not the way we are envisioning it.  I realize though that our vision may not happen and if it does, I can share the changes with you along the way.  

The day that we moved in, I started to paint the kitchen.  I had my Annie Sloans' French Linen ready to break open and paint.  I knew it would be easier to paint before unpacking all of my kitchen stuff.  It took about two weeks (with some interruptions and waiting for more paint & wax) to finish the kitchen.  I would paint a section and then unload a box or two.  I work well in steps :)

Here is day one.  

Can you see all the stuff in the background?  

I had stuff and boxes everywhere!

 Would you have unpacked everything first and then painted?

I know, I am a little crazy.

I used clear and dark wax on the cabinets.  I knew from my previous Kitchen Makeover (3 yrs ago in our old home) that I wanted to use Annie Sloans Chalk Paint and Fiddes and Sons wax.  It held up so well in our last home.  In fact, I only had to touch up where fingernails dug into the cabinet around the handles.  

Here is a good pic of the color and the hardware I used.

The hardware was from Lowe's.  I decided not to put any hardware on the cabinets, because my son counted all the cabinets and I had 34 cabinets to paint--not counting drawers.  I wasn't going to pay for all that hardware.  We'll see how things hold up.  It has been about a month, and so far no scratches or chips. 

 Finally here are the before and after pics.  

The "before pics" were taken during the inspection of our new home before purchasing the house.

This is the view as you enter the kitchen from the front of the house.

Sorry for the not-so-focused pics.  It is so hard to photograph this house. 

I bought some panel board and made panels for the doors with windows. 

 This is the view as you turn left when walking into the kitchen.

I found these paneled doors left in the garage.  They did not match in color, but you never would know it now.

 Finally, This is the view from the mudroom entrance.

I still need to finish painting those cabinets in the hallway.  I ran out of paint.  I also need to paint the wall next to the fridge.  I am debating about what I want to do with the back splash.  I think I like the white and will probably just keep it that way for now.

I will try and post a new room or area each week.

It has been very fun personalizing our home.

I know a lot of you out there really don't like a dark kitchen and may be cringing at the dullness.  I guess I just really love Linen.  I had white and was ready for a change.  I am really happy with the way it turned out.