The McNutty McNultys: "It Looks Like a Fifties Diner"

That quote is from my sister Abbi. A 13 year old who really shouldn't even know what a fifties diner looks like. But those were the first words out of her mouth when she saw our kitchen.

I hesitate to post pictures, because our kitchen is far from done. But I am so proud of what I have done to it so far! A can of primer, a can of paint, some cabinet hardware, and a few hours of hard labor - and folks, we have a pink-free zone (for the most part). The pink laminate cabinets were awful, but certainly not enough to scare us away from buying our new home. Many things have had to be fixed and replaced, but we are finally starting to feel at home. Our pups especially love the new place to explore (and holes to dig in the backyard, thanks Carson and Finley for that little treasure). Here are the pictures of the cabinet make-over.

BEFORE:

If you can believe it, all of the walls and trim were pink before as well, as evidenced by chipping and cracking.
You need Pepto-Bismol to soothe your stomach after seeing all this Pepto-Bismol color!!
Even the table and light are PINK!

A view peeking into the dining room.

A view including our old (leaky) dishwasher.

Notice the carpet??
Apparently there was water damage after the refrigerator leaked.
And someone thought it would be really smart to lay down carpet, in a kitchen.
Kind of makes me want to gag thinking of all the nasty stuff in that carpet...

One of the old microwaves that was left - I can't wait to get a stainless steel one (and oven range, too).

The countertops are actually really pretty. The only problem? The pink in the cabinets brought out the pink in the countertops!

DURING:

I even painted the pink table (hey, it will work until we can get another one)!

We used Behr primer that is specifically for laminates.
I was worried about paint sticking to laminate cabinets, but it worked great.

"Light pink" after the primer.

Carson, enjoying the primer that turned the cabinets a lighter shade of pink (and his bison-flavored dinner)!
(No, we don't usually let our dogs on the counter, and yes, this was quickly cleaned...he just looked so sweet).

Our new dishwasher which works like a charm (hooray)!

All of this home improvement makes for very sleepy little dogs.

After the coat of paint (we used Behr again, and it is holding up wonderfully).

The end (of the cabinets) is in sight!

Taking a break for a playdate with Rylee.

AFTER:

Well, this is certainly not finished - we will be tiling, painting the kickboards, tearing down the wallpaper and painting all of the walls, eventually buying a new refrigerator/oven range/table and chairs/microwave...
But for now, I will breathe - our cabinets are no longer pink!!

I found cabinet hardware online (much cheaper than buying it from Home Depot).

A drill, a home-made template out of a cardboard box, and an hour later, our cabinets look new.

You can see the pink along the kickboard, which we will paint when we put down the new tile. Until then, it's a little reminder of the ugly cabinets we came home to :)

Ta-da!

Dann (who at one time said, "I don't care if the cabinets stay pink, I just want to work on my man-cave!") came home last night and was very impressed. "It looks like a real kitchen", he said. Much better than a fifties diner! Many many thanks to my mom who helped me choose colors and paint these bad boys - you're a saint!

As you can see, there is still a lot of work to be done, both in the kitchen and elsewhere in the house. Right now, I am on nights in the emergency room, so there is not much time to be stripping wallpaper. I do like the ER a lot - at least there are always funny stories. But due to basic decency/HIPAA/not wanting to be like the really un-intelligent girl at JCCC who posted a picture of a placenta on a nursing rotation.....I can't share the funny moments from the last two nights. Rest assured, the ER is keeping me entertained, but busy. Until I can started on other house projects, here are some pictures of us enjoying the new house.