Posting a photo of my old kitchen the other day got me to thinking about it. When we moved in we just knew it had to go. The cabs were ugly and thin and had been painted and “distressed” emphasis on stressed. But, I was sure of one thing. I would rather buy a house with an old ugly kitchen than pay for a new kitchen that wasn’t my taste. I hope that you are not wondering if this is a before photo. I cannot find them anywhere so these are all afters.

The floor was cheap linolium. The sink was plain and lighting and faucet horrid. But, it had good bones. It was spacious, had a window, a butler’s-not-quite-pantry area and lots of neutral counter top. It was livable and I had big big plans.

Knowing that we would only be redoing the kitchen if and when we came into some cash, I decided to paint the cabinets white. You know, just to hold us over until I got the new lighted, leaded glass door hand painted cabinets that I had my eye on. That $40 in white paint sure did change the entire look of the kitchen. It was fresh and almost like new.

Then, we decided that we weren’t gonna be able to afford real wood floors for awhile so we spent $700 and bought enough pretend wood, also known as laminate to do the kitchen, mud room, breakfast area and family room. We installed it and I even worked the saw. The floors suddenly transformed the room.


After our dishwasher went kuput, my husband bought me the Kitchen Aid stainless steel inside and out dishwasher. Then, I had a yard sale with the goal to make enough to buy the gooseneck faucet I wanted. That made my run of the neighborhood sink look amazing. A $2 chandelier at a yardsale was hung high replacing that awful globe light.


Then we decided to sell. My stove was horrid. I found a scratch and dent place and purchased a smooth top Kitchen Aid stainless stove for $500 so when we put the sign in the yard the kitchen would look up to date. I was so mad that I hadn’t done that 4 years earlier. I spent about $1650 total over time on this kitchen and we sold the house so fast.Take it from me, if there is something in your home that you will have to change before you sell it, do it now for yourself, don’t wait and do it for the new buyers.

Another reason I waited was because I was holding out for my brand new kitchen. I wish I would have made it mine immediately. I wish someone would have told me that it didn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.