The Bandaid

You've seen the really horrible "before" photos, so today I thought I'd show you the less horrible "before" photos.  When we couldn't re-do the bathroom immediately, I put a bandaid of sorts in place to tide us over until we could put in some more substantial work.  I did the same thing in the kitchen.  

We decided not to paint the walls or trim (the only room that we haven't painted yet) because we figured it would be a huge pain in the neck to do with the cabinets in there and if we were just going to make a huge mess anyway (and presumably nick our lovely paint job), we may as well wait until we have a more "finished" kitchen to paint the walls.  The creamy horribleness lives on, at least for the moment.  

In the absence of the big, refreshing change that only a new paint job can provide, I decided that we may as well embrace the "country" vibe and throw a lot of stuff into the kitchen to take emphasis off its unsavory elements.

We have all red plates and cooking stuff, but I thought it would be good to infuse some more relaxed colors in there too.  I made those curtains with my Inspector Gadget sewing machine, which made me feel incredibly domestic.  They're even lined, guys.  Pretty impressive, I know.  Those gross mini blinds on the top half of the window are there to remind you that we're not as classy as we look.  

Drew and I have an irrational attachment to the table, which we bought secondhand for the apartment we lived in while I was in law school.  It's too large for the space but there's nowhere else to put it.  Until we figure out what to do with it, this is it.  The table cloth is an oldie but a goodie and was purchased for its pattern, which cleverly hides crumbs and stains (an important feature of any good table covering, in my opinion).  

In the corner, we added a clock and a microwave stand from Drew's Nana.  Although the microwave stand was super useful for storing cookie trays and pot lids (which made me curse like a sailor every time I opened the cabinets near the stove because they were sliding all over the place), it was making the corner too crowded.  So, although I know you're super duper impressed by my fall tableau (this is an old picture, obviously), the microwave stand is currently in the pantry awaiting a new home.  The cookie sheets and the pot lids are back in the cabinets by the stove, and I'm back to cursing whenever I open them.

Over by the sink, the open storage is in full force.  Sorry the photo is so dark - my cell phone doesn't do a great job and our camera is out of batteries - but you get the jist.  We keep our red plates, our red dutch oven, and a pretty wooden salad bowl in the open shelving above the sink.  Our glasses are in the glass-front cabinets (we hide our Red Sox cups and our ugly law school water bottles in closed storage near the stove) and we have some odds and ends in the tiny closed cabinet.  Assorted odds and ends (including our chicken! Hi friend!) inhabit the end shelf.  Dishes inhabit the sink, which is why you're getting a cabinets-only shot.  

So that's that.  The kitchen bandaid in full force.  Adding some more colors to the space has eased the effect of all the terrible things about the kitchen, but not has not worked quite enough magic to stop me from wanting to chip that freaking tile off the walls RIGHT NOW.