The Kitchen (Before & After)

I previously posted this on my other blog, but the after pics were coming up blurry. I fixed them and figured i'd re-post here--also in honor of Sarah over @ Thrifty Decor Chick...she's having a Before And After Party! Go check out some of the great ideas!

Oh boy..it's kinda weird to go back and see the "before" photos--hard to remember my kitchen looking like this! We bought our house in 1998, and i was all about the country look back then. While i still love some of the country decor, i definitely appreciate a more simplistic style now--i.e. a lot less cluttered! I loved all of my apple stuff, but boy did it overwhelm the place.

See what i mean?!


Look--there's stuff right up to the ceiling practically, since i also used the top of the cupboards for decorating space!

So the "after" has been done a little over a year now, and i'm much happier w/the look. These were taken right after we painted, so i've since added a little more decor, but not enough to take all new pics. The color is Behr Mulling Spice (satin). We moved our dining room table into the kitchen, and i'll tell ya--we eat there more than we ever did when it was in the dining room! The island was moved over to another corner, to serve as extra counter space.
Here's the island. We painted the base a different color--it's actually not the same as the wall, but a bit darker (hard to tell in the photo)
Ditched the bench and got this awesome cabinet at TJ Maxx. Marked down, of course! I only paid $40! (originally $80). Also got rid of the old-fashioned phone. How i loved that phone when we first got it! Just went w/something simple, as a backup for the cordless.

And just a closeup of an under-cabinet detail. Wine rack from Ikea.


Big improvement or what??!!

Thanks for looking :)