Kitchen Makeover

We got our kitchen remodeled from January to March of this year, and now it's pretty much all done. We're very happy with it! It was about 37 years old, in its original condition from the time the house was built. It was a real vintage 70's jewel, let me tell you. Now that it's been brought into the new century, it's a joy to be in the kitchen, where we spend so much of our time when we're home. Here are pictures of the wonderful transformation!

Here's the old fridge in an indescribable color: a beigish-yellowish ugly shade of something. And it looks so cluttered with all of the magnets and artwork! That of course was my fault. I think I wanted to try to hide or detract from the awful color. The nice new clean white fridge. We could have gone with trendy stainless steel, but I actually prefer the brightness of white and how it really perks a kitchen up.
The two old light fixtures. The one hanging down over the table was a real beauty. And we just loved bumping our heads on it all of the time.
I LOVE RECESSED LIGHTING! It lights the room up in such a beautiful, warm way. It's really amazing the difference lighting makes. This is the "before" picture of the kitchen with its original dark-wood cabinets and lovely yellow laminate countertop.
Here's a close-up of the counter, complete with burnt-in hole over on the left from a hot pot of spaghetti that Peter set down there last year.
Old set-up with the stove. We got this new stove last May when the old one died while Peter was making my Mother's Day dinner. It was in a shade that matched the old fridge. Needless to say, I was really happy when it stopped working (even though the timing was inconvenient) because it meant that we could get a new one!
Bye-bye, old cabinets and counters!
These are the new cabinets. They really lighten the kitchen up and make it seem bigger. The change was instantaneous and amazing. The countertop and sink were installed the next day.
We got a new microwave and had it installed over the stove so that there's more counter space.
The shiny new countertop.
New cabinets, counter, and sink...together at last!
The granite color is "pine green." Green is my favorite color, and I think this is a beautiful contrast with the lighter cabinets. Originally I wasn't sold on granite and wanted to go with a Corian countertop, but Peter wanted granite, and I'm glad now that we got it. I love the new oversized sink and faucet. They're from Italy.
For a couple of days all of our dishes, pots, pans, etc. sat in the dining room while the kitchen was getting done. John had fun making music in the classic pots-and-pans-as-drums kind of way.
Here's the "After" picture of our newly remodeled kitchen. It's so much better than what it was! I like being in there now; it actually feels peaceful and looks so much nicer and brighter. The next and final big remodeling project in our house will be the bathrooms, which we plan on getting done next year. In the meantime, we're loving the kitchen!