Southern Inspirations: My Budget Friendly Kitchen

This is a picture of my old 1930's kitchen in Nashville

When Hubby and I first purchased the house, we were not quite sure what we were going to do with it! We knew we wanted and had to do something, but realistically speaking, $$$ always seemed to get in the way. We thought about maybe knocking out the back wall (where you see the stove & fridge) to open it up, but the thought of getting our money back lingered in the back of our minds! Plus, we had high hopes and dreams of heading back to the Atlanta area. So knowing there was uncertainly, our short term goal was just to make the kitchen somewhat tolerable for us to want to go in there and cook our meals and feed our dogs.

My Notes To Self:

1. Remove cabinets doors (originally had wanted to remove all upper cabinets and install shelves). Painted the kitchen cabinets in Benjamin Moore Dove White (oil-based paint). Became way to yellow... drove me crazy (see More on Kitchen Stuff)! Told later by a Benjamin Moore employee that could happen with oil based paint in old house. Almost repainted cabinets when Hubby was out out of town. Glad I didn't...it's a lot of work! Wanted the back of the inside cabinets painted but never got a around to it.

2. Had real beadboard installed two thirds up the wall by my loving carpenter. He told me later how disgusting it was when he removed original baseboards...never forget!

3. Painted the beadboard in Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace (more of a pure white...). Latex, this time. Did not want to make same mistake as with cabinets.

4. Hubby & I almost got divorced after I commissioned him to remove seven layers of flooring from the kitchen floor. Top layer was peel & stick vinyl tile... looked like it was done by a kindergartener. Once flooring was removed, Hubby painted the pine sub floors in oil based paint Home Depot's Davenport Brown & Dove White in a checkerboard pattern. Complained durning the winter season how godawful cold it was without a real floor...always kept stove on!

5. Wall paint above the beadboard painted Restoration Hardware's nortourious Silver Sage Green. Was going to repaint but Lucilla told me it looked chic..So I left it...I was tired!

6. Lighting above the sink came from Lowe's. Had lighting just like that from another store once) but found three lights at Lowe's at unbeatable, almost give-away price!

7. Also, had my electrician add outlets so we could plug coffee maker in....very crucial. Also, added outlet above the stove for a microwave which I was clearly missing.

8. Subway tiles used on back splash came from my stash ( found tiles at Home Expo red light sale) $700.00 worth of tile for 76.00...another can't beat price! The first batch I used in my bathroom. Lugged the rest with me here to Atlanta... currently waiting for another project!

9. In late Spring 2007 realized we were heading back to Atlanta area. No more $$$ for poor old kitchen. No counter tops, formica would have to do! Sorry carrera, perhaps next time. Viking stove, one day we'll meet, you'll see!

10. August 2007, getting house ready to go on market but must install a proper kitchen floor. Goal not to spend a lot of $$$ so we can leave with a profit. VCT tiles... swear by them. Go to any home improvement store & you can special order them in variety of colors. Adds lots of interest...would be really cute for a play room.