The Kitchen

First things first.  I had to have a functional kitchen.  A CLEAN, and functional kitchen.  

As you can tell by the before pictures.  This was not a CLEAN or functional kitchen.  The past few years had not been friendly to this room.  The great thing about it though, was that it had great bones.  The cabinets were in fairly good condition, and after some wood glue, mineral spirits and elbow grease, they cleaned up great!  

The floors had to be completely changed.  There was a slimy film on the previous floor that stained and destroyed the 1970's vinyl floor.  I supposed, even if it wasn't damaged, it was time for a face lift.

I love pinterest and started getting ideas from there with what to do with the place.  I had just a few requirements:  I had to do it the entire kitchen renovation with just $300.  I know that most people spend WAY more than that, but I am a teacher.  So, I had to do this on a teacher-friendly budget.  Even with the very limited budget, I am quite pleased with the finished product.

 Notice the floors!  CLEAN, and functional.

 This is a great shot of the cabinets.  They are now all polished up, repaired, and filled with all my belongings.  I have added a few touches from IKEA as well.  Three buckets on the wall to hold knives, forks, and spoons.  Also, above the sink is all my spatulas, serving spoons and other serving gadgets.

 I only had a small kitchen table, but this oversized kitchen could have easily had a full-sized table with six chairs.

 I love our backsplash!  I looks like pressed tin, but it's not!  It is actually plastic!

A better picture of my utensil buckets and the knife magnets.