kitchen update

Some things have changed recently in my kitchen, so I thought I would do an update and show you the progress over the last 6 years that I have lived in my condo. 

When I bought it 6 years ago the kitchen looked like this

Before I moved in, I made the first set of changes and this is how it looked for about 4 years.

New paint color, darker cabinets, and tile on the floor

Then about 2 years ago I needed a change and did this

Painting the cabinets and adding handles made such a big difference! My kitchen feels so much brighter now, and 2 years later I still love it.

But...the lighter cabinets made these awful appliances look even worse.

The off-white color on the cabinets made them stand out and I was reminded every day that they were 20 years old and so ugly.

Only 3 of the burners on the stove worked, and I can't tell you how much I hate coil burners. Cleaning under them was one of my least favorite chores.

This microwave was a beast. For how huge the whole unit was, the inside was barely big enough to fit a dinner plate and it didn't have a turn table. It was so heavy that it took 2 people to carry it outside when I finally replaced it.

This year I used my tax refund to pay for a trip to Costa Rica and still had enough left over to buy new appliances. Definitely my favorite tax refund yet. It has been a few months since the kitchen looked like this, and looking at these older pictures I can say with total confidence that I do not miss those appliances one bit.

So much better!

I love my glass top stove and do not miss the coil burners one bit

And this microwave is such a huge improvement, both in looks and function. I love it!

(that's me in my shirt from Dublin)

Now for the keeping it real portion of this post ~ that 2 inch strip below the microwave was there for about 3 months. The old microwave used to cover it, and since I got the new one I had been meaning to paint it but just hadn't gotten around to it. Taking these pictures was just the motivation I needed though, because after I took them I finally got the paint out and just did it! No new picture, but it's finally done. And it took a whole 5 minutes :) 

One last before and after, because they're fun :)

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