Temporary Kitchen Before & After
We spent Labor Day Weekend (other than the block party) attempting to squeeze the over-sized fridge back into the kitchen. No longer would it be sitting in the front sunroom, announcing to the world what a poor diet of frozen foods and leftovers we subsist on.
To get the fridge to fit, we had to take the doors off, put it on a dolly, and roll it in there. It was a tight squeeze, coming and going.
This is a picture of the kitchen "before" when we first purchased the house. The picture doesn't really convey its griminess. I washed the kitchen floor many, many times when we first moved in because the first few times I was making mud. I wish I was being overdramatic. Unfortunately, I'm not.
The kitchen survived our initial move into the house, then received a quick and dirty temporary makeover before the baby was born.
And here is the kitchen now. Yes, it is still a temporary kitchen until we have saved up the money to renovate it, but it is a much nicer kitchen than it was for the first three years. And safer for a baby!
Yes, of course it would have been more efficient to have lived with the mess and have done the kitchen all at once when we had the money.
But, as I said to my friend Parker once, "Life is a process, not a product." And we are going to enjoy WAITING for our dream kitchen so much more with this temporary fix.
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Comments
It looks great & I'm sure it will a wonderful temporary kitchen. Now you'll have plenty of time to think about what you want to do later on! The floors look great!
Posted by: Trissa | September 7, 2006 7:32 PM
We did a quick clean up on our bedroom like that. Repaired the plaster walls and painted. We didn't remove trim and strip it etc...
It's really fine and it made a big difference to just have a clean and non-dingy place to retire to!
I think your kitchen looks quite nice as it stands. One could do far worse, as many of us know :)
Posted by: Jocelyn | September 7, 2006 10:34 PM
You guys did such a nice job with that. I love it! I'm inspired to convice Seb to do a temporary fix on ours. He however is of the "Nike" mind, you know, just do it! and get it finished. Period.
Ps I'm surprised how much cleaner it looks with the new floors. What a change. I'm thinking maybe new floors and painted cupboards might do the temporary trick chez nous.
Posted by: misschrisc | September 8, 2006 6:17 AM
Looks awesome! That floor is really nice.
Well done.
perogi.
Posted by: perogi | September 8, 2006 6:39 AM
Hey Guys,
That floor looks great! Beautiful colors and very baby-friendly ;)
That "temporary" kitchen can last you a very long time...enjoy!
Leah
Posted by: Leah | September 8, 2006 8:26 AM
What is the dimension of your kitchen. I like the style!
Posted by: Peter | September 8, 2006 12:32 PM
What a great improvement on the kitchen. I am all for quick fixes, as they definitely save money and also give you time to think about how you use the space and what you really want from it. (In addition to the financial aspects). We did quick fixes in our bathrooms and replaced faucets, countertops, etc. and it worked fine for two or three years.
Posted by: Allison | September 8, 2006 8:34 PM
Hmmm...your temporary kitchen looks a lot like the "permanent" kitchen we're sketching out. We'll take your old cabinets when you're done. Unless they're evil (are they evil? I'm looking at driving across the country for cabinets so maybe I need some discouragement).
Posted by: k | September 8, 2006 8:41 PM
Sorry, K :) We'll be keeping the built-in cabinets. We need to reconfigure the appliances. Currently, the stove is in a highly unsafe location (very tight corner where folks walk past) and cannot be vented to the outside easily when cooking. The dishwasher is WAY too small to be very useful (it's an apartment sized dishwasher). There isn't a good "work triangle". And there is no counter space next to the stove top. It's pretty awkward.
Posted by: jm | September 9, 2006 8:54 AM
The temporary kitchen is fabulous! So much more open and bright. :)
Posted by: Kristin | September 11, 2006 2:08 PM
Your kitchen looks very nice - I can see how the stove and dishwasher would be an issue, but otherwise I love it! Those built-ins are priceless. I also never noticed the arched doorway before. Very cool.
Posted by: mindy | September 13, 2006 8:07 AM