So many memories have been created in this kitchen.
As I snapped each shot I was filled with thoughts of days past.
The many meals, the many people, the messes, the laughter, the tears.
The babies bathed in the sink, the Holiday meals from the oven, the many projects created here and the endless loads of clean laundry folded on the counter.
The little ones who readily push up a chair and watch what’s happening or sit on the counter to help stir or help.
The family and friends who filled their plate when the counter performed as a buffet table.
~*~
ha… I just remembered when a 2-liter soda bottle fell from the counter and landed upright on the floor. The cap blew and a fountain of sticky shot so high and with such force it lifted the panels of the ceiling lights and a group of senior high youth group kids stood aghast in a kitchen dripping with Mountain Dew.
(one of those kids became our son-in-law)
The babies bathed in the sink, the Holiday meals from the oven, the many projects created here and the endless loads of clean laundry folded on the counter.
The little ones who readily push up a chair and watch what’s happening or sit on the counter to help stir or help.
The family and friends who filled their plate when the counter performed as a buffet table.
~*~
ha… I just remembered when a 2-liter soda bottle fell from the counter and landed upright on the floor. The cap blew and a fountain of sticky shot so high and with such force it lifted the panels of the ceiling lights and a group of senior high youth group kids stood aghast in a kitchen dripping with Mountain Dew.
(one of those kids became our son-in-law)
♥
I have enjoyed many beautiful seasons standing at the kitchen sink. It is a perfect place to watch visiting hummingbirds in the summer!
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| View of the family room from the kitchen |
Knowing my love for all things white and bright, my sweet niece, Toni, volunteered to help me paint my kitchen cabinets. It was way back when she was in college (2006) and, bless her heart, I don’t think she had a clue just what she was getting herself into.
My oak cabinets (see photo below) were emptied, doors and hardware removed and shelves propped on every usable surface.
We sanded our hearts out, we primmed, we flipped the shelves over and primmed again. We contorted our bodies and climbed inside of cabinets to reach nooks and crannies with brush load after brush load of paint. These babies took four coats of top coat and even then I kept seeing places that looked like they could use a little more.
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| John installed a hardwood floor throughout the first floor shortly after the cabinets were painted |
Waiting days for the interior to fully cure before I replaced the contents of my kitchen meant a most unorganized home.
Then, it was finally finished and how pleased I was with a bright new look!
A gorgeous marble countertop would make me very happy, but for now the dated, builders special faux butchers block is working just fine.
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| After filling in the holes from the old handles, I purchased these used porcelain knobs. Instead of replacing the hinges, I spray painted them. |
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| Views I see every day. |
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| This white platter not only hides ripening bananas but usually has several recipes resting in front of it that I am planning to make. |
Just found your lovely blog~ OH my ~ how delightful and inviting is your kitchen! Thanks for your sharing your hard work in pics & dialogue then the finished kitchen! I wanted to ask where you purchased the lace trim you have on the edges of your cabinets?? Lovely to display your dishes with this beautiful touch! Your whole kitchen is full of those lovely touches! Thanks for sharing with us!
Thanks so much for sharing this link with me! I loved reading your thoughts about your kitchen as the heart of the home, and also seeing the process of repainting and redecorating. What an inspiration! Your kitchen is simply gorgeous…and I'll bet it is still the heart of your home!
Your kitchen turned out beautiful!!!
Dee
Your kitchen is so incredibly beautiful!!! It's so full of light that I would love being in there all day!
It's decorated so pretty, and I love how you have everything so organized!
We live in a tiny apartment, our kitchen is cramped and hard to move in, and our pantry and cabinets are bursting to the seams.
We also get very little sunlight coming in because of all the shade trees. Don't get me wrong, I love the shade trees because it makes sitting on the balcony a joy during the summer, but your kitchen is like my dream kitchen. I'm happy you have such a wonderful place to gather with your family! 🙂
I love your perfectly organized cabinets. Your home is lovely. What a beautiful transformation. Thanks for linking to We're Organized Wednesday.
OMGoodness, how I love your kitchen! It is so pretty, crisp, clean and sunny looking! I am going to search and see if you did a whole post about your PANTRY!!!!!!!!! It is amazing. I would hire you to come do mine:):) XO, Pinky
So bright and crisp. You did an amazing job transforming it. I can't belive how organized you are. Amazing!
– The Tablescaper
I LOVE your light, bright kitchen! That's my favorite kind as well. I'm inspired by your VERY organized pantry, where DID you get all those containers with the PINK lids? *sigh* I also enjoyed your memories, especially the soda pop memory! I can just picture it!
Raider is adorable! He made me smile, as I'm listening to my hubby cheering and doing touch down dances with the dog all afternoon (he's an Eagles fan and it was a good game today!)
Have a lovely week!
What a pretty kitchen. I am thinking of painting my light oak cabinets an off-white/cream color.
I am so glad you shared this, it gives me courage and inspiration.
I just have to built up the nerve and find the time.
I love your pretty, white kitchen. You and hubby did a fabulous job..
I, too, have a vintage kitchen that holds many memories. We've lived here over 30 years..raised kids here and shared memories with all our 10 grands in this red and white kitchen. I can even stay up with you on the dropped bottle of pop…oh, my…that was over 20 yrs ago and I wonder sometimes if a "sticky" spot somewhere might just be from that soda. lol
Come by when you can and see what I did to our olden kitchen..
xo bj
xo bj
I too went from oak to white. The work was intense and seemed to go on forever as did the mess all around me. I know the joy of waking and walking into a WHITE kitchen.. Yours is so bright and pretty .. Enjoy every momment~!
wow, what beautiful kitchen, i just cannot describe i words how much i loved viewing the pictures, the kitchen has been done in beautiful way with cabinets and shelves in the right places for storage as well as beauty
I love love love your kitchen. It looks so inviting and serene to me. Every view from it is just wonderful! Beautiful paint job! 🙂 Nancy
What a splendid job. Love your kitchen. Very pretty. Thanks for sharing!
Great job! Very well done. love it!
Debbie
wow, what a transformation! looks great.
http://www.thecapeonthecorner.blogspot.com
L-O-V-E your white kitchen, especially the gingerbread trim. My mom and I really wanted white cabinets when our family built our home, yet for some reason the cabinet people did not want to do white. We went with a honey color instead, but we still dream of the white. If it wasn't the hard job you described, we'd paint them. But we are lazy and painted the walls to go with the cabinets instead.
Looks like your kitchen is one that you'll enjoy for a long time!
Oh, it looks so good…so bright and fresh and cheerful!!! Great job!
All of your hard work was worth it, lovely kitchen.
Michele
What gorgeous photos. You have a beautiful home. I love the story of the Mountain Dew!
My goodness you have a beautiful kitchen! So many wonderful memories happen there in the heart of the home.
I so long for counters and cupboards. When we moved into our 110 year old house it was minus counters and cabinets, it only had a big old sink with a metal cabinet. I use free standing cabinets for my pantry and my dishes and just use a table for all the food prep. I so long for the day I will have space and room to spread out. Hopefully someday soon.
Coming over from 'Heart of the Home!' The space is beautiful and I love the mix of pine wood with the white…so crisp and still unexpected! Just lovely! My favorite is the pictures from your window of the different seasons! Christie at Three PIxie Lane
You have created a very, very beautiful kitchen, a warm and cozy place and I can imagine all the memories kitchens have.
cariños
This is so bright and beautiful! How organized you are!
Your kitchen is stunning and I can picture you in there making all those delicious meals and bakes that you show us on your blog. How about sharing a picture of you in your kitchen?
What a beautiful kitchen!! It's so charming….Kathy
I felt right at home in your kitchen! It's so bright and cheery and such a cozy, comfortable place to spend time. I identified with your story of painting your cabinets – I did the same. It's worth it, for sure. Thank you for sharing your beautiful home with us.
~Adrienne~
Very pretty. The white really did make a difference, so light and airy.
Valerie
I love all of the white in your kitchen. Everything looks so cleean and sparkly. It's very pretty. I also love your flooring. Absolutely beautiful!!
What a beautiful home and lovely memories. Being an organized person myself, I can just imagine the price you paid while living through the cabinet paint job and and then waiting for them to dry so you could get back to normal. But they turned out beautifully and I'm sure you're glad you did it. Come by my place when you get a chance and look at my fireplace makeover.
Sherry @ A Happy Valentine
What a treat to see your kitchen and imagine all that wonderful food you share being prepared with loving hands. I love how pretty you make organization look…any chance you could stop by my house as you know I'm trying to declutter and it looks like your just the person to keep my motivated! LOVE you kitchen, Patty
Your kitchen is so light filled, and so airy and fresh! I know how hard painting the cabinets is, we did that to our kitchen a few years ago too. I love all your special touches… the lace edges on the shelves, the gingerbread trim in the doorway, the milkglass lamp adding a soft glow… LOVE it!
OH MY GOODNESS! I LOVE your kitchen…so bright and how I love white. I need more white! Simply beautiful…charming… I want my cabinets white so badly…I will just have to come and visit yours!
This is the most beautiful kitchen I have ever seen… Its so so gorgeous!! Awesome!!
Visiting from Between Naps.
Those are beautiful pictures! You are a gifted photographer. Love what you did to the kitchen.
This is a fabulous post! Your kitchen is so beautiful. I love all the white ~ what a wonderful idea to paint the cabinets. Thanks for sharing a bit about the process. That was fun to see. Thanks for sharing the memories too! How special they are.
P.S. Will you come organize my cupboards please!? : )
So gorgeous kitchen!!!! Looks so lovely in white!
Hugs
Charo
First of all, I can't believe you are a grandmother. You look so very young.
Secondly, your kitchen is gorgeous. I love your white. The cabinets are great. I have oak and would love to paint them. I think my husband would die if I even brought it up.
Nice to meet you.
Your kitchen is fabulous! So very bright and cheerful. Love the details and your white curtains are wonderful. I see you ate very organized! Kudos to you. Linda
Oh my goodness! What an amazing kitchen you have! You are so very blessed ♥ Thanks for inviting us all into your home 😉
Thank you also for the visit and lovely comments, it's a pleasure to meet you.
I wish for you a lovely day.
Blessings, Amanda.
Hi LDH!
This is my first time to your blog and love love your kitchen!! I am very very partial to cottage kitchens and yours is beautiful! 😀 I live in a little cottage and have cabinets that are very old….they were painted white when we moved in, but I would love to give them a fresh coat, but I envision the process being a nightmare! Your end result makes me want to go ahead and plunge in! 🙂
Hugs, Carolyn ~ Cottage Sunshine
Oh-What a GREAT post. I love it when there is a story behind what we see. You did a great job painting those cabinets. Remember when everyone would DIE to have oak cabinets (me too). I was torn between white for this house and hickory. We went with the hickory because MyHero really likes wood…What man doesn't? And, because so much of the house went "my way"…we got the hickory. I don't dislike it and it is rich and lovely…but part of me still yearns for a crisp white kitchen.
Your kitchen is so bright and pleasant looking. Who would ever think disaster of any sort lurked right around the corner? I can only imagine the jaw-dropping intake of breath when that pop bottle exploded! And..the shock and laughter that surely followed.
You ARE organized. I like organized…I strive to be organized and I usually am…but I do have those deep, secret places that are a mess. I am going to do a post on my "paint holding" room one of these days….if I dare.
Thanks for a beautiful post! By the way…I love the old Hooiser cabinet too! Perfect~ xxoo Diana
Hi,
I love your kitchen, especially the fact that it contains so many memories! Your wood floors are gorgeous, and your cabinets turned out just right.
Check out my book giveaways.
What a charming room. Thank you for sharing your memories. Very special. I hope you'll drop by Atticmag and see our kitchens – it's a three for one!
Allison
Atticmag
What a pretty transformation. Looks so cozy and cottage like. You must be so happy with the end result.
Amazing transformation of your kitchen cabinets! ! !I, truly, enjoyed your visions of the seasons of change. The story of the youth, now son~in~law, is what the Heart of the Home is all about!
Thank you for sharing your heart and your home with all of us in blogland.
Fondly,
Pat
Your kitchen really does look like it is the heart of your family home. It is obviously filled with love, memories and many beautiful things-I love it!
I am so happy Sheila is hosting this party. I am having so much fun!
Best wishes,
Natasha.
Your kitchen is absolutely gorgeous and your organizing system is awesome. All the wonderful memories you have in that kitchen too.
What a beautiful kitchen you have created along with some beautiful memories! I started to paint my cabinets white over a year ago! I got one section done and ran out of steam! They are soooo time consuming, but I hope to get back to it soon! Your photos are the perfect inspiration! I thoroughly enjoyed my tour!
Blessings!
Beautiful makeover, and everything is so organized! You have a wonderful view looking from the kitchen to your family room, that is also a very beatiful room. Thanks for sharing.
Sandy
So sunny and bright! Love it!
Your crisps white cabinets were worth the labor. They are splendid. We watch and listen to hummers also. olive
All your work and painting paid off, what a romantic looking kitchen of white and lace.
I had to smile when I saw the photos of what your place looked like while painting with contents all over – I should have photographed my dining room table and area – looks the same right now. 🙂
I like the view from your kitchen window, how nice to see the changing seasons from it.
Judith
I love your kitchen Lorraine. You and I both seem attracted to windows and watching the birds and the seasons change! The white is so refreshing and I love your window treatments. What a treat it has been visiting with you. Wish I could sit at your kitchen table and share a cup of coffee!
Your kitchen is so bright and charming. It's so nice that you have all of those memories there. I really enjoyed touring your space and sharing your memories. Blessings, Kim
Over the moon GORGEOUS!, WARM!, INVITING! Wow! you all outdid yourself on this beauty. I love every single part. And, your decor is just wonderful …
Have a beautiful eve ~
TTFN ~ Hugs, Marydon
My goodness your kitchen/home is lovely!! Wow –I love how your told us about your memories too -What a wonderful home -you are very blessed
What a pretty kitchen! I liked your introduction. The kitchen is more than a room in the house. That soda story … I have one of those stories from when my son was a 9th grader. It involved a 2 liter bottle, aluminum foil and a bathroom cleaner. The end result was little gray spots all over the ceiling. (My husband supervised the re-painting!) Your pantry is so organized!