Changing my kitchen (Part 1)

Happy New Year!

I sincerely hope that all of you had a blessed Christmas and that you were able to spend some wonderful time with those you love. 

This is my first blog post of the new year. I'm going to apologize in advance...this post is very picture heavy!

I'm starting the new year off with a new to me kitchen. 

Do you see this? I'm doing a happy dance. 

You see our kitchen is wonderful! 

I've always loved it. It's big and designed for cooking and entertaining. It's simply wonderful. 

BUT..............

it's always been dark. 

 I know it doesn't seem that bad. I tried lighten it up by adding a very light backsplash...it was still dark.

 I also picked a lighter paint for the walls..and it still wasn't good enough.  (note the ugly florescent light above the sink)

 Look at all the stuff on the counters...I actually live in my kitchen :)

Our kitchen island..wonderful but very heavy in dark kitchen. Even with all the lights on, it still seemed dark. 

So what's a girl to do? 

Paint of course. 

But I didn't want to lose the wood...well not all of it. 

So hubby and I sat and talked and we came up with a plan.

We started with the island. 

 The island was scrubbed clean (I love TSP for this part) Then everything was given a light sanding.

 Taped everything off and first layer of chalk paint laid down.

 Already the kitchen was getting lighter.

 Everything seemed so much cleaner and more airy....And with the light on the island, I felt lighter myself..happier. Not sure that makes sense buts it's the only way I can describe it.

 I then glazed it with a brown that had no reds in it. I find that if I use a brown with red in it on an almost white paint it just looks like mud and I really wanted to avoid that.

 We were soooooooooo happy with the results we spent the next couple of day just staring at it

Then staring at the rest of the kitchen...

But I will break up this post into a couple sections. 

I had so many comments and messages on my facebook page I decided to do a tutorial...

I'll blog that next. 

Till then........ have a great new year and stay tuned. 

Ohhhh it's going to be an exciting year :) 

Sharing:
The Brambleberry Cottage
One project Closer 
The Shabby Nest 
French Country Cottage 
Redouxinteriors 
Chic on a Shoestring 
Nancherrow 
My Repurposed Life 
The Dedicated House
Coastal Charm 
Our Delightful Home