So last week we talked about the state of the kitchen when we moved in, as well as our paint gun plans. Here's where the furniture hoarding comes in...A couple years ago I came across this huge buffet in a local antique store that I thought was crazy unique and that I'd kick myself if this $40 find didn't come home with me.
Fast forward and while I still think it was a deal - $40 really?! - it's no where NEAR "unique." See what I stumbled upon was something similar to this:
how many of these ugly buffet/stereo cabinet/media console do you see in thrift stores/antique stores/craigs list, etc. fyi this is available on stl craigslist now for $70 (told you mine was cheap!)
So while not unique, it does have its benefits, it's super sturdy and holds a ton, and for these reasons I kept it even though we had no where to put it for literally years. When we moved into this house, I knew we needed more storage and preferably another work space given the cramped counter by the sink. The spot under our 5 foot window was the perfect location for the buffet!
While it my piece measured almost exactly 5 feet long, it was coming up pretty short at only 30 inches tall. In order to bring this piece up to par my father in law actually added a board to the base to create an almost skirted look to the front while adding 5 inches. I then contacted a local granite and marble company about acquiring a remnant piece of marble for the top.
While we have almost a tiger like granite pattern for the counter tops I wasn't looking to match it - in fact it would have been almost impossible given the large selection. Instead I wanted the piece to totally "fit in" with the rest of the kitchen and so we went all white.
unfortunately i couldn't find any before pics even though this guy lived in our
basement for a LONG time
We went with a piece of Danby marble and I added new sea glass knobs from anthro and some ring pulls. I'd post the source for those but I was seriously underwhelmed and will likely be replacing those soon.
here's the rug i smuggled from the texas ikea
I keep our knives and cutting boards in this so it's truly a work station as well as our paper plates and napkins so they're easily accessible by anyone who might need them. I also have our dish towels and a few important entertaining things - appetizer plates, cheese plates, etc.
On to the rest of the transformation! Here's these guys all painted up and our new microwave set up.
fuzzy iphone pic. artwork is still in transition as of last night.
I snagged these two little guys in the clearance section of anthro a while back. It'll be fun to switch out my aprons - yes I'm an old lady who wears aprons, even at our parties - you gotta protect your threads!
i'm confused as to why this one can look so much clearer. also, clearly we need to paint the kitchen chair rail to match the new cabinets - eek.
We took down the old massive micro and added in this new stainless vent in it's place. We'll still need to put in some sort of a back splash in the short term as this is already getting a bit gunky BUT it's a huge improvement, mostly because we can actually fit a spaghetti pot under there now.
speaking of spaghetti - that's what we had here!
And finally a new fridge! Eventually I'd love a side by side as it's kind of a pain having to stack big things down low, but this is a leap in the right direction!
and our counters are never this clean, I just pushed everything aside...
So that's it! For now... Phase 3 of the Kitch Sitch is at best a year out, at worst 3 years depending on whether we're looking at remodeling in the existing space or blowing the whole thing out into that big ol' yard!
xoxo,
KC
I love that huge fridge. I envy it. A lot.
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