badass bungalow
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The cabinets were original from the 1950's, so I thought they could be reworked, keeping the vintage Florida feel. The portable dishwasher had to go though. I wanted to get a taller frig, so I reworked the cabinet over it by changing it to a shelf unit by moving the bottom up, and taking off the doors.The weird thing is that the old countertops shown here, were the color I used for the new countertops, so it wasn't so obvious I replaced them. The new tops are Formica Bomerang pattern with a metal edge. I loved the valance detail over the window, but the plywood over the window didn't work for me.New countertops installed, tile backsplash going up, prepping cabinets for painting and added new window.I love the retro look we got by curving the metal edge around the countertop end. I found it online from http://www.barsandbooths.com/bandbretailstores.htm.Boy, it's amazing what white paint can do! I added the same shelf detail to the cabinet at the other end of the kitchen to balance the one over the frig.I had the hinges and handles replaced with polished nickel vintage design ones from http://www.rejuvenation.com.Once the wood valance was painted, it started to look really cute. Getting rid of the plywood over the window didn't hurt either.I had the vinyl tile ripped up, the floor sanded and stained turquoise to pick up the color of the walls and countertops,and one coat of polyurethane added for protection before I started painting.Then I started to add the painted diamonds. To work out the size of the squares, so that they would fit perfectly across the floor, I used my highschool math: A squared + B squared = C squared!!!... and I added some more squares.......And some more squares.......Filled in the rest of the squares and had the floor guys put two more coats of polyurethane on top for protection.I spurged on the Bosh stove, 'cuz I couldn't resist the combination of white and stainless steel that matched the cabinets.I had a vintage Florida souvenir table cloth that I made into the window valence.I found the clock at Home Goods, and just had to snap it up since it was turquoise!FINISHED!! The plates on the walls are more of my Florida souvenir finds. Now the kitchen looks clean and bright and cheerful. I love the retro look phone, reminds me of my childhood, another online find. The ceiling lights were ebay scores, but I used new wired bases from Rejuvenation Hardware.I love me a salt and pepper shaker collection! It's a fun way to dress up a kitchern window sill.
The further I ventured into this house the first time I saw it, the lovlier it got. It was wonderful to know that the seller wasn't worried about cleaning up for me when I came back to snap some pictures. He must have known that I like extreme before and after shots.