Before + After Photos of My MAJOR Kitchen Makeover

I offer my apologies in advance for the length of this article. The after picture appears calm and serene which belies the onslaught of pain Brian, Benessa, Brooke, Eric, Kameron, Darius, Bobby, Bridgette, Hunter, Keith and I endured because of this kitchen.

I'll try to limit my word count and include only the most brutal details, but if you're okay with denying me the therapeutic benefits from writing down my innermost thoughts surrounding my kitchen renovation then click here.

While I'm thankful our most gracious God provided my family with a roof over our heads, I would be lying if I didn't admit that I suffered in silence while dwelling in this monstrosity.

The 'decor' was busted, minor repairs bore varied but visible equivalents of duct tape (ie. screw holding up a drawer, 2" gaps between counter and stove). Eventually, the house became the punch line of a joke I never wanted told.

Each room had different issues and they were all an assault on my senses but the kitchen was just the worst. The cabinets were dated and virtually unusable in both visibility and functionality. The trim labored under 14 coats of paint, wooden paneling adorned the lower half of the wall and the windows were painted shut.

I began documenting our remodel progress shortly after we began moving stuff out of the contractors way so while the house looked like a slum, we didn't actually have to step over plastic plates, Crock Pots and giant drums of Old Time Lemonade.

Behold the beast:

No, you're not seeing double. We have two microwaves because the one above the stove was broken.

DAT GAP DOE...

Here's the view from my dining room looking into the kitchen:

(The Health Department needed to shut that carpet down.)

If Petey didn't look so majestic in the last picture, these images would have already been burned. At this point, I know you want to look away but stay with me. It's worth it.

Two years ago, I managed to talk my sweet, precious, handsome, kind, benevolent, patient, and forgiving husband into splurging for new cabinet facings. Then our 28-year old roof decided to prove that when the manufacturer promised the life span of a shingle was 25-years, they actually meant it. Leaks began appearing.

Inspired by the roof, our 30-year old air conditioner had grown bored with simply running up the monthly power bill and stopped working altogether. A larger capacity unit would be installed which also translated to new duct work throughout the house.

One week later, the drains clogged their final time and after I delivered the bad news that the main line would have to be replaced, Perry sighed in defeat and said, 'Do what you must.' I haven't looked back YET.

Out came the cabinets:

Down came the walls:

Up came the carpet/petri dish and YES, Scott Shepherd got caught up in my crazy, too.

After Kameron completed the demolition phase and the floor was prepped, Hunter Skelton came in to lay the tile:

This is where builders Brian and Benessa came on the scene. Amazing what a gallon of paint can do, isn't it?

Too bad I could see a bunch of riff-raff happening behind the sheet rock. No matter how hard I tried to pretend I could live with bowed walls, I knew I'd never be happy. The walls would have to come down, soooooo down they came. Again.

I was so serious.

I'd started to suspect it the week before but after the ceiling began to bow and structural issues were discovered in the attic, the kitchen was confirmed as a portal to Hell.

The ceiling would have to come down as well but when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. After repairs were made, we installed tongue and groove pine flooring on the ceiling because WHY NOT? (Great idea btw, Brian.)

After we finished painting the walls the second time, we waited on the cabinets.

And waited on the cabinets.

And waited on the cabinets.

And waited on the cabinets.

Several months after their original scheduled delivery date, the cabinets were installed according to the initial layout that had been modified. They were also painted the wrong color. Overall, the cabinets looked fine but they weren't what I wanted.

I allowed myself to be depressed for about a week before I accepted that I hated them.

I called a 'family meeting' in the front yard with Brian and everyone working on-site the following Monday. After weighing our few options, we decided to yank the cabinets down, re-paint them, repair the walls and trim (..AGAIN) then reinstall them correctly.

Two weeks later, Benessa strapped on her tool belt and went crazy with her drill building some sweet, heavy-duty shelves that served functionality rather than a decorative purpose. Now, instead of my grandmother's china gathering dust hidden away in a china cabinet, I get to think about her every day when I see her dishes stacked neatly on the shelves.

Cameron Tidmore dropped in on the scene and SHOWED OUT performing his brand of sorcery on the slab of marble I'd chosen for my counter tops and VOILA! Kitchen Makeover complete!

This view...

...is now this view:

And this view...

now looks like this:

But wait! There's more! Remember the quality installation job on the oven with the mini-canyons on each side?

Now, it looks like this!

Don't you love it?!!! I still have to pinch myself!!

As painful as completing this room was (and there was literal pain....this thing works by the way),

Every single crick and muscle spasm was worth it!

Check out the gallery below for tons more before and after pictures.