This is the room I hate the most in my house. It’s not a terrible room, but it definitely was on the “things to change” list when we moved in.

Honestly, I guess hate is a strong word, but until this week there wasn’t much I loved about this room at all.

Before I show you the recent changes, let me give you a little history.

We decided a little over a year ago to down size our home.

So while I knew this kitchen was small, I had no idea how big the struggle would be to fit all my stuff in it.

The cabinets were originally stained and lime washed.

Which hasn’t fared well at all.

Overtime  they have aged, the finish is wearing off and  they have a weird peachy look.

Not a bad look, just not my style.

The granite counter tops – not my color or pattern either.

The back splash .

Let’s just say that not only isn’t it my style, it’s not my color or design.

And for some reason the previous owner loved fluorescent lighting.

It is EVERYWHERE!

It’s the under counter lighting and it’s also in the pantry, the closets, the game room and in the  laundry room…. everywhere.

( along with 4 or 5 pencil sharpeners that are attached to the walls. Yep, just like we had in grade school!)

Lots of  weird yellow lighting.

We’ve changed out a lot of those light fixtures, but not in the kitchen.

And the island..

She is  tiny and the wood has seen better days.

When we moved in, we immediately changed out the flooring ( which matched the back splash) and added all new appliances.

Then the holidays were here and we decided to wait on any projects until after the new year.

We all know what happened next – #covid.

All things came to a screeching halt while we worked outside on installing a pool, a kitchen and patio.

Fast forward and we’ve been in our new home for one year this month.

It’s fall, so we are back indoors more and the kitchen is getting on my last good nerve.

I found these runners and fell in love.

The blues match the colors in our breakfast room, which is really an extension of the kitchen.

And as an added bonus, they didn’t totally clash with the existing cabinets and backsplash.

These rugs led me to make a blue buffalo check valance for the window and paint the walls.

It was all great, but the kitchen was still a little blah.

My plan for the kitchen is to extend the cabinets to the ceiling and paint them white.

Add hardware.

Install a new black or white quartz countertop with a beautiful backsplash.

Add a wooden top on the island.

New undercounted lighting, as well as a small pendant light over the island.

Add a new sink and faucet.

However, all of that isn’t in our budget right now.

But, it occurred to me, I could do some small changes.

Like paint my island!

This is Sherwin Williams Salty Dog.

And I love it!

And so does my island!

Not only is the color pretty, it doesn’t clash with the floor color and makes that tiny island look fabulous.

I loved it so much that I did this….

I painted my pantry door blue!

I’ve always planned on replacing that door with another one that had a little more style.

Until then, this gives the room a much needed pop of color.

Of course, as always, it’s like the “Give A Mouse A Cookie” book.

Now that I painted the door, the white trim needs a good coat of paint.

And the island needs a little jewelry!

Some hardware is definitely in it’s future.

This is still the room I hate the most, but it’s slowly growing on me.

In a weird way, I can see the potential of the room again, just like I did when we bought the house.

So until I can jump in and give my kitchen a HUGE facelift, I’m going to do small projects that make the room just a little better.

I’m curious.

Do you have that one room in your house that you hate?

If so, which room is it?

Until next time….

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