Summer, 2007 BEFORE PICTURES

It all began with a meeting with my neighbor who is a fantastic interior designer. I wanted her opinion on a few things, and we got to talking about my kitchen. It's not a bad kitchen- the cabinets are sound, the oak floor is fantastic, and it is fairly large.

However, we really wanted to lighten up the north-facing room and see a little less oak. Plus, our refrigerator is pretty puny and about to die. We wanted a bigger space for a large french door model and a better ventilation system. Our present one is an OTR microwave that recirculates- does not even vent outside. Oh yeah, the microwave doesn't work anymore.

She mentioned giving the kitchen a "face-lift", meaning change out the countertops, add a few more cabinets here and there, a nice backsplash, etc. When I mentioned that I would need new cabinetry because I want off-white painted ones, she mentioned painting our existing cabinets as a very good option. We had a lot of thinking to do.