Someone Gets a Facelift

After living with it for Ten.Long.Years., the kitchen is finally getting a facelift!  We have already upgraded the furnace (twice!), the hot water tank (also twice!) the electrical,  the plumbing and the roof, so it was time.  Our kitchen is kind of quirky, and the cabinets were all made to order, 70 years ago!  Previously, the kitchen was a bedroom for the two times ago owners, who had 13 children that took up the whole upstairs and then some I imagine.  But when the Dr and his family moved in back in the 40's, he turned the then-kitchen (now our back room) into his treatment room, waiting room, and office and turned the downstairs bedroom into the kitchen.  I think his wife did some updating in the 70's when the Dr passed away but it was pretty much 1940's original when we moved in, in 2001.
Here are some befores

Although the  kitchen isn't a bad size really, most of the wall space is taken up by the FOUR doors - one into the backroom, one into the dining room, one to the downstairs half bath, and one outside entrance.  That doesn't leave much room!  Because of the strange measurements (my lower cabinets are only 20' deep!) we can't replace the cabinets but they are pretty sturdy and just need repainting so that's fine.  But we upgraded the countertop, sink, faucet, backsplash, paint, and stove, so it feels totally new to me!
Here are some 'durings'

Yes, that's the outside wall of our house!  (Our house is brick)  That kind of explains why the kitchen and especially the insides of the cabinets were so cold!  NO insulation!  And yes, the previous backsplash was subway tiles, but not in a good way.  They were sort of part of the cement backer board?  Anyway, it was all one piece and couldn't be saved even if I wanted too (I didn't).

After

I love it all!  The new double oven (Whirlpool Gold Series) is so much better than our old pos Kenmore.  It was a lemon that went bad a month after the warranty expired, and I should have kicked it to the curb long ago. We got the new one at Logel Appliance in Strykersville, and if you are local, you need to go there for all your appliances!  They have buildings full of gorgeous scratch and dents that you can hardly tell are damaged.  Ours wasn't (it was a factory closeout) and they have brand new appliances too.  I was eying up a really nice stainless steel, gas double oven range but nothing else is stainless in the kitchen (and we didn't want to upgrade anything else at this time) and we would have had to run a gas line to the kitchen.  But I'm extremely happy with the one we got.  I also really love the sink (it's extra deep) and the pull out faucet and soap dispenser. The hanging plates art I first saw on Oh She Glows and I loved it and got it at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Here's the close up of the tile

It's hard to tell, but the colors are ice blue (almost Tiffany), chocolate brown, and cream.  Yum!

I'll be back with photos of our back room makeover next!  Any renos in your future?