So we finally hit the breaking pit (or at least I did) about the kitchen. I just couldn’t take it anymore. So about a month ago I did something about it….while he was at work of course.

Sidenote: Why do I always think that just because I start a huge project before he gets home, he won’t notice the mess when he arrives? I must be delusional.

Now here’s a lesson on how not to remodel. Keep in mind this was done just to keep me sane. I think I mentioned the nasty previous flooring in another post. But here is a picture just in case you forgot how yucky it was down there. Keep in mind that was after scrubbing on my hands and knees with bleach and ajax powder.

As you can see. .Basically. I threw money at this just for visual sake.

So I got the Tarkett fiber floor that I stored in the basement. We actually brought it from Lowes the first week that we moved in. Don’t ask why, we didn’t install it then when our appliances we much smaller and easier to lift.

The first part went down easily even around the pipes for the washer…..

Then I hit the bane of my existence (aka the radiator) and most of hell broke loose.

And it sat there for about an hour while to went to have a few glasses of wine for my nerves.

So I finally got it around the radiator only to realize that I had no idea how to get the fridge back in place without lifting it OVER the flooring, and lord knows it was not lifting a fridge full of food by myself.

So I took another break (with wine), sat in the entry hallway and contemplated how I was going to explain this when J got home. Look at that mess

Finally J got home and made everything better

One of the great things about working in education are the extended breaks and vacations. That is if you are sane enough not to try and tackle 10 projects at once. So I decided to take the wall paper of of the kitchen walls. Why you ask? Oh, just look at the picture below.

THAT, ladies and gentlemen is a beautiful array of light blue and cream butterflies and flowers. Oh, I think I forgot to mention that it is vinyl wall paper that was bubbling at the seams. So I was at the sink staring at the wall while washing the dishes and my curiosity got the best of me. I decided to take a peek at what was behind the wall paper. The irrational voice in my head was telling me.”Just do it, here might be money behind those walls!” and ” The walls are probably flawless behind that hideous stuff”. So I slowly peeled back a bit of wall paper. It was pretty unremarkable underneath, no money though. So I went on a ripping frenzy, so I could be done by the time J got home. I figured that he would be so impressed with the beautiful new walls that he would go and buy me a 1/2 gallon of butter almond ice cream. YAY!

SO I figured that I had just enough time to ant the cabinets too. That would probably get the me the ice cream and about 3 weeks of his taking garbage/recycling duty. So I ran top the paint store and grabbed a can of Kilz paint to “jazz up” the cabinets. By “jazz up” I mean paint an alarming orange color. I figured that the color would distract the eyes from the other stuff going on in there.

Lo and behold I end up with this…..

Needless to say I didn’t get the ice cream prize.

I won’t blow up your brain with other pictures. I promise.

This is what the kitchen looked like when we moved in. Notice the beautiful wallpaper!

Yes, that is the washing machine next to the little tiny refrigerator. The step stool was to reach the extremely tall cabinets.

Oh, by the way the linoleum floor is supposed to be “light gray” and speckled, but it turned a muddy brown from not enough cleaning. I loved cleaning that up.