See that gorgeous tile backsplash? Don’t you love it? Isn’t it inspiring? Aren’t you a little jealous of the person who gets to wake up every morning and make coffee in front of it? I certainly am. That’s right. Don’t get it twisted. That is not my kitchen. A far cry from it, in fact. 

When Morgan, of The English Den, posted this tile to her Instagram account just a few days after the Devastating Shower Leak of Which We Do Not Speak, I was still in a state of mourning. I’m incredibly lucky that out leak caused no major damage to our home and our belongings. But I was still sad over one particular loss – The loss of my kitchen plans 2018.

My plans to do a light renovation to our kitchen have been tossed aside as we allocate all of our 2018 renovation budget towards the bathroom. I’m sad about it. I really wanted to have a unique and updated kitchen. Right now, it’s just very bland. 

There’s nothing particularly offensive about it (unless you count the dead white pine swag I’ve had hanging over the window long past Christmas). I just wish I could make a few tweaks to add some personality. The floorplan is fine. Not stellar, but fine. The appliances are a mess. They’re left over from the previous owner and half of the fridge doesn’t function at all. I’d love to replace them with white or stainless steel. 

The backsplash runs only directly behind the sink and the stove and is very function over style with square white tiles installed in a diamond pattern. The counters are laminate and plain white. 

The countertop is a white laminate that is incredibly easy to clean, but is lacking in general style. Plus, the seams are now very visible and the built-in backsplash has pulled away from the wall, creating a massive gap and cracks in the caulking. 

Also, the kitchen is having an identity crisis. Half the walls are painted a neutral taupe while the other half are the same green from the powder room we remodeled last month. You can see the difference here, where I began testing out a color to match. This is the view into our dining room. It doesn’t exactly flow. Seems like you’re staring into a completely different house. 

To one side of the kitchen, there’s a small space for a breakfast nook. I would love to install a built-in bench for seating, but the window is only on foot off the ground. So instead, we plopped down this grouping of furntiure from our last house and claled it a day. 

And here’s the worst part. This column obstructs the flow of this room into the adjacent family room. And it’s pretty ugly. 

We just spend so much time in this room. When I’m entertaining guests, they all flock to the kitchen. This is our toddler art studio. It’s our impromptu triage for little boo boos. It’s where I work in the evenings. Christine pays the bills at the kitchen table. It’s where we cook every meal and eat our casual family meals. I’d love for it to reflect more of our style and maybe function a little better for us. 

Christine agrees. If we’re going to spend five figures on a bathroom that we rarely use, we can at least allocate four figures to updating the most used room in our home. Armed with $1,000 budget, I’m going to transform this kitchen into a room we can all love. Do you think I can do it? 

I guess you’ll just have to follow along to see. 

xoxo
Teri