Farmhouse Kitchen: Before & After

Guess what!?!

I finally did it! I finally picked out a new stove!

I know what you are thinking… not a “hard” decision (especially after eating crockpot dinners, one pot “electric skillet wonders” and egg sandwiches for the LAST MONTH! However, I knew it was important to make the right decision because my next stove may last me (better last me) many years!

We have a very small kitchen but our current stove is a large, 1940’s (ish – I’m only judging from pictures I’ve seen) stove and did I mention I LOVE IT! It finally went downhill and I figured we should finally put in a more modern appliance since I enjoy cooking so much! I have plans to keep this stove and have it repaired but I still think it makes sense to have something more efficient for all of my everyday cooking/baking.

So in tribute of this beautiful piece in my kitchen, I wanted to finally post the before and after photos of our kitchen. The previous owners did the hard work with the bead-board walls, new cabinets and shelves, and the wonderful farmhouse sink. We made some minor changes and put our spin on the decor.

Before:

This post has been on my list forever now and finally I decided to just do it already! Sometimes I can be a bit of a perfectionist and to be honest, if I waited for every teeny, tiny thing to be perfect in my kitchen, you would NEVER see this post!

In the kitchen, we get messy, I sling food, drop pans, kill herbs (neglected – turns out you have to actually take care of those), dirty the dishes, and somehow disorganize my greatest efforts to be organized. However, the kitchen is the life of every house and it shouldn’t be perfect. If your kitchen is “perfect” all the time then I am concerned about you! You need to get in the kitchen, fry some bacon and throw some flour around! It’s healing, I promise!

At the end of the day, it is perfect because we live in it!

After:

On my sewing room reveal, I listed my top 5 favorite items so I thought I would keep that consistent.

#1 – The island is an old workbench my dad used in one of his barns for years. It has been around for many years and sometimes I wish it could tell its stories! It has bumps and bruises, paint splatters and rough edges. We cleaned it up, added the wheels and coated it in poly to make a smooth working space. It is a great conversation piece and it even has an old marble game-board on the bottom of the drawer!

#2 The large chalkboard that reads “Happiness is Homemade” – I saw this quote and knew it had to be in my kitchen. I truly believe happiness is a choice and not based on circumstances. Happiness comes from within and I am often most happy when in the kitchen. I made this sign and will have a quick and easy tutorial up soon so stay posted!

#3 – My spice jars – With a small kitchen and open shelving, I found it hard to find a place to put all of my spices. They were all in mismatched containers and were not very pleasing to the eye. I quickly decided I needed to make the spices stand out instead. Dan made a shelf for me and I ordered these great, glass jars from specialtybottle.com. I am very happy with them and love the way they look! (They are labeled on the bottom so it doesn’t take away from the look of the display)

#4 – The beloved stove – RIP (for now). The stove came with this house and has always been one of my favorite things about the kitchen! It will be revived! 

I painted this flower pot with chalkboard paint (this is where my herbs once lived – traded them out for a “cactus”… if the desert won’t kill it, I can surely keep it alive!)

#5 Open shelving: I know a lot of people are hesitant on open shelving but I love it – it just takes some adjusting to get used to it. I love how all of my plates and cups are easy to grab and when friends come over they can get what they need right away. It adds great charm to our farmhouse kitchen.  (the little yellow wires are for under-the-cabinet lighting… another long story about little imperfections, haha! Soon to be updated)

 

My fridge is full of candids and many photobooth reels from this year’s weddings! I made these paper rosette magnets (should be online soon) to hold up all of the photos.
And yes, you saw that right, Dan and I sporting some facial hair…
So there you have it… home sweet home!

Have a great day!

-RH