A Not-Perfect-But-Good-Enough Kitchen Reno; I'm Happy!

Whew! It's cleanup time in the kitchen; our Operation Welsh Dresser
is almost complete, just in time for Saturday's big party.


This project involved one wall of our kitchen, and a big awkward counter and cabinet combo that we didn't much like.
This pic, our kitchen before we moved in:

That odd, big counter on the left side of the room? We called it our kitchen
Isthmus -- 40" x 60" and just too darned big to be useful. That size counter only belongs in an island.

So, we took off the laminate top, removed the rear cabinets, pushed the front cabinets back to the wall,
leveled it all out ... and by "we" of course you realize I mean "Howard,"
who in this picture is checking to see it's all level:

. . . which amazingly enough, it is! It might be the only level thing in That Old House.

We took the top of an old pine hutch we bought in Pennsylvania for fifty bucks,
painted it black, painted the base kitchen cabinets black, added wooden knobs in place of the brass,
added a butcher block counter top, and ended up with this:

The countertop extends about a foot on one side, so we can put a bar stool there
and I can have my morning cuppa Joe in the kitchen.
Or, I can sit there and watch Howard do dishes. :-P

Here's Howard testing out the breakfast bar, using my old drafting stool.

We were going for a Welsh Dresser look.
Can't put our dishes away yet, the paint needs to cure some more --
and we are missing one of the knobs.

I know we bought it, but it has gone AWOL.
In this shot, two knobs are missing; we found one.

Eventually I want to replace those wooden knobs with
old batwing-style bail handles on the drawers.

Whatcha think? A good transformation?
We had planned on having carpenter-built shelves installed above the base cabinets, but there's just not the budget for that.
The butcher block top is from IKEA -- a terrific bargain.

Howard sanded and oiled it.
It will need a few more oilings; it ain't perfect, but it will do just fine.

So that's it, our Thrifty Thursday Transformation!

I'm linking to Thrifty Thursday, hosted by Leigh at Tales From Bloggeritaville.

Also to Transformation Thursday, with Gina at The Shabby Chic Cottage.

And now I need to CLEAN UP THE MESS left from these projects -- carpentry, painting, oiling, even putting up some beadboard wallpaper that I haven't even showed you yet. Can you spot it in the kitchen? -- Cass

P.S. The bottom of that 50-dollar hutch is now in the butler's pantry, getting filled up with more stuff. Do all houses generate stuff, or just ours?