What I'm working with; the kitchen

Today I'm giving you a tour of my kitchen workspace. If you're anything like me, you love peering into other people's houses to see what it looks like (thank you HGTV for furthering this obsession).

panoramic shot of the kitchen

So I cook and bake in here, of course, as well as clean up messes a two-year-old loves to make, entertain, write my blogposts... you know, basically what everyone's kitchen has become- the everything room! 

We've lived in our house for over 7 years and renovated the kitchen about 4 years ago. Here's a bunch of before and after photos.

before

after! No more faux, dirty brick. Hurrah!

look how dark the kitchen was! Lot's of lighting was added

this kitchen was crying for an island (ok, I was the one crying)

so we put in some base cabinets and created an island (no more tears)

we ditched the hardware but kept the cabinets and had them painted white

(more after the jump)

the orange countertops were replaced with a black granite

cookbooks!

I have this shallow alcove and previously it housed a narrow bookcase stuffed with cookbooks. Then the Container Store catalog came and as my husband would say it, "put me together". I had to put these shelves in! I needed more space for the cookbooks and I liked that they would fill the space, rather than the old bookcase. Well I did it and I'm so happy I did. The shelves really make the kitchen feel like it expanded. I grouped the books by color because I like a rainbow as much as the next girl. Except for Ina's (yes, we're on a first name basis because I met her at a book signing, so that basically makes us besties!), her cookbooks stay together. Then I just threw in some tchotchkes and was done. Voila!

there was this weird picture window wall between the dining room and kitchen

so we tore down the wall to create one kitchen and dining space.

putting hardwood floors throughout also helps tie them together

the hutch Tracy helped me paint (and Jen too!) Flowers curtesy of Natalie!

Renovating is no fun. The construction mess, parting ways with a lot of money, etc. but the AFTER is pretty great. 

Do you need to renovate your kitchen, or have you been through a recent renovation?