A Brighter Kitchen!

I can't remember how much I've mentioned on this blog about how dark our apartment is, especially after coming from our old house, which was always filled with natural light.  The room I had the most difficulty in handling the darkness was the kitchen.  Our old kitchen was always flooded with morning sun and I LOVED IT.  If I had my way, I would live by only natural light until the sun goes down in the evening.  Overhead lights are just way too bright and fake for me in the morning, especially before a cup or two of coffee. 

Living by natural morning light is not the case here.  There is one window, but it's not really a window.  It's covered in grass clippings.  We cleaned it when we first moved in to help "spruce it up", but then the grass was cut a few days later and we realized that was a colossal waste of time.  And the lone window looks into a window well.  Some natural light comes in through it, but its minimal.  And the view is a metal retaining wall.  It's beautiful, just beautiful.  You can take my word on that.

Anyways, I'm sounding much more negative than I intended....so getting back on track.  I hated the kitchen.  Almost no natural light, dark paneling, wood cabinets, grey dingy ceiling....you get the picture.  Dark. 

Here a few pictures from last year around this time:

 

 

And just for reference, this is what I mean by a grey ceiling - not helping the room appear brighter in the least bit.

 

 

 

Well, I can't add windows.  And I'm not paying to replace paneling, cabinets, or counter tops.  But I am a big believer in paint equity.  Sanity in a can some may say.

 

So, I spent hours upon hours painting every possible part of the kitchen this summer.  I still have my areas of complaint (because I'm a perfectionist) - I'm not a fan of the hardware on cabinets and the floor is trifling/troubling/falling apart, but I have to remember we are only renters and this place is CHEAP - but overall, I could not be happier with the results.  It was worth every dollar spent on paint and every minute spent painting.

 

 





 

Now the question is....do I tackle painting the living room next?  See how dark it looks in there now that the kitchen is brighter?  Might have to kick the hubby out for a weekend so I can "surprise" him with the results....