When we bought our home I came to a realization about how how naive I was. I saw our kitchen and saw the island and thought, “Oh wow this kitchen remodel is going to be so cheap! We will just paint the cabinets and, like, get marble counters and new floors -it will be so easy!” WRONG. When we moved in we learned really fast that our kitchen was disgusting and that it needed a full gut job. Nathan and I truly couldn't use it because it was that gross. The previous owners did not care about this house at all. They rented it out to a sweet family who ran it into the ground in every way possible. It was the worst case scenario. We discovered rats were coming in through a giant hole under the sink and ruling the kitchen at night. They were ripping apart the trash, hoarding dog food, and going to the bathroom in the kitchen walls. Naturally, I was beyond disgusted and felt sooo uncomfortable. Because of this, I obviously knew that we couldn't just go in halfway, we needed to address the kitchen head on.

I quickly learned that if the bones aren't there you can't go in half-assed. This means if your cabinets aren't good cabinets, you cannot just paint them and put a several thousand dollar countertop on top of them! You really aren't doing anything for the value of your home or creating a long term solution. If the cabinets suck, replace them. If you cannot afford to, it’s really worth saving and waiting for. This goes for every aspect of the remodel! Keep what you can but don't keep what’s not worth keeping just to save a few bucks. YOU WILL have to spend it down the road. My silly notion that we could simply spruce up the eye sores could not be more wrong.

Keep reading to get all of the sources!

This is what we planned to do:

Tear down wall separating kitchen and dining

New floors

Resurface walls

New cabinets

New appliances

New counters

New lighting

Now things are about to get really real. Here are the before pictures...brace yourself.

Here she is people. What I thought was an easy fix- hahahahahah!

A packrat had made a nest in our stoves vent. Not only is this disgusting its a HUGE fire hazard.

Since we were going to be ripping out every last part of the kitchen we decided to remove the wall separating the dining room. Let me tell you, its not as easy as fixer upper makes it look like it is. This was a few day project that included tons of dust and stress.

We decided to put up a half wall to give us more counter space, storage, and more appropriate home for the stove. I really want to build a case around the fridge. That is another project for another day!

Being able to cook and look into the dining and living room has always been a dream of mine. I love being able to make dinner while still being connected with Nathan!