This weekend, we started painting our cabinets in the kitchen. The goal was to get all the uppers painted, but we only got as far as priming them because we decided to add another spur-of-the-moment project while we’re working in here.
Our over-the-range microwave has been driving us crazy since we moved in. It is so low. To the point where we can’t use the back burners and to turn on the stove at all, we have to bend down.
As you can see, the stove and microwave were actually less than 14″ apart–which is a low by normal standards (18″ minimum is standard) and extremely low for us tall people. Saturday morning, we woke up and decided to tear out the microwave and the cabinets around it as well to lighten the whole space up.
Taking everything down took hardly any time at all. But patching and fixing up that wall took us the rest of the day, in between meals and bouncing Faye.
We patched all of the large holes with mesh tape and a couple layers of joint compound.
Eventually a proper range hood will go here, so we capped the wires and put a plate over it.
We sanded the whole wall smooth and sprayed on some slight orange peel texture to match the rest of the walls and a coat of paint. In the morning, we hung Chris’s magnetic knife rack and a shelf from Ikea to hold spices. The backsplash was tiled around the super-low microwave so hanging the knives to fit in that section makes it feel more intentional? Let’s go with it.
The area is so much brighter and definitely more accessible. Chris loves having his knives and spices right at hand. We are fortunate enough to have a window right next to the oven, so the temporary absence of a vent hood doesn’t seem like such a big deal to us–especially considering that monster microwave’s vent didn’t really work. With that problem solved, we’re anxious to get the cabinets done and our kitchen put back together in time for a bbq at our place this weekend. Fire has been lit!
[…] evolution includes removing our microwave and surrounding cabinets, rearranging some furniture, painting our cabinets and getting new barstools and installing this […]
[…] the magic of paint–and removing our really low microwave and the surrounding cabinets helped, too. In this post, we discussed our paint scheme, but as a refresher we went with Valspar’s […]
WOW! Talk about a drastic and FABULOUS difference! Isn’t it just amazing how removing some cabinets can totally change things. We recently moved some cabinets around in our kitchen and it has totally transformed the space. We also recently painted our cabinets. It was a long process, but we are so happy with how they turned out. Can’t wait to see how yours turn out!
OMG that looks soooooooo great!!! I cannot wait to see the paint :) Your home is beautiful, as was your last one. I love this blog!
maybe its just me… knives above stoves look kind of weird to me, but pots/pans or ladles/spatulas look cute.
I love that look too! I have a few pinned. This is just more functional for us (errr…Chris). He uses his knives a lot more than a slew of pots and pans.