Our Kitchen...before and after.

We just passed the 6-month mark of living in our new house.  That's a pretty big mark for a couple, now a family, who have lived in 6 places during our almost-6 years of marriage!  There has been an apartment, a couple of houses, and a little over a year spent living with another family when we first moved to Missouri...definitely not traditional, but it's been great!

The story of how this house came about is totally remarkable, one that definitely needs to be shared at some point...but for now, I'm going to devote a few posts to the "befores and afters" of our home. I know that this is a "crafting" blog, but since I've been showing you some of the decor that I've made for our home, I thought it would be fun!

When we first looked at this house, it belonged to an older couple.  This is going to sound crazy, but it felt like "home" as soon as we walked in...at least to me.  It definitely didn't look like my idea of our home, but it felt like it.  My husband thought I was completely crazy, but I could see past the somewhat dated interior to the total potential that this house held in its bones.

This is one of the first things that we saw...the kitchen.

Wow...I know.  I saw past the "faux wood" counter tops, linoleum flooring, and oak cabinets to the size!  Our kitchen in our last home was relatively small and felt totally separated from the rest of the house.  This kitchen was  a perfect size for me and was open to the rest of the home - or at least it would be when we knocked out that cabinet over the peninsula!

Here is what our kitchen looks like today...after a little over 4 weeks of work (with amazing help...part of the remarkable story that I'll share at some point) and 1 flood (a crazy story!), we have a beautiful, perfect-for-us kitchen....

Looking at the old picture, I almost can't believe it's the same place.  But it is...it's home.

I'll be back with more "before and after" posts in the next few days!