Originally I had thought we were going to do a shoestring budget kitchen makeover this year.  Now we know we have some exterior repairs to do (we need to add some gutters to our roof, and part of our front entry will need to be worked on), so depending on how much the not-so-fun stuff costs, we may have to delay some or all of the kitchen makeover.  So until then, I am just gathering ideas and inspiration.

Here is my kitchen as it looks now:

I know I have talked before about my ideas for what I have in mind to do:

• paint cabinets white
• add cabinet hardware
• new pantry doors (I want french doors painted black with frosted windows or possibly curtains behind the glass)
• white subway tile backsplash
• butcher block countertop for the island with a new smaller prep sink & faucet
• wrap the island in beadboard
• new countertops for the outer counters, although I haven’t decided yet what I want to do with them…we might use one of these Rustoleum countertop kits

So since I’m not sure when we will be able to start, and because once we do get started on the kitchen, it will likely be a slow project and not done all at once, I am satisfying my desire to make it over by looking at inspiration pictures.  So many beautiful kitchens out there in Pinterestland…  Sigh!  Someday…

This is pretty much how I plan to makeover the island by wrapping it in beadboard.  Just picture it minus the extension and plus 1 prep sink.

Source: At The Picket Fence

Another beautiful butcher block and beadboard island.  This one has the subway tile backsplash too!

Source: Southern Living

This island is much bigger than ours, but it has a prep sink!  I love the little shelves with the spice jars and cookbooks.

pinterest

A close up of my backsplash of choice.  So pretty!

Source: Kitchen Tile Backsplashes

This is another idea I have had is keeping the beadboard island white, and painting the rest of the cabinets black.  My walls are very similar to this color, so this would give me a really good idea of what the finished product would look like.  Although I think if I were to do that, I would have to go with butcher block counters for the whole kitchen to unify the space.

Source: Favorite Paint Colors

An example of french doors on a pantry painted black!

Source: Thrifty Decor Chick

More pantry french doors, this time in white with frosted glass:

Source: The Inspired Room

So I guess maybe you can see now the kind of look I am going for.  I am so excited to get started, but obviously our kitchen is functional as it is, so other stuff takes priority.  I am ok with that.  Nothing we have planned is particularly expensive, so we can just take our time and do a little here and there.  It probably won’t be done by the end of the year like I had hoped, but that’s ok.  It just gives me more time to gather inspiration and ideas.