There once was an ugly kitchen.....

After two weeks of turning my kitchen into a warm, inviting, and creative space......I am about to show you what a little hard work can do. (I can hardly believe the deals I found along the way). And I'll say this....I'm proud to be able to create masterpiece meals, but I have a feeling that in my new kitchen, the menu is going to pop!

Now, on to the ugly!

The kitchen space itself is probably a total of 70 square feet. In a real estate listing you'd probably see words like cozy, quaint, or minimalistic. The butler's pantry is a separate space, yet an adjoining room to the kitchen, where the refrigerator is also housed.

The kitchen has a one tub sink and a gas stove/oven combo. There are 4 (four) cabinets and 2 (two) drawers under the sink. I lack the modern convenience of a dishwasher, but very well, women have hand washed dishes for hundreds of years.

The metal cabinets are probably a part of the original kitchen. They had been painted a shade of ivory and were beginning to dull. The hardware is also original stainless steel, but whenever the cabinets were painted, the painter neglected to remove the hardware before painting the cabinets, so there are many specks of ivory paint.
Since there's not much I could do about the countertop eyesore, I just have to work with it. Whoever decided faux wood laminate would look awesome, ought to be ashamed of himself. There's nothing cool about faux wood. NOTHING. COOL. By that same token, whoever decided faux wood adhesive paper was attractive should also be ashamed of himself. And whoever thought it would look nice in this kitchen should really be spanked. I'm just sayin'. 3 different counter spaces and none of them match. Nice.

The shelving unit in the corner is a trapezoid of sorts built specifically for the space because of where the door opens (to the left of the sink area). It houses pots and pans and is covered with the faux adhesive. It's functional, but not appealing.

You totally missed the vintage stove that once took up the space where the newer oven is. What was so odd about it was there was no set temperature mode. I turned it on and it kept heating up to about 500 degrees, seriously. So I really had to pay attention to anything that was baked. It finally saw its final day about a year ago.

When the guys came to remove the old stove and bring up the newer one, This gem of a wallpaper that had to be an original, was uncovered.

WOW! That's all I have to say about that.

I kind of dig the small wood countertop built in. Underneath, we store a trash can, and containers for our assortment of rice. And on top of it is our microwave and toaster oven. It's a small counter, but we make it work.

Ahh, here's another whimiscal thing in the kitchen. For some reason if you look up at the wall to the left of the window, you'll see where someone actually "patched" a hole or something in the wall with a paper plate. No joke. Very odd indeed. I still have no idea what's behind it, but it just adds to the mystery, so I left it.

And what can I say about this unsightly floor?

Upon first inspection, this linoleum....in a lovely shade of faded Harvest Gold, no doubt, is a bit offensive. It's even peeling in the corner. Bleck! It has definitely seen better days. Well, at least I hope when it was new someone really loved it. Me? Not so much.

The walls are an ugly shade of ivory to match the cabinets. Really brings the monochromatic look full swing don't ya think?

Things I like about this kitchen? Well, Hmmmm...I'm thinking................I'm still thinking.

I do like the openness of the wall space. It's not hindered by overbearing cabinets. I also love the exposed pipes that actually are functional and a little modern. Missed those huh? They are hidden with the ivory paint.

Although we're on the 3rd floor of this fantastic vintage building,

Here is the courtyard pictured in snow

we're fully exposed to neighbors all around, so I hung some curtains in the window to give us a touch of privacy...even those are icky....I admit it.

Oh, you wanna see what the panorama looks like? Really, you like to be tortured? Your eyes are burning? Well, bring on the photo!

So, there you have it....an Ugly kitchen with a capital U....but not for long....