Kitchen Before Photos

The kitchen had a "modern" update -I believe some time in the 80's. These were typical maple cabinets used at that time. I'm not crazy about them, but they'll do for now. The plus is that they are all wood - well some maple plywood.

The fan and light in the hood above the stove was virtually non-functional and in awful condition - not worthy of restoration. After much contemplation, I decided to remove it.

I found a date on the stove of 1995, but despite such a recent date, some of the chrome handles are rusted. I got the model number off the stove and called the manufacturer to see how much for replacement handles. About $180 - no way! And, the replacement knobs where the writing has worn off were $40 each. According to the company, the stove is now considered "vintage."

Replacing a wide stove like that in the future would run around $1,200! And, there's one option - white. Going to a smaller stove means finding a way to compensate for the now open space and replacing the countertops.

I was excited when I discovered a flourescent bulb that was not working under a metal hood at the top of the stove. I bought a new bulb - it still did not work! :(

In the photo above, to the right is the back door and beyond the frig is the door into the living room. In the living room is the only closet in the house, which you can see in the distance. The beadboard lining the closet is what is beneath all the awful "modern" paneling.

Though not very visible, there were 3 of the red-seated chairs in the crawl space under the house. No doubt the original kitchen chairs. Too bad there were not 4. I plan to paint them and recover the seats and use them around the house, but not in the kitchen.

This little gas heater was my only source of heat for most of the time I was there. Eventually I bought a couple of cheap oil radiator heaters, one for the living room and one for my bedroom. They helped, but did not really make the rooms very warm. I realized I have to get central as soon as possible since this relic puts out a sooty film on things. Hopefully by next cold weather it will be gone. For now, it is turned off for the season.