The downstairs kitchen....

The downstairs kitchen was a total disaster just like the upper one. Everything was caked in thick black grease. It had been at least 25 years, literally since it was cleaned. Day one it was chest high filled with pots and pans and trash not to mention old nasty food.
It took a while just to clean out this small space which measures about 10'0"x11'0". Once it was cleaned out, it was a wreck to say the least!

 The downstairs kitchen

Attached breakfast room to downstairs kitchen

There were so many other things to do in the house and to the house, that the downstairs kitchen had to wait its turn. Literally we only just now managed to finish.

With money running out and time as well, I had to get creative with this space. Everything in there was cleaned, then cleaned again. This alone took a lot of time and thankfully David's father tended to the cleaning so we could work elsewhere in the house.

I painted the counters and the back splash with Rustoleum counter paint. It is an epoxy paint and you can get it tinted to a lot of different colors which is nice. One can did the whole job and was around $20 at Lowes. I put three coats on everything. The counters were Robins Egg Blue 1950's formica counters.

I fixed the original 1950's cabinetry which matched what had been upstairs. Again it is maple furniture grade plywood and was built on site. I applied two coats of Antique Chestnut gloss stain with poly in it from Minwax. One can did the trick and was about $13 at Lowes. This brought the cabinets out and made them look nice.

We bought peel and stick vinyl floor tiles and installed them in the kitchen and adjoining breakfast room. They are $12 at Family Dollar Stores for 25 tiles. This updated the spaces, made them durable and really looks nice.

We bought a stainless steel electric range from Habitat for Humanity Restore for $125, another great find. It is a Frigidaire Gallery with convection oven, five burners and warming drawer. We found and bought a GE Profile stainless steel French door refrigerator with ice and water in it from a local thrift store for $299 and they delivered it for free. Also a great find. The original refrigerator was maggot filled and nasty so it was thrown away. The original stove was a 1950's Frigidaire built-in range where the burners slid out. We still have to get that out and the new stove in.

I found a really nice almost brand new stainless steel single handle faucet at a local church "trash and treasure" sale and it was fill a bag for $2. Counting other things in the bag, the faucet wound up costing only about sixty cents. 

My local Restore yielded four really nice JC Penney valances which I hung at the windows in the two rooms which were brand new in the bags and cost only $4 for all four. So for a buck a piece it made the rooms pop and look nice.

Again, at Restore we found a complete service for eight of a beautiful old Haviland china pattern with completer pieces for $20 and displayed it in there as well as a service for eight of old crystal stemware we got from Goodwill for $28 for all of it. Other kitchen items in there were either from thrift stores or things we had already and put in there.

The tea cart we put in the breakfast room came from Restore as well, as did the corner cabinet. The tea cart was $45 and is from Heywood Wakefield, it is solid maple and has glass tops and a drawer which is nice. The corner cabinet was $125 original price but they had a sale at Restore with 25% off so it wound costing us $100. It is hand Amish made with a glass shelf and light inside. The table and chairs were on hand. I bought four chair pads from Restore for $8 and put them on the chairs. The accessories on the table came from Restore as well and were inexpensive.

The chandelier hanging in the breakfast room made the room come together and was another Restore find. It was $50 with 25% off so that made it $40. I put a wire and chain on it and hung it on a hook over the table.

The breakfast room has a large double door pantry. One side has slide out storage drawers. The other side is open for brooms and mops and things. It is a handy feature. A shelf above each provides more storage as well. For small spaces in there, there is plenty of light and storage which makes the room function well.

The after pictures are coming at the conclusion of the progress posts. I think you will be impressed with what you can do with just a little money and some time.