HOME EXCHANGE KITCHEN: THE BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS

I should have taken more photos of the new apartment before we started fixing it up.  It looked, well, a lot different.  I only took a few shots but maybe they will give you a sense of the work we did.  Here is the first project we tackled, the kitchen.

KITCHEN

On the left is the kitchen "before" renovations, on the day we took possession of the apartment.  The place was rented "furnished" because that entitles the lease-holder to additional rent.  What this meant for us was a lot of donations of unwanted items (with permission of the owner) and a LOT of cleaning.

Note the pot rack over the stove, lack of counter space, day glow green paint and general clutter.  All the cabinets were unpainted.  To the right of the fridge were wire milk-crate style boxes with visible groceries in them.  To the left of the stove you can see the broom/mop storage area.  On the shelves to the left of the stove cutlery and kitchen tools are stored in old tomato cans.

Here is the kitchen afterwards.  We painted everything in a sort of light blue with some gray and some green tone to it.  Since the apartment is so small everything wall surface is now painted the same color.  This lets the eye flow instead of chopping up the space.

Notice that we moved the fridge away from the stove.  We had to flip the freezer and fridge doors to do this.  We added a butcher block cart, a revolving spice rack and utensil bins.  We lowered the vintage paper towel and foil holder (the metal box above the butcher block).

A small apartment needs to be as organized and space-efficient as a yacht.  Note the pot holder rack on the stove and the kitchen towel hooks on the fridge.  We chose the smallest possible microwave, in the same color as the stove and fridge.  A big difference between the two photos is the lack of clutter "after" compared to "before".  It looks a lot brighter even though both shots were taken with the same camera and same light.

COST

What we spent on the items in this photo was:

microwave: $38
revolving spice organizer: $10
paint & brushes: $35 (kitchen only)
hooks for towel/mitts: $3
cutlery caddies: $10 (Ikea)
butcher block cart: free from a friend but in pieces.  Ikea had free replacement hardware.

Total: $99 with tax

For under $100 we made a big difference in the kitchen.  Most of that was just cleaning and giving things away.  Getting your home ready to swap need not be difficult or expensive.  More before and after shots to come.


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