making this kitchen our own {stage 1}

We are starting to renovate our kitchen so I thought I would share it with you in stages since we will be doing it one step at a time. We have a few things we are trying to stick to throughout the renovation; 1) a budget, of course 2) Use as much as possible of what's already in the space in order to create little waste. 3) Make it a classic kitchen that suits the style and age of the house. Like our bathroom makeover, I think it can have a huge transformation with little structural change. This not only keeps costs down, but also allows us to use what's already in the space, only using it to it's full potential. Today I am sharing with you stage one- the kitchen that came with the house and how it has looked for the past year and a half. Up until now we haven't done anything to it partly because a kitchen reno can be a big deal, but also because I think with some rooms it's important to live in it for a while so you can get to know it and what needs to be changed, added, or removed to make it a good comfortable working/living space. And so here it is, our lime green kitchen with 1980's oak cabinets, brown laminate counter top, ikea track lighting, a floor to ceiling brick fire place, and a beautiful original (1900) stained glass window.
There's a lot that we love about the kitchen already, such as the fireplace. Although we can't actually have fires in it because it's capped at the roof, we like the brick wall and the lower ledge is a good spot to sit. We also really like the stained glass window but find that all the shelves around it really take away from it- they will be removed and we will try to make the window more of a focal point. Since that window is stained glass not much light comes in through it. The other window on the opposite side is pretty small and since we live next to other tall brick homes, this space gets very little natural light. This is one of the reasons that we want to lighten the cabinets, as well as the fact that they look very dated. And so, rather than rip then out and replace them, we are going to save them by having them painted white. I have found some really great white kitchens online. They all have the classic look that we hope to obtain in our own space.

Above is the kitchen from the movie Somethings Gotta Give and below is another kitchen designed by the same set designer, James Radin.
We've already made some changes to the space since the photos were taken so I will probably share the next stage with you sometime next week.