The Nest: Kitchen

Nest up on the Nest Tour, every grandma's favorite room, the kitchen.  It just so happens to be my favorite as well.

With that said, it needs work.  Even after the MAJOR scrub down it received after moving in (possible post on that someday).  Like most of the apartment, its dark and a bit outdated.  One feature I do like is the opening into the dining area, which you can see here:

 Notice my baby?  That is my Martha Stewart teal kitchen-aide mixer in the corner.  Thats right, mixing is serious business in the Nest.

I'm definitely not a fan of the honey colored cabinets or the (impossible to keep clean) white melamine counter tops.  The appliances (big surprise!) are also outdated and (!) bisque colored.  Ick.  Since painting the cabinets is out of the question, I'm considering removing the top cabinet doors and using colored contact paper on the wood to make the kitchen look lighter and less heavy.  As for the appliances, well, not much can be done for those, though I have seen some pretty transformations on similar appliances using stainless steel sheets...I dream.

I do like the layout, which you can see in the blue print I made below:

It's a relatively small space, large enough to move around in, but not so large that using multiple surfaces is like running a long distance marathon.  I've had to be a little creative with storage, though that's new to no one.  Here's some storage I added to the kitchen wall:

This represents about a third of the gadgets I have floating around.  You can also see my beloved pot rack, a holdover from our first tiny studio apartment.  I've now sworn allegiance to always storing my pots like this, so convenient!





Notice the earthy tile back splash?  That's the only kitchen upgrade the landlord had done.  Its not bad, but has noting to do with the look of the rest of the apartment.  Not sure what to do with it.  Ideas anyone?

As far as improvement goes, I've already done most of the painting, a cheery blueish-green color (Martha Stewart) and installed several wall storage options. 

There's still so much to do:
-finish painting
-remove cabinet doors
-cover cabinets with contact paper?
-upgrade cabinet lighting, think Ikea
-buy or crochet kitchen rug
-install stainless steel sheets on appliances
-install dish drying rack over sink
-hang art work or plates on wall above cabinets
-make eco-friendly cleaners
-replace ugly lighting fixture
-replace brown light switches