Kitchen before and after's, etc.

Well, it only took three weeks, but I've finally cleaned the whole kitchen from top to bottom. *Everything* needed a good scrub-down and I cleaned out every crack and cranny. I washed cabinets inside and out, re-organized drawers, scrubbed baseboards with a toothbrush, walls with a Magic Eraser and the floors with a scrub brush, Pine-sol and good old fashioned elbow grease. I washed the refrigerator down inside and out. . . scrubbed down every square inch of the kitchen table and chairs (the ship for simple spot-cleaning had sailed months ago). . . washed windows inside and out, scrubbed down doors. . . Scrubbed the oven inside and out. . .

And although I try to curb negativity in my writing, I absolutely cannot go without mentioning how I *LOATHE* cleaning our gas cooktop. Too much surface area and too many cracks and crevices. . . . It always takes at least fifteen minutes, and that's if it's fairly clean. When it's super-greasy it can take more than an hour. It forces me to choose between thoroughness and efficiency. . . .And when those two go head-to-head, efficiency doesn't stand a chance.

Anyway, here are some before and after pictures:

Actually, this set is "after" (↑) and "before" (↓) . . . just to stamp out any confusion.

~ - ~

This is my "gardenscape" I set back up a few years ago. I had it set up really pretty in the apartment we lived in, but the crown molding topper for these cabinets threw me for a loop and they sat sort of randomly tossed up there for a few years. But when I found a bunch of Easter-basket "grass" on super-cheap 90% off clearance at Garden Ridge, I knew just what to do with it. . . and it worked out great! I think it looks even better than the original.

This one started out as an empty baker's rack from walmart seven years ago when we moved in and it has eventually evolved into this:

I replaced the similarly-shaped finials with artichokes. . . And sometime maybe four or five years ago I found the tomato knobs and switched out the originals. The vegetables on the top shelf started out as a wreath, but I "squished" it flat and it fits perfectly. The second shelf holds a collection of vegetable-shaped cast iron pots, along with a wooden pumpkin my mom brought me that was just the perfect size and color. The platter was an ebay purchase and arrived with the hanger already glued to the back and I don't think I could have found one myself that hooked onto the baskets below it more perfectly. . . .And the baskets were a solution to the question of what we should do with the pantry items when we converted the actual pantry into an office a few years ago. Surprisingly, we can store significantly more in these baskets than we could in the pantry because they don't have to be lined up or stacked. . . And as it turns out, I prefer having the pantry items on-hand in the kitchen anyway.