Kitchen Makover: Part One

Yesterday, for some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to start tearing down some of the wood paneling in the kitchen. I've purchased the primer and the paint I need, so I'm getting a little anxious to start my kitchen makeover. If I was smart, I would have waited until my parents arrive, but, well, there you have it. Here is what the wall that was completely covered in wood paneling looked like, before:

Ick. Besides being ugly and outdated, it makes the kitchen so dark. While we have a lovely, large window, I generally have to pull the shade around lunch time, because the sun shines right in and it gets hot - - especially during the summer. So, with these dark walls, it sometimes feels like a dungeon in here. My goal is to lighten and brighten.

That being said, I should have known that it wouldn't have been as easy popping the paneling off, slapping on some new paint, and going about my business. No, instead, I wrestled with the beastly paneling, and discovered that it had been glued to the wall:

See all those brown splotches? They were thick, old, and a bit like cement. I spent the better part of yesterday, trying to chisel and scrape them off the wall, while trying not to damage the wall any more. One thing I discovered was a rather large hole underneath that ancient telephone there - - looks like someone made a bit of mistake with their measuring, when installing it eons ago. I'll need to figure out how to patch drywall, I guess!

Maybe you noticed the crazy-looking bright yellow light fixture hanging above the table? I've always wanted to get rid of it, but now I'm realizing it will go perfectly with my new table, so it will stay. As for the rest of the kitchen:

There's a bit of this. I really do not like wall paper. This paper is very old, vinyl, and it is not the type of wall paper that will simply peel off. It needs to be steamed off, but there isn't too much of it, so it would be more effort to do that then it is worth. I'm opting to be lazy and paint over it. I'm quite sure nobody will ever be able to tell when I'm all finished, so don't tell.

I've got quite a few days of prep work ahead of me - - more scraping, lots of patching, priming, and taping. I haven't decided whether or not to paint the cupboards yet, but I'm thinking it would probably be a good idea. So, stay tuned to see the progress!

Oh! I found this great kitchen clock last night, while surfing the Internet for funky kitchen decor - - I love it and think it needs to go in my new kitchen: