Kitchen & Other Updates ~ Mountain Cabin Fixer Upper

Yes, this post is about kitchen updates in our mountain cabin fixer-upper, but I wanted to start out with a picture of spring in the mountains.

We purchased this place back in December when everything was dormant and though we could tell there were vines on the gazebo and raised beds here and there, we had no idea what trees, plants or flowers were on the property, so it has been fun watching as things begin to bloom.

This is the kitchen.

There were white cabinets with hand painted sayings and drawings of herbs, track lighting, a yellow and white drop ceiling to match the yellow and white backsplash, cream colored laminate countertops, laminate wood flooring buckling here and there from water damage, appliances were in place except for a microwave or vent above the stove, and the far back wall was painted dark blue with fluffy clouds and stones were glued along the bottom and topped with a picket fence.  Help!

When we first saw the cabin, I thought the kitchen would do as is.  The cabinets and drawers needed some shoring up here and there as well as a fresh coat of paint, new lighting, flooring, and a thorough scrubbing...but I could make it work.  Or so I thought.  After we closed and began looking closer, we realized it would have to all be torn out and here's why...

The top window seal was damaged so we couldn't see out of it.  Just beyond the window are stairs to the back creek which is a sight to behold but can't be seen through the window due to this damage...so it must be replaced.




The countertops are stained and chipping, and the stainless sink is full of scratches and some type of adhesive stuck on the inside, and once we could turn the water on we discovered the left faucet handle broken.




The cabinets and drawers that I "thought" could be shored up here and there and painted were in much worse shape than I thought.  When drawers were removed they basically fell apart.  They had been nailed back together so many times over the years, the fronts were falling and there was nothing left to nail into.  The cabin had been empty for years and in the back of this drawer was a mouse nest.  Thankfully the mouse has moved on; yuck!




The ceiling header where the "artists" took credit for their creations.




And as for the appliances that I thought would be fine after a good scrubbing?   After closing on the property and getting a closer look...no way!  They were filthy and rusty too.











As you can see the kitchen was in awful shape and it was DEMO TIME!
I shared earlier about removing the ceiling tiles, venting, etc., here, but now it was time to rip out the rest.  My sweet mister hard at work...







In this picture, you can better see the painted back wall with clouds and the stone at the bottom.  We had already removed the picket fence from the wall just above the stone.








We left the sink and fridge intact for now.




It feels great having a clean slate, for the most part, in the kitchen.  It's been a lot of work so far with much more to do, but there are many things that keep us encouraged as we keep moving along...

Discovering five or more Silverbell trees in bloom on the property.




From the cabin window, there were several of tall grasses blocking the creek view so my mister removed them and transplanted them at our house.

The shorter plant growing in the bed is Bee Balm.







The Bee Balm has since grown to over 3' tall and now it blocks the view of the creek!  We look forward to it blooming for this season but after the blooms fade we will relocate it.

There is never a dull moment at the cabin.  I've shared about the elk and this past weekend this little fella took an interest in us.  We were drinking our morning coffee and looked up to find this groundhog peering in the window.  I believe he was as curious about us as we were him.

A little later his momma showed up and she was twice his size.  Didn't get pictures of her.

It was a beautiful weekend, so Ellie-Mae and I walked out back to the creek.  The sun was sparkling as I stood in the cool creek water spilling from the waterfall at our drive and back down behind the cabin.  This makes all the weekends of driving and demo work worth it.

There really are no words to describe how beautiful this is to see and hear in person.  God's amazing creation...amazing!

I hope you'll follow along on our CREEKSIDE MOUNTAIN CABIN FIXER-UPPER adventure!  You can see it all here.

Join us each week for AMAZE ME MONDAY!