My kitchen/dining before

This is what my kitchen/dining area looked like two years ago.

As you can see the kitchen is completely builder grade and not too attractive. I really hadn't done much in there other than paint, install new flooring (mostly done by my sweet little brother), and also installed a new microwave/hood. I was really happy to get rid of my microwave that took up so much of my limited counter space, glad to see color on the walls, and soooo excited to see the linoleum gone.

In the dining room...I painted my table and chairs, made a curtain (with lots of help from my creative and talented mom), installed a new light fixture, put moldings up around my sliding glass door, and not much more than that.

Since then I have worked on it a lot, with a lot more to go. Over the next few days I will post about how I made this space so much warmer and cozier for less than $500.