Our Old Yellow Kitchen

Poor Mrs Rover. When we bought our house in Walkerville, Montana, the only thing she REALLY didn't like about it was the kitchen. Our yellow kitchen. Every house we had ever owned or rented had a yellow kitchen. What's with that? Adding insult to injury, it was an old, drab, yellow kitchen. Don't even ask about the wallpaper. The cookstove was original to the house (1914) and that was cool:

But check out that washer and dryer next to the stove--our only "counter" space. Cupboards? Oh yeah, one: a little tin box above the cast iron sink:

We made do, in part with a nice old cupboard that was also original to the house:

In the 20 years we've been in the house, we did some major improvements. To other rooms: carpeting & wallpaper for the parlor; a new hardwood floor & tilework & cool patterned paint job for the dining room; some paint & TLC upstairs; a new parking pad in the backyard; a new roof... But the kitchen? Nada.

So bring it on, 2010. Our friend Ben is custom building solid hickory cabinets and will install them & the countertops (which Mrs Rover is gradually zeroing in on). He'll do whatever else is required for the walls, too. Plumbing, gas and wiring are my job (there goes my weekend skiing for the next month or two). Floor tiles and lighting will be my job (there goes my May/June troutfishing!).

Losing a few weekends of skiing? Forty-three units of EcoRover pain. Losing spring troutfishing? Seventy-eight units of EcoRover pain. Making Mrs Rover happy with a new kitchen? PRICELESS!