While Rand is off gallivanting about the UK, my mom and dad came up to Buffalo to help do some work in our kitchen. Our main goal? To get rid of this:

I hate wallpaper. I curse the man who invented wallpaper. And this? Barf. It looks it should have been in someone’s guest bathroom in 1986.

Here are a few other “before” pix of the kitchen:

This light was hanging above the kitchen table. Not really my style. I think the pink/blue flower motif was supposed to match the wallpaper. And I’m not entirely sure the bulb was supposed to be hanging down like that.

This is not to demonstrate what a mess the countertop was, but to give somewhat of an idea of the rose counters, white cabinets, and ugly, ugly wallpaper combo. Oh, and you can see a wee bit of the blue valance above the kitchen window, too.

Just a close-up of the cabinets.

The last person who lived here was obsessed with white. I really want to replace this white sink…and while the faucet looks pretty, it is not at all practical. Because it’s so high up, every time you use the sink, water splashes *everywhere*.

While I was at work on Friday, my parents began stripping wallpaper. My dad made a trip to the hardware store, where he learned that there is special primer for painting over wallpaper. Score! No more stripping.

Walls have been primed, and we begin edging.

Pulled out the fridge to paint behind it, and I was amused by the way the molding just stopped six inches short of the corner.

Same area, after paint. This, obviously, is the color I chose. It’s sort of a rosy chocolate color.

We’re finished now, and my parents have headed out. I’ll post some “after” pictures once I put a few finishing touches on, maybe later on today.