Sssshhhh! Don't tell my husband...

I've been sneaking around lately.
And I'm blaming it on bloggy pal Joni over at Writings on the Wall.

See, I've been hating my kitchen for years (since July 1995, to be specific). It's pretty bland.

Typical construction-grade oak cabinets and an awful, awful (words cannot do it justice!) butcher block laminate counter. Complete with--who couldn't hate this?--the original mid-1980's powder blue ceramic tile back splash. ICK!

I can't totally complain about it, because two years ago, after much shopping and giving up on my dreams of gutting the joint to get cherry wood cabinets, I did get rid of the awful soft-wood plank floors. (I say soft wood, because they were not HARD. They were so dinged-up from dropping cans and the dog's toe nails, I could never get the floor totally clean. They were made from the wood siding from the house that originally stood here. Yeah, nice legacy, but that didn't overcome the ugly!) Check it out:

That counter top is awful--not enough contrast to the cabinets. I just hate it.

So a couple weeks ago, Joni blogged about her big kitchen paint job.
And that's got me thinkin'.

And sneakin' around for inspiration at the home centers and the library and some web sites.

I'm thinkin' I just might have to repaint my cabinets over Christmas break.

Honestly, until I saw how great Joni's came out, I hadn't even thought about painting.

I've been wanting to rip out that hideous counter top and the back splash, but The Husband is opposed to any home improvement projects that require more than a couple hours of work. Home improvement just seems to freak him out. I'm not sure if it's the work or the expense that gets him.

So, I'm getting my plan together. I have to pick a color (The Husband has no ability to visualize something, so I need all decisions done before he finds out. Otherwise, he may derail my plans with his manly input... and that's generally not good.)

I'm thinking the real way to sell this is: If I can change out the cabinet color, that heinous counter top will be slightly more tolerable. And--here's the clincher to this sale job--painting is way-cheaper than ripping out the counter and the tile. (Because if one goes, they both are going!) Plus, he won't have to lift a finger!

I know this won't totally fix my issues with this kitchen, but it will make me feel like I'm making progress.

Joni's black distressed cabinets look great. But I'm thinking dark green. Tell me what you think?



What I really need to do it wait until The Husband goes out of town and just do it without telling him. He probably wouldn't notice for months. (Picture him sorting the mail at the kitchen counter, saying "Did you replace the light bulbs in here or something?")

I'm not kidding. He recently came home and told me how his office manager (the only female in the entire office!) dyed her hair auburn red (from blonde). She did it three weeks before!!!
Yeah, he's real observant.
I just might get away with this one.