Kitchen remodel inspiration from pottery

Written earlier in 2012 but just posted this week. . .

Kitchen Before 

Inspiration Pottery included 6 pieces--$25-$30

"Oh, my!" you say?  So did I when I first saw it! The first room of the 1960's house that got me up out of my chair was the kitchen!  I had made a trip to North Vernon at fall break (October 2011) to spend a week and had discovered this awesome little shop called Ditto's!  I fell in love with this place that smacks of a New York loft with interesting items tucked in here and there!  The owners have a great eye to presentation, and the prices are extraordinary!   Back to the story. . .my husband purchased some pottery for me on that visit, and it became my inspiration for our wallpapered kitchen.  I envisioned my kitchen as being a pale yellow with red/burgundy accents.  Before I could do anything with the colors, I had two major tasks:  strip the wall paper and refinish the dated cabinets.  I planned on changing the hardware, but when I discovered that it was copper, I decided to keep it. Everything in this kitchen had similarities to my mother's kitchen when I was a child (coppertone sink and hood, white formica with gold flecks in it) except for the pink walls that I found underneath the ivy clad wallpaper.  Since I could not change the sink and countertop right off, I decided to start with the cabinets.  How do I change them?  Do I use a primer? Should I stain them?  I definitely like the look of flat black and/or glossy black for an updated look, so after googling possibilities, I marched myself to Home Depot where

I purchased a paint that I could only find at this store.  Yes, I decided to use primer that was guaranteed to cover everything!  I felt that I was going to need it with all of the grease and grime that I used steel wool to remove!  I also spray painted the hood.  I would have liked to have used the new appliance epoxy, but I could not get it in the color that I desired, so I simply spray painted it with a paint for metal made by Krylon.  I spent several days, with the help of a sweet teenage girl who was thankfully bored at home, painting cabinets, taking off wall paper and repainting.  This house also had drapes throughout that were hung from traverse rods;  I removed the drapes in the kitchen and moved them to the living room to replace a yellow, large flowered drape that jarred my senses each time I walked through the room.  Although, I still have projects to complete within this room, I believe that the improvements I have made thus far are quite satisfying.  Did I mention that because my husband is in the military that we will be selling this house, so our goal is to modernize but not break the bank?  See what you think of the current final result!

The black cabinet is visible at the left of the picture!

The corner now yellow and home to the newly painted piece of furniture