Kitchen Update - Part 4?

I think this is the 4th -and last- kitchen update... Part 1 was swapping out the linoleum for wood laminate, Part 2 was painting the oak cabinets, Part 3 was swapping out all of the light fixtures, and last - but best - new counters, backsplash, sink, faucet, and corbels (those little corbels make a huge difference to me). 

This kitchen has been 8 years in the making (aka - the length of time since we bought this house) - I hated it from the get-go, and now I love it. It's so bright - before it was like a dark cave - it's so clean and modern - before it was dated and hard to see a mess on it because of the camouflage counters. 

To refresh your memory, here is what it looked like before everything but the new floors:

Here is the oldest picture I could find - with all the yuck - including the yellow walls and linoleum floors.

I realize that the before picks were taken at night, and the new ones during the day - but can't you tell how much less cave-like the kitchen is now?!?! Oh my gosh, it practically gives me hives looking at the old pictures, and then calms me right down when I see the new ones.

The counters are Liberty Gold Quartz (I'm pretty sure), and the tiles are a stacked matte white 4x10, the counters are still SW Link Gray.

We were able to get it done back in October, the process took several days longer than it was supposed to - in part because the contractor made some errors, and in part because I made some changes midway, but it's looking pretty good now.  

Because of all of the dust - it was a LOT - I had to do a major cabinet clean out, and some of the drywall had to be fixed where the old corbels and some old tile were so I had to do some painting (actually I still need to do some painting). I took the opportunity to go from touch ups in the kitchen to repainting all of the baseboards around the house from when we had the floors redone... it only took me a year and a half to get around to it. 

See that sink? And beauty of a faucet? I love them both - so much. The sink is a single bowl, and it's huge, and I could not be happier with that choice. 

I was SO glad that it was able to be done before the holidays - not that we did much celebrating - but I enjoyed spending the extra cooking time in my kitchen that much more.

(uh, just noticed - I should probably paint that ^ return green)

I love it - I'm so happy.... and now on to other projects! :)