EEEK!! Under My Kitchen Sink - Challenge #5

I was seriously dreading this one!! When we moved in here 2 years ago, the cabinets were dirty but in good shape, so I scrubbed them down and was so proud of having it all organized. Then about a month after we moved in, we had a bad leak that just persisted and pretty much ruined the cabinet before we could get it fixed. That's exactly what I was happy to get away from in my old house.  I was sad. :(  So sad, I just gave up on the cabinet and everything inside it.  The longer it went, the more I knew it would be so icky. We even tried keeping our trash can under there for a while, but soon decided we produced too much trash for that to work.. it kept spilling out cause no one would empty it when it got too full.  EWWW.  So thanks to Toni and the 21 Days to get Organized Challenge at a Bowl Full of Lemons, I forced myself to do it.  Nothing like accountability of the internet.. well the few people who come read my blog anyway hehe.  I will warn you,... this is not pretty...








So here's my Before pic:

I'm not enlarging these.  You don't want to see that...

 

You can kind of see in this photo how the cabinet goes back to the right.  That's dead space next to the stove. The side of the cabinet facing the stove is actually open, so anything that spills on the stove goes down between it and the cabinet and inside it. It also made it really easy for the mouse that kept going under the stove to also get into the cabinet.  Yeah I had to clean up his little droppings too  ICK!  

 

Oh and you don't even want to know how bad that blue carry thingie was. I've had it for YEARS, decades even. I REALLY wanted to just toss it and go buy a new one, but there was nothing wrong with it other than it being nasty, and that would just be wasteful. So, I took a deep breath and did it.  I scrubbed it til it looked brand new!

I took everything out, even way back in the corner.  Found the wood glue, duct tape and flash light we'd been missing. I got an old long handled acid brush and swept it out really well and dry scrubbed it well.  The bottom of the cabinet is thin fake wood stuff like paneling and was damaged by the leak, so there's so easy way to clean it. It's just splintery wood now. :(  I REALLY want new cabinets! Anyway, I'm going to get some new pretty contact paper when we go out tomorrow or Friday and do what I can to get it to work.  I may have to get creative, but I'll figure something out.

Aja the cat has to check every thing out.  She loved it when it was empty and thought it was her new playhouse apparently.


That back corner had become just a catch all place. Most everything got thrown away. The legs on my dish drainer were all rusted and nasty so I tossed it. They're not cheap, but I'm not keeping it in that shape.  I kept the drain board as they aren't cheap either, but I haven't scrubbed it down yet.  I may still toss it if I find a drainer with a new board attached.  We'll see.  I kept a couple of vases in case I ever get flowers... you never know!  I put those in my green Tupperware bread box.  I love that container, but the lid was too close to the stove one day and melted, so it's useless for holding bread.  I had tossed it in there because I couldn't bear to just throw it out.  I love vintage green Tupperware. I'm a freak that way.  So, I decided it was perfect for holding the vases and my candle that I don't want sitting on the kitchen counter all the time.  

 For the stuff I don't use all the time, like Rug Doctor fluid and Drano etc, I put those in that big white crate and put it back in that corner, but not too far back.  I don't want to have stuff tossed back there anymore, so this should stop people from doing that anymore.


I had another little pink crate that was the perfect fit for Swiffer pads.

Oh my poor cabinet. Seriously if y'all have a little leak, FIX IT!  This is what happens when you wait. *sobs*  I'm gonna have to get some sand paper and get rid of all that paper laminate crap that's peeling off and maybe I'll just get inspired and buy some white paint this weekend.  Won't that surprise the Hubs.  I've wanted to paint the cabinets white forever... eh probably best to wait til we can set the doors up outside to paint and dry... hard to do that when there's 6 inches on snow on the back porch and it's 20 degrees. Oh well... But SOMEDAY!  And believe me, I'll blog about it!

Ok so yeah rambling again...

The cats had to check it out. Guess I should have let them in there earlier when Mr Mouse was around.


So, the final AFTER pic, I remembered to put the trash bags back this time.

It looks dirtier than most of the BEFORE pics I've seen linked on Toni's blog, but it's organized, and soon it will be nice and pretty with contact paper and sanded down fake wood. Yay!


Head over to A Bowl Full of Lemons to see all the other horror stories and the very pretty and clean After pics, especially Toni's!

Check it out!

***EDIT!!***  I have done more to it and it's much prettier now!