WOW! Thank you all so much for the ideas and suggestions! It's a lot
to undertake at once, but little by little I'll get it done!

We started working on the left side of the kitchen this evening. My
mom and I scrubbed so much nasty slime, but it really made a dent. We
used TSP with hot water for it all and lightly scrubbed the steel
edging.

I brought steel wool with me, but realized it was a bad thing to use.
We didn't need it anyway! (Thank goodness!!!) There were all kinds
of sponges - some like the scotch-brite and some just the tough
scrubby material. The plan is to get the cabinets cleaned so I can
put fresh white paint down, and to wash the walls to prime for the
lovely yellow we chose for the room. There's already a yellow trim to
save me some work too!

The biggest trick now is to move the 41 inch stove to the other side
of the kitchen so I can get to the right side to wash. This house has
an original Dishmaster faucet, but the hose is gone. I'll try to get
a pic posted. Unfortunately, I was a gal born in the wrong era,
because I'm a softy for the old retro look. My fiance isn't. But we
are finding a happy medium. :-)

Speaking of retro - check out Elmira Stoveworks' retro stoves! I
think they're called Northstar, and they're amazing! And expensive!
But so worth it. My parents' home is over 100 years old, and they
have a store from Elmira that is the older version. It's really cool.

Another question: What's a good way to get the contact paper off the
inside of my cupboards? I freaking hate contact paper...

Everyone - I can't tell you how much this means to me!!! I'm going to
try to find my pic of the current kitchen and then post the after
pics. Taking down the wallpaper and washing parts of the cabinets has
proved that the kitchen had once been painted BRIGHT RED. Wow!

Steph