Silence of the Kitchen Hood

This is our kitchen hood and ventilation fan (with the metal filters removed).  It was very noisy (and greasy).  Upon closer inspection we discovered the cause of the noise:

There were several leaves causing the racket in the fan.  The picture above probably shows less than half of them.  So, if your kitchen fan is noisy, it is in your best interest to check it for yard waste.

Also, check out the filth Chrissy tackled on top of the hood:

Before

After.

These photos don't really do it justice.  It was gross.

The final thing we did to this hood was replace the silly looking standard light bulbs in it with halogen bulbs that sit flush with the bottom, instead of sticking out like the existing ones did.  I will let you imagine that, since I don't want to deal with any more pictures.