On my way to a dream kitchen

We have been 6 years in this house and my kitchen has gone through about 4 transitions on the journey in search of my dream kitchen. When we moved in it had beige walls and a blue check wallpaper with an apple border. Can I say W.O.W.? Country...country...country. Nothing wrong with it if you like it...me? NOT.

So, transition #1was yellow ragged walls with a stenciled grapevine and purple accent wall. Huge improvement I must say, at least as far as 2005 was concerned. I will say I did a cool textured diamond as a backsplash with a cluster of grapes in the middle. All done with paint.

Transition #2 I changed the purple accent wall to a burgundy and updated the wall art. Added the 'fake' tin backsplash which was a BIG improvement and got an over the stove micro.

Transition #3 I painted the yellow walls a cinnamon red with a cappucino colored accent that tied in my office connected to the back. Got rid of the grapes. I liked the colors real well but still had these country oak cabinets that I was so tired of with a very beige laminate countertop.


Cinnamon red color in Trans #4



Oak cabinets with awful trim.












I was real determined to get rid of the countertop. I HATED it! seriously. My dilemma? I didn't really want to spend $4grand on a granite countertop (which is my ultimate dream kitchen) to install over cupboards I hated. Seriously. I have been reading and reading all you bloggers who have diligently painted your cabinets and E V E R Y one has turned out beautiful but I was skeeeeeered. Did I say I was scared? Not only of the work but of the upkeep. Because no matter how much you sand and prime and TSP, painted cupboards still require frequent touchups.



Cabinets being painted with grey primer.

 So, transition #4 begins. I put on my work clothes and dove in. Tore off the nasty old trim and bought new trim. Dug through the wastebasket and pulled out nasty old trim and reinstalled the pieces that mounted on the sides. WHY you ask? Because I wanted to run some crown moulding type trim around the top but, if you look at the picture, the edge on the side stuck out further than the side panel. So, it wasn't EVEN! argh. Reinstalled the trim to the sides to make it an even surface then bought the new trim and brought it home, uber excited to start cutting. Only to discover it didn't fit. You know, that is really what I get. My dear hubby is always telling me to measure first but really it takes so m u c h time. I like to rely on the good ole 'eye ball' technique. You ever heard of that? It is easy but, alas a bit unreliable. So, back to Menards I go to buy another trim that will fit this time. After much blood, sweat, and tears to cut and install the trim (have you ever tried to twist into a pretzel and install trim sideways? It is not easy I tell you) and a humble plea for help to my husband, it is installed.



Step #2, installed wainscotting wallpaper to the side of the cupboards which was an oak veneer.







Stay tuned for part two on my way to a dream kitchen.














Linking up to:

Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Special

Taking a closer look...

Lately there has been a LOT of snow in Michigan which results in more time spent inside the house. This is when I take stock of what I would like to do in this coming year as well as cleaning, organizing, fixing and repairing.

As I was touching up knicks on my dining room table (which, by the way is not very old but sure requires a lot of 'touch ups') I was struck by the thought of how, from a distance my table looks beautiful. But when you get up close you see knicks in the wood, or a scratch here, and blemish there which means frequently required 'maintenance' to keep it looking nice. But, alas even though I touch it up and fix it up to try to keep it

looking new, it really just looks 'aged.' Now, mind you, 'aged' is not a bad look and certainly as I get older, I am looking a bit more 'aged' than I would like. But really being 'aged' is a sign of life well live or, in the case of furniture, a room well used. And isn't that what it is all about?

It is so easy to allow people to only see us from a distance and not get up close where the blemishes are visible. And, as we 'age' we have more and more fixed blemishes but, just like vintage furniture, fixed blemishes are a sign of a a wealth of wisdom gained along the way as we we travel this path of life.

Best Junk of 2011

This is the weekend to honor junk over at Funky Junk Interiors and I am a well-known junker in my part of the world. In fact, one of my best friends confessed to grabbing a table out of her neighbors garbage and said it was my fault! Yikes, what an influence I have on my peeps!

All in all, this project only cost 

me $10 for the chalkboard paint.

This project started with the frame you see below. When we were clearing out my hubby's grandmas house, I quickly grabbed up this find. It was not much to speak of (wish I had pictures) but once I pulled out the print and gave it a paint treatment it was great in my dining room. Originally there were 2 similar types of frames/print although not a match. I gave them the same paint treatment (the dining room wall color as a base coat with a white crackle finish over the top) and hung both together as empty frames. G R E A T conversation piece. Nobody could understand why I would just hang a couple of empty frames but everybody liked it!

This is the frame. It has been painted and 
spray painted and crackled to end 
up like this.

That's been several years ago and they have gone through many transitions since then. One is no longer as the frame broke and was unrepairable. Alas, the lone frame is now a victim of one final update as seen below.





This is a scrap piece of plywood that has been 
used for a school project by my youngest son, 
cut and now reused as the background 
board for the frame.



Added some lovely chalkboard paint. 
Did have to go out and buy another can. 
Had a can for a few years just waiting 
for a project and couldn't find it...argh!

   

Some of my other fun junk projects for 2011 were:

For the Birds--Repurposing a
birdhouse for the garden.



Birthing New Chairs -- How I rescued
Craig's List chairs



Linking this project up to:

Funky Junk Interiors SNS #116

Top Projects for 2010

Wow, this year has flown by hasn't it? Hard to believe we are ushering in 2011. I love the linky parties and the blog posts that allow us to look back on all we've accomplished this year. Holds us accountable to each other and inspires me to keep on decorating! Well, okay I'd be doing it anyway but I L O V E seeing what everybody else is doing. I am a great idea stealer...haha.

Anyway, these are a few of my favorite projects that I completed this year...



Although this project definitely was the least rewarding while doing the work, it probably was the most rewarding of all. To have all my baseboard one color and trimmed out the same made the whole main floor really flow better. Amazing what little things can do!



My most recent bathroom update, Pretty in Purple

This was by far our biggest project of the year. Truthfully it started in November of 2009 and didn't get finished until January of 2010! Ouch. Check it out in "The Afters."

This project was a LONG time coming! I thought and thought and read and read and pondered just what to do with the back of the counter bar. I even tried a few things (paper bag wallpapering, etc.), all of them flops. Then, I finally decided on adding the beadboard, check out the DIY Beadboard Treatment


.

Well, okay so much for top 10 projects. But, you get the drift. Thanks for stopping by.

Linking up to Southern Hospitality's Top 2010 project linky party and Savvy Southern Style

A few of my favorite things...reviewing Christmas 2010

We are in the middle of our first real snow storm in Michigan. It's has rained all day, turned to snow and ice, and really starting to pile up. Might lead to our first snow day. I am sitting at a hotel in a city about an hour from my home for a work related event and getting ready to post pictures about my 2011 Christmas decorating. Wanted to review last year and see all the changes that I made for this year. Many of the changes simply involve using the same items in a different way. I love how easy it is to change up a room simply by moving some things around, changing furniture, spray painting something a different color. So easy yet so much change!

I definitely like to decorate a bit more 'winterish' and not so seasonal so that I can keep up most of my decorations up for awhile past the holidays. Snowman are one of my top favorite winter decorating items for sure and, where I live, we always have plenty of winter and plenty of snow!


Last year, I hung ornaments from the dining room chandellier, really enjoyed this look but haven't done it this year.

Silver and gold I have some. I love ornaments!! There are always great finds at Salvation Army or Dollar Tree for cheap and they look so great!

Painted the sign above this mirror a light beige and highlighted it in milk white glaze. Looks so o o oo much better!

My pine trees are up all year round, haha but they got banished to the basement rec room. No snow on them this year!

This was our Charlie Brown tree last year, decorated by my boys. This year, they lost interest and I am working on it. Night quite finished but close.

The reindeer flew the coop and landed and a beautiful new (to me) piece of furniture that I'm dying to show off (photos coming soon)

Wreath decorated mirror in living room

Bookshelves in office.

Can't wait to share what I did this year!

Ornaments galore.

Snowflakes hanging from my dining room windows

Merry Christmas

Dining room bookshelf display

Lights, ornaments, and red. What more do you need for Christmas?

Sparkly Christmas tree

Dollar Tree wreath looks rustic hanging from this shelf.

Let it snow....says it all. Well, let it snow until January.




Thanks for reminiscing with me! Looking forward to sharing my new, revamped for 2011, Christmas decorations!

Pretty in Purple

It was time....boy was it time. My half bath has gone through many transitions in the six years we have lived at our current home. It was blue when we bought it...blue walls, blue tile floor, blue everything. Not bad but the blue had the blues. So, since I didn't have the money to do much with it and couldn't afford to replace the blue tile I decided to work with the color and decided to try a mural (see 'after' photos at the bottom). Turned out not too bad considering I am no expert. I used paint that I had in the basement, copied pictures and ideas from the internet and just started painting. I'm tellin' ya it is quite therapeudic...just sayin'.

Color: Treaded Grapes
Stencil with "eggplant" metallic paint.

After a couple of years, I decided it was time to spruce it up and bring it out of the muck and mire of the pond, and guess what? I was in the mood for purple. My husband and kids had a fit. It was so sweet, really. They are my biggest fans. Trust me, the mural was not that great!

Wainscotting wallpaper with
chair rail.

I've tried purple before but not in this room and not the right purple, if you know what I mean. Finally, I found the right purple. Then, I added wainscoating wallpaper and chair rail. Never tried the wainscoating wallpaper and, for many purposes, it works great. This was one of them.

I have the basics finished but still need to add some finishing touches. I am IN L O V E with the colors. It is amazing how soothing they are. I just love to sit in there...well, suppose that is a good thing huh? Okay now for the 'before'...hold onto your hats decorating chicas.

 

Mirror was moved from dining room.

Pond mural. This is the ceiling. The idea was to look
like you were under water. See the frogs and fish.

Lilly pads.

Mirror made from scrap wood and stained glass.

Anyways, you get the drift... Quite a change, huh?

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

The mirror you see in the first picture here is real but, to protect the innocent, the identity of this mirror has been changed. While it cannot be proven that this mirror did anything more than sit on a mantle, dull and bored, for the safety of all and for the well being of those in the vicinity of the mirror, it's identity HAD TO BE CHANGED. Oh, well I suppose the fact that it was G O L D might have been a factor in it's identity crisis.

 Now you might think that I have something against gold finishes. Well no, I don't. But, this mirror was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and for the wrong purpose. Oh yes, I purchased this mirror to grace the top of this mantle but from the moment I bought it, nothing was right. So, I got a can of spray paint, taped off the mirror and sprayed away. I liked what I saw but it still was not right. So I found some white pickling glaze and antiqued over the newly sprayed white finish, gave it a new home and...behold, it was all good.


Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all!

Living Room Window "Mis-Treatments"

I want to know who it is that designs living rooms? I go to a lot of open houses and it never ceases to amaze me how badly living room layouts are! There is always a door in a stupid place or a fireplace off center in a room or something that makes it incredibly hard to decorate a room around. Well, my living room is no exception. It is a long rectangle with no natural focal point. The front wall (which is a long wall of the rectangle) has two double windows right next to each other, the wall opposite has three doorways...count them, three! Two go into the same room! The two end walls, one has a window and the other is broke up by these two partial walls with ugly spindles on top! Yikes.

One of the first things that I did when we moved into this house was to take down the dark, heavy drapes that covered these large window to let some light in. Actually, our view is not too bad either! Many paint colors and room  transitions later, I have ended up with my new mis-treatments. This idea came from many of the wonderful decorating blogs out there but I think originally from The Thrifty Decor Chick. It really makes about the best sense to make my windows a focal point so that is what I did by creating longer drapes that I pieced together. The bottom is an actual window panel topped with some fabric. I then added the ribbon mostly to cover the glued seam and to tie in the green of my walls better. There is actually a small fleck of the green in a pattern on the top material and if you squint your eyes and strain real hard you can see it. In the true spirit of a mis-treatment I glued the two pieces together and didn't hem the fabric at the top. Just added drapery clips (Jo-Ann fabrics, 40% off!!) and hung them. The rods were from Hob Lob on clearance and were about 75% off the original price. yipee! I'm still not in love with the shears underneath but don't want to block the light as I have precious little! I think I may add bamboo blinds when I get some cash flow (haha, like that's gonna happen any time soon!).

This is a picture of the old walls/window treatments and also a view of the U G L Y partial walls with spindles. Hate these! But, I think I have an idea to make them 100% better but will have to be patient and wait for the time and money.

Here is a picture of the old window treatments.

Linking up today with:

Just Something I Whipped Up

Making the World Cuter Monday

It's So Very Creative from It's so Very Cheri

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