Kitchen Update

We were hard at work in the kitchen this spring, and are finally finishing it up this summer! We got our new appliances and counter tops, and tiled the backsplash. We are LOVING how it has turned out. It looked like this back in March:

And now:

We went with soapstone tops, which we LOVE (just have to keep up with the oiling). Luckily the oiling part is supposed to get easier after the first year, so by then we'll have the look we love without the maintenance. It was really interesting when it was first installed:

 

After the first coat of mineral oil:

Luckily the shine goes away once you wipe off the excess oil.

 

Thanks to the old laminate 4" backsplash, our walls were a mess.  We patched, sanded, and decided on a tile:

 

I love, love, LOVE this tile. I saw it for the first time a couple of years ago (and it was one of the first things I pinned on Pinterest over a year ago), but we couldn't find it online when we started looking, so I didn't think it would be an option. Once we realized that there was no penny tile the exact color we wanted, we went to a local tile showroom and discovered that they could order this one for us! So. excited.

It wasn't the easiest process, although it wasn't so much hard as it was tedious. Thanks to my dad for letting us borrow his wet saw (and every other tile tool)!

We actually worked together pretty well to put it up. Stephen cut with the wet saw while I made smaller cuts with the nippers, and then we took turns spreading the thinset and worked together to line up each piece. 

 

Then we spent a couple of days cutting all of the edge pieces putting them in before I grouted.  

 

We chose a sandy-colored grout that looked similar to our lower cabinet color. We wanted something other than white so that the tile shape would stand out, but didn't want it to be an overwhelming busy contrast with a dark grout, either. 

After some caulking and cutting & painting trim pieces to match, it was done! 

We also found a piece of marble for our dresser island, which I am in the process of painting now! We just have to get it cut down a little and have the edges finished, but it will be perfect.

So as of now, our kitchen has gone from this:

to this:

and now to this:

I can't wait to take an updated photo later this week once the dresser is finished (we are painting it the same color as the lower cabinets).

The window seat is almost done and once we get to the electrical work, the whole kitchen will be finished! We added a family photo collage wall above the buffet, which as of now we are just going to leave as-is (it seems to need the warmth of that wood!), but of course that could change in the future. So close to being done!

Dreams Do Come True

The first dream that came true today is finally getting a real snow day!!  There was not much snow on the ground, but who cares?  The only other snow day we had this year came on a teacher WORK DAY, so it didn’t count.  So exciting!!

A typical snow day for me = organizing something OR spending hours on the computer.  Today, the computer won.  I played on Pinterest, downloaded fonts, read blogs, etc.  Our house is a bit of a mess, so I feel like organizing wouldn’t be a fantastic use of my time... it’s not like it’s going to make a difference in this disaster!

Though that does lead me to dream #2... which is in the process of coming true.  Our house is a mess right now because we are beginning “Update the Kitchen: Phase 2”.  This is the phase that I’d planned on happening faaaarrr in the future, but it is happening now!!  The last time I posted about the kitchen, it looked like this:

I also posted about building the window seat (although it is still waiting for me to overcome my sewing fears and make it a cushion).  

We also bought a buffet from Craigslist that will go on the long wall in the breakfast area.  My plan is to paint it white, although that could change.  I don't want it to be a wash-out.  We will probably switch the table, and obviously need to move the pendant light over now that the table has moved.  I’m thinking maybe a white plate collage over the buffet?  No matter what, that area is not even close to finished!

We have also brought in an old dresser of my mom’s to use as an island.  It’s been sitting in the middle of our kitchen for months now, and we’ve officially decided that we like it.  It doesn’t get in the way and gives us some extra counter space.  Plus more storage, which is always a plus. 

As you may or may not be able to see, the dresser needs a little work.  The original plan was to paint it the same color as our lower cabinets.  Then I really liked the wood look, so we thought about just trying to re-stain it... but I think we’re back to painting.  I also kinda need to get the drawers from my mom’s house... and figure out what to put on the top for a more usable counter top.  I’ve been thinking carrara marble.

carrara marble image from here

We are going to wait to make that decision until our NEW COUNTERTOPS AND APPLIANCES are in (!!!!!)  We finally made some decisions and bought our refrigerator, dishwasher, and range over the weekend.   

 

 Our new appliances, all from Sears.

I'm excited, of course, about the new appliances.  The dishwasher is supposed to be incredibly quiet, which will be such a change from our current one, which sounds like a never-ending freight train!  I am MOST excited about our range, though.  I have wanted this range for (literally) years.  I even convinced my parents to get it when they bought the appliances for their new kitchen!  Luckily they have loved it, and we are pumped to get one for ourselves.  I am soooo excited to get ride of the typical free-standing range.  I can't wait to clean this one!  It will be so much better.  

We also narrowed down our countertop choices.  I have REALLY been wanting soapstone for the longest time. 

soapstone image from here

But... when we went to the stone yard, we really loved the leather-finish granite options.  We didn’t want the typical shiny granite that everyone seems to have these days, and the leather finish gives it a completely different look, without the added early maintenance of soapstone.  Plus, hubby didn’t really feel strongly about soapstone like I did, and he LOVES the leather-finish granite.  So... we’ll see!

Of course, along with new countertops comes a tile backsplash.  We don't have a backsplash right now, which has been fine (especially since we love our paint color!) but we think tile will really bring a finishing touch to the "new" kitchen.  I have always had a slight love affair with penny tile, and always dreamed of having a place (or two!) to use some in our house.  

penny round image from here

We got some samples from The TIle Shop this weekend (shown in the same picture of the buffet from above).  Both of us really like the furthest color, "Moss".  It is mainly gray, but with some greenish shades, so I think it will really coordinate with our wall color.

So, the to-do list includes:

- paint dresser for island
- paint buffet?

- sew cushion for window seat
- install new appliances
- have new counters installed
- pick out & install island counter
- decide on backsplash tile
- TILE the backsplash

Also very high on my priorities list is to replace our AWFUL fluorescent light fixture with recessed lighting!  Fingers crossed that gets done soon, too!!

Catch Up

Well, as usual... I suck at posting once school starts!  It's been an interesting year so far.  I have some super sweet students, and some super challenging ones, too.  It's neat to see how much progress so many of them have already made. 

This is my attempt to catch up... you could also call it a camera dump.  Or just a picture dump, since quite a few of the pics are from my phone!  Apologies if the quality is lacking, but I just haven't gotten around to taking any nice photos.  

Over the summer, I moved our DVD cabinet up to the office so it could be with the 2 others that match it (excuse the Chrismtas pic...) and replaced it with this little chest.

It wasn't in the best shape,

but after some sanding, paint, & poly, it fits right in. 

 

 The yellow lamp was a little much on the yellow chest, so I gave it a coat of black spray paint.  I'm not sure I love the black lamp & white shade... so we'll see.  It will probably change.

Before I put the paintbrushes away, I also painted a mirror for the hallway bath (also known as Boston's room).  Mom & I found the mirror at a consignment store; it was originally black.  I tried spray painting it a blue shade, but it just wasn't the right color.

I picked up a sample tub of a color closer to the teal in the shower curtain, and it was much better.  

While on a painting roll, we also painted the interior of the front & side doors black.  They looked fine white,

but I really love the contrast of the black!  

I also made a fun gift for a friend's bridal shower using this awesome flickr collection of letter pics.

It was fun to make and I really liked the result, so I made one for us, too!  It became part of our new hallway gallery wall.

The last project I took on before the school year began was finally making some sort of window treatments for the office.  After lots of thought (like 2 years worth), I finally decided to make cornices/pelmets for both windows.  

I knew I wanted orange & white fabric and finally found some I liked at ufab (best fabric store ever).  After debating how to make the boxes themselves, I finally decided to use purple foam insulation board from Home Depot (I wanted something lighter than wood, but a little more sturdy than foam core, which I've seen quite a few bloggers use with great results).  I love how they turned out (although again, excuse the phone-quality pics).

Right now, we are working on a project that I thought we wouldn't tackle for awhile, but hubby surprised me one day by starting it!

I'm so excited; I always thought it would be the perfect place for a banquette/window seat!  Plus, it will give us a little extra storage, which is always nice.  Stephen added some trim and is working on painting it white.  Now it's my turn to sew the cushion... should be interesting!  It'll definitely be the hardest sewing project I've undertaken so far.  

The plan is to shift the table over (and move the light over as well), 

then add some sort of sideboard or buffet on the right wall for even more storage!  Yay.

So how's that for a crash update!?  It'll do for now.  My plan is to try to post a little more often, even if I have to make them short and sweet.  We'll see how it goes!

Kitchen, Christmas, & the B wall

Wow, aren't I great at updating!?  Shame.  Well, since the last post ended with a few pictures of the kitchen, I figured I would pick up where we left off.  I actually took a few updated "after" shots during the holidays, so there is now more than one (selective, clutter-hiding) current photo of our kitchen.  Just a reminder of what it looked like BEFORE.

 

 

Isn't it gorgeous?  Ugh.  And yes, the cabinets were as dirty and stained as they appear (most of that junk was not going anywhere, even after a hard cleaning). 

We actually got to start working on the house before we moved in.  One blessing of the short sale was that the house was (and had been) empty, so the previous owners were nice enough to give us their keys until we closed.  We had two or three weeks of work time before we were even the owners.  Thank goodness it worked out!  So we never actually had to live with it looking exactly like this.  It was cleaned and the walls were painted when we moved in.

That was about all that was done, though.  We lived with it like this (below) for way longer than I would like to admit (it took a few months to finally buckle down and paint the cabinets).  We also lived with a wire hanging down for a few weeks in between horrible fluorescent fixture and okay-for-now pendant light.

After painting the cabinets & adding new hardware (and interior hinges, thanks to hubby's ingenious engineering/rigging techniques)... we finally got to this.

 

Like I mentioned before, there are still quite a few things we would like to change, but most of those are pretty big-ticket projects.  Dark stone counter tops and stainless steel appliances (and new cabinets altogether, while we're at it) will just have to wait!

Here is a view of the other side.  One of my favorite things we did in the beginning was rip off the carpet from the edge of the stairs & stain the wood underneath... now the new carpet on the stairs looks more like a runner on the bottom few steps.  I love being able to see that wood!  

 

Just for the record, we did finally put back the rest of the spindles (or whatever they're called) under the railing.

So... since those pics were clearly taken around Christmas, and despite the fact that it's nearing the end of January... here are a few more Christmas photos.

 

 

Oh yea, that reminds me... there are also a few updates in the dining room.  Clearly this is what happens when I go too long between updates... there are too many things to post at once!

We now have a new table & chairs!  

Well, the chairs aren't actually new, just new to us.  I paid $20 for 6 of them at a yard sale last summer.  After some sanding, black paint, and reupholstered seats (new foam, batting, & fabric), they are as good as new.  Almost.  They creak a little, but that just adds character, right?  

You can see a glimpse of the "B wall" in this pic.  I finally hung the B's we (I) had collected & painted.  I could add about 6 more just with the selection of letters at the newly-opened Hobby Lobby!  I'll refrain for now, but it is tempting.

Here is a close-up of the stenciling.  It was intended for the original dining room post, but got left out.  So fun!

Speaking of fun... one last before & (updated) after of the kitchen.  Just because.  It's fun :)