Kitchen Makeover Part I

Since we've been on a painting roll, we decided to tackle the kitchen as well.  As mentioned in our first post, the kitchen has always been a bit of a frustration for us because of the thick layers of yellow paint on seemingly every surface, the lack of a dishwasher and the awkward counter space.  We have yet to remedy the missing dishwasher nor the awkward counter space- but this past week, Brian did tackle some of the massive yellow overload.  Since the kitchen has white and black tile and some awesome yellow, black and green tile counter tops & back splashes, we did want to keep some sunny yellow in there.  Just not everywhere.  See below for some pics of the kitchen on the day we moved in... even though its small & has an odd floor plan, it has new appliances, a window above the sink (which I love!) and is overall pretty cute, right?

This past week, Bri set out to paint all of the cabinets white.  We removed all of the hardware and spray painted them black to match the accents.  We removed the doors from one set of the cabinets for open access to vases, dry baking goods, etc and to get stuff up and off of the limited counter space we have.  See some "after" photos below:

You might notice the spice rack we hung next to the open cabinet space.  I am particularly excited about this piece.  We found it at Goodwill in Tacoma for $3.99- I spray painted it black to match the kitchen and then sanded it down to give it the distressed look.  In case you missed it in the other picture, a close up is here:

I am on the lookout for some great glass canisters to put in the open cabinet for dry goods like flour, pasta, sugar, etc.  We are inheriting a baker's rack from my parents which is literally falling apart, so we look forward to restoring it and using that to help fix the counter space problem.  We will be sanding it down, painting it black and affixing it to the wall for added support.  Before & after pics to follow of that project. 

PS- When are you coming over to enjoy a refreshing beverage in our new/ vintage quaint kitchen!?

A few signs of Spring!

Happy Spring! I am so excited for gardening and barbequing, suntans and margaritas that I can barely contain myself!  A few small projects have been taking place around the house, so I figured it was time for a small update.  I pulled out some of my Spring decor on Friday (some pictured above)-and love looking at the hints of the season ahead.  We received the digital photo frame (pictured) as as Christmas gift from my brother last year.  I am constantly making new slideshows to play on it throughout the year.  I usually use Google Image and find seasonal images which I love watching scroll by.  For example, in the winter time- I loaded images of snowflakes, beautiful gifts, twinkle lights, etc.  At Halloween, it held spider webs, candy, haunted houses, etc.  During Bri's birthday week- I downloaded all sorts of things which Bri enjoys from Happy Birthday images to pictures of  Jaw Breakers, Marissa Tomei and Seahawks logos.  Of course, right now I am enjoying photos of flowers blooming, meadows of wild flowers, sunny gardens, rainbows and all things Spring.  In addition to the slide show, I love having the fresh daffodils in the house.  Admittedly, these are store-bought, but the tulips on the porch (from last year's bulbs) are desperately trying to bloom.  They are shown below, and I look forward to seeing the flowers bloom- SOON!

 



Paint Project #1, Complete

We survived our first painting project!  I really can't take much credit through, since most of last week I was fighting the flu, so I never even so much as picked up a paint brush. Big thank you to Bri for making this happen, and doing such a damn good job!  Sometimes when I see how meticulous, detailed and thorough he is, it makes me crazy that someone out there has not hired him yet!  I know I am biased- but he's an amazing worker and I'm glad I have him to complete my honey-do lists!  (As you'll see below, Betty (kitty) also stepped in to help and supervise a bit as well.)

A few touches before the project got started to see how it looks in different lights...

Betty has approved this paint tray for use.

Gulp!  Here we go!

Taping sucks.

Hmmm, Betty needs to check this out- every last inch of it!

Finished product.  We are very happy with the subtle, yet overall dramatic difference.  It feels polished, clean and soothing.  I'd say it was a success for a first time project!

Another view of the livingroom.  We like the "Robin's Egg" feel of the walls and how they compliment the dark brown furniture and dark wood furniture & blinds. 

So- what do you think!?!  And, do you have any painting experiences worth sharing? Please comment them here!  We are thinking about tackling the kitchen next- particularly painting the cabinets/ new harware/ walls.  Advice?  Dos?  Donts?  Help us out!

Painting Fever - (No pun intended since I'm fighting the flu)

So, we are about to embark on our first ever painting project!  (er, should I say, Brian mostly, is about to embark on this project while I am at work.) We've been busy over the past few weeks learning the ins and outs of home-buying and meeting with landlords and credit unions,etc.  While we aren't quite to the paper-signing stage, we are ready to take some steps to making this house a little bit more reflective of our home.  We are going to be painting our living room/ hallway area first, and I've posted "Before" photos above.  A hint to make your brain hurt until the "after" photos are posted-  the name of the color: "Shaded Silver Moss" 

When I grow up, I want to name color crayons & paint swatches.