Completed Kitchen

I've been posting updates as we make progress in the kitchen, but I don't think I ever posted the finished version. If you remember we painted the cabinets and island. The appliances are all new. We had granite installed on the countertops and decided to extend the island to make a bar area. We've been so pleased with the way it turned out. Instead of having a separate table we can all eat at the bar and the stools push right under the bar. The final thing we plan on changing are the lights. We'll replace the flourescent with recessed lights and pendant lights over the bar.

Just in case you forgot, here's what it looked like before the changes.

Painting a Chair

Oh how I wish I had taken a picture of this chair before I painted it!! I found it at the Habitat Restore for $6. It was dirty and ugly but I thought the lines were good so I decided to try my hand at painting it. Why not since I've painted everything else in the house?! All I had to do was lightly sand it. I used the same SW oil-based black paint that I used for the kitchen island.

The seat cover gives you some indication of how bad the chair looked overall. And here's the finished product! The fabric is a reminant I found for $10 and still have some left over for another project. I plan to use the chair in the kitchen at the built in desk.

More on the Flood

Another benefit to the flood, if you can even say that, is our master bathroom renovation. The tile in the bathroom had to be replaced so we decided to redo the entire bathroom. It was one of our long-term projects anyway. So far we have removed everything but the tub. The plan is to install new tile on the floor, shower and tub surround, replace the white vanity and install a new tub. This is what we have done so far...

Completed 1/2 Bathroom

In the 1/2 bathroom we added crown molding, beadboard, a new vanity and mirror. The vanity and mirror we purchased on clearance at Home Depot for - are you ready for this? - $75!! We are always looking for deals and this one was a steal. The granite countertop came from the boneyard so we were able to use an exotic piece. This is a shot of the bathroom before.

The Flood

For those of you who actually read this-wondering why I haven't blogged in a while? Well we went out of town for the weekend and came home to a flood. Crazy huh?! There's this little plastic piece on the supply line to the toilet and it cracked, causing water to spew the entire weekend. Needless to say the master bathroom and closet were flooded, the laundry room and garage below, as well as the room in the basement below that. All I could do was cry. Jason started rushing around cleaning up the mess. Servpro was here for two weeks with 28 fans. This is the mess we came home to!

The laundry room ceiling that fell in. Who knew paint would peel when wet?

The silver lining is that we got new tile in the laundry room (we hated the old white tile) and the garage ceiling and walls are now painted. Since the master bathroom tile had to be replaced we decide to go ahead and renovate the entire bathroom. This was one of our long-term projects but what the heck!

Make Your Own Chandelier

Olivia somehow got the idea that she wanted a "princess chandelier" in her room. When I saw the price tag on a small chandelier I said OH NO! So I got the crazy idea to make my own. I purchased a brass chandelier from Habitat Restore for $15 (you know, the kind everyone wants to get rid of). I spray painted it off white to match the trim in the house. I think I did maybe 3 coats of paint. Oh and don't forget to put tape over the electrical wires.

After Christmas I looked for bead garland on sale. I found a few strands at Hobby Lobby for about $1 each. I also bought decorative rnament hooks. The "crystals" I found at Target. They sell them as vase fillers and the pack was $7. They came with holes already in them so it was perfect for hanging. I used fishing line to hang the crystals and have some left over for another use in her room. Here's the finished product!

I covered the candle stick things (not sure what they're called) with scrapbook paper. I just cut them to size and used tacky glue that dries clear. I can't tell you how excited she is!!! She wants to show everyone her princess room and her chandelier. It was a super easy project and much less expensive than the real thing.

So we didn't think about the implications of painting the trim an off white color. Although it looks great and we wouldn't change a thing, we have run into a few snags. It takes forever to paint first of all. You have to cover every square inch otherwise the white will show through. And the latest issue is with blinds. We went to buy white wood blinds like we always have but when we installed the first one it looked terrible. The stark white against our off white trim made the trim look dingy. So now we're having to special order blinds to match the trim. Ugh!! Expensive!!