Kitchen Cabinets

So Pinterest and I have a love/hate relationship. I try many, many things that I find on there. Recipes, crafts, home improvement, some turn out great. Some, I end up wishing I had never stumbled upon the page. This project was Pinterest inspired....

I did not prefer the Oak Cabinets. Just not my style, not my thing. I saw many "redos" that involved staining or painting the cabinets. I LOVED both looks. Let me be honest, I loved the look of lighter painted cabinets but had heard horror stories of upkeep. I wasn't a fan of staining but had seen multiple posts using a specific GEL stain. Why not? So off the cabinets came......

Let me go ahead and tell you that this was NOT my favorite part. What I thought would take an hour, took a day. Cleaning, removing, removing hardware, it was not pretty.

So here's the deal. If you do this, the ONLY way I can recommend results is by using General Finishes Java Gel Stain. I ordered mine off of Amazon. Clean your doors (I used a Clorox wipe). Sand your doors. (SECRET- "sanding" means using a piece of sandpaper to simply rough up the door.   No need to kill your arms. Ain't nobody got time for that) Then it was time for staining!!! This junk is like playing in chocolate pudding. Literally. And I didn't mind the smell too bad either. Anything that you DON'T want ruined or stained, COVER IT! Clothes, floors, counters, walls, hands, nothing is exempt from this coal black nightmare.

There are two ways to use it- paint on and gently wipe off. OR, paint it on thinly. Which did I do? BOTH! I painted on and wiped off the first coat. The second and third? They were lightly painted. And I didn't use a paintbrush, I used a foam brush. Just liked the way it looked better.

You need to allow 24 hours to dry between each coat. That's right, do the math. NOT a weekend project. For me? It was a month long project. (Working 4 days a week with 2 small children....yeah I procrastinated a little) I also had to lay my doors down, therefore it took two days for each side of the doors. Anyway! After all of the coats dried, I applied a high gloss coat. We bought new pulls on Amazon for $1 a piece and simply spray painted the hinges. All in all, the entire project cost us around $100. That's right people....cheap and totally worth it, don't you think?!? Although I'm not QUITE ready to dive in to the bathrooms yet!

Before

A little paint

After

Backsplash is next! Although that may have to wait until after Hawaii!! 

The Living Room

As you enter our home, you enter the living room. We wanted this room to be pretty. While it isn't finished by any means, I couldn't wait to show you the beginning......

I looked and looked for the perfect color for this room. It had previously been painted a shade of brown. We wanted to stay with our grays, blues, greens and taupes. When I chose this color, I *thought* it would be more taupe/greige........not exactly. Because this room has A TON of natural light, this room appears more grey and is really light. I have to be honest, I don't LOVE it. However, it's growing on me and Josh refuses to re-paint. The new paint color is "Revere Pewter" by Benjamin Moore. 

Before......

Sorry yal, but the *lovely* red curtains and painted verses on the wall just aren't my thing. To each their own! 

After..........

So let me explain..... There are browns, greys and golds (sort of) in this room. These couches look so dark in this photo. Not technically the case. This chair appears to stick out like a sore thumb, not the case in person, promise! And the story behind that chair? I traded a wreath for it. That's right people. One of my custom wreaths paid for this very clean, very comfy chair!

That "coffee table"? That was my hope chest growing up. It makes a great addition to the room. 

Those pillows? Carter helped me sew those, along with the curtains pictured below. The end tables cost me a total of $5. I simply sanded down the tops and painted them with leftover paint from the dining room. 

Not the best photo, but these suckers took a little time. Not difficult, but my 3 year old helper had something to do with our time frame. 

All in all, I'd say it's coming together! 

Rowland's Room

Ready for baby boy room #2? What else could you expect from an all boy household....

When we moved in, Rowland's room had previously been a boy's room. It was complete with light blue walls, lots of trains and......someone else's name! While there was a random name painted on the wall, it was blue and had trains, so it wasn't on the top of the list of "to-do" rooms. 

When I picked out the paint for Carter's room, I already had an idea of how I wanted to do Rowland's and just got extra paint. That's right.......they are painted the same colors. Back in the old home, Rowland's nursery was one of the only well thought out, decorated, put together rooms. I loved it there and figured it would look just as good in the new house! 

When we decided to paint Rowland's room, we were doing it together.....no more single person painting. Ha! So here it is......

Before

After

Before

After

That dresser? That perfect, metal thing came from my Dad's side of the family. It was an old hospital dresser (I believe). Pretty nifty?!

Before

After

See the rocking chair? This sweet, lovely gem was given to me by a precious family member and was made WAY back in the day by another family member. Yes, I'm a sentimental sort of person........

And just as I mentioned in the Carter post, this little guy got some "papa" shelves too! 

Well, there you have it so far! There are BIG things happening in the living room......including a three year old boy sewing curtains.....so stay tuned!

Carter's Room

Carter's Room turned out perfect.....considering the circumstances. It was either going to be perfect, or a disaster. When we moved in, two of the four walls we bright hot pink. That's perfect.....for a girl. For weeks, Carter tried to explain to us that he wanted a blue room and that Rowland needed the pink room. I finally took the hint. 

While picking up some things at Lowes, we strayed down the paint isle. (This is where the possible disaster could have occurred) There was no planning, which is not my style. There was no studying, pinteresting, etc. I glanced over colors, picked a blue and a gray and grabbed a couple of gallons. I remembered my friend's words "Don't be afraid of color" So I chose some pretty "dark" colors. Why not? 

The day came to paint and I decided that I could do the painting by myself. Before this point, I paint the trim (because I don't tape) and Josh rolls.....that's how we roll. And let me tell you something, after doing Carter's room alone, we will "roll" together from here on out. Too much for me by myself! 

The decision was to paint the pink walls navy and the other walls gray. The Navy is Valspar Smokey Pitch and the gray is Valspar Wet Pavement.

Before and After

A few extras about his room: 

That bunk bed was Josh's growing up and my father in law re-stained it for Carter

Those shelves. Check those out! They have a story - While at our old home, I found a photo on Pinterest and asked both my Dad and father in law David if Lowes could cut me the wood I needed to make them. (I don't have a saw) A week later, I received a call from one and a photo from the other of 6 shelves! These that are in Carter's room, David made. You'll see some more in Rowland's room; my dad made those. 

That name canvas! Nope, not made by me :) I have a friend, Erica Stafford, who made this for me when I was pregnant with Carter. It's been perfect for his room!

A perfect room for a 3 year old to grow up in don't you think?

The Dining Room

My favorite color to date. Not the before, but the after. I guess if you could care less about my monologue, scroll to the pictures :) If you want a play by play, here it is!

The dining room was a decent color to begin with. It was a two toned room with a painted ceiling. (Apparently color painted ceilings are a thing that I'm warming up to.) When we chose the kitchen and dining room colors, originally the thought was for the current dining room color to go in the kitchen but I was afraid it was too dark and was afraid to jump.....shoulda coulda woulda now, cause Josh refuses to repaint the kitchen. Nevertheless, I'm happy with the lighter kitchen color and the richness of the dining room color. As mentioned previously, the kitchen was Comfort Gray (not gray at all really) so that means the next shade up for the dining room is..... Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay! I would use thus color everywhere......ceilings, walls, doors, stairways, ha! Just kidding, but seriously.....this color is no mistake. As stated previously, I'm cheap....actually frugal. That word sounds better. So, Lowes color matched and this is their Ultra Valspar paint. The ceiling remained the taupe brown color that it was previously painted because it matched fairly well and I'm not ready to mess with it. 

Here's your before and after.........

Now to the good stuff; those beautiful wood pieces! I wish I was a superior decorator like some of my friends. I wish my photos looked like they came out of a magazine or off of Pinterest. But Alas, I have two children 3 and under........

This GORGEOUS dish cabinet was made by none other than my dad. Yep! He made it years ago and it is now lovely eye candy for my dining room. So be jealous.....it's one of a kind and it's mine.

The next big piece? How about a beautiful wood stained farm style table. This is actually my inlaws. Josh grew up eating at this table, and while there is currently no room for it at their house, there is plenty of room at ours. He was kind enough to sand and re-stain it for us and it is perfect for the space. (We may hold it hostage for a long while) 

So there you have it.  

The Kitchen (Halfway)

Let me start by saying that I LOVE my kitchen. Compared to what I had before, this thing is like something out of a dream.....well, almost! There's A LOT that we want to do to the kitchen. For now, paint is all that has been changed. Over spring break, cabinets will be stained and backsplash will be put up and we'll be on our way. For now, you can have a halfway update! 

The color of the kitchen before, red. Now, I have nothing against the color red, and if you have a red kitchen, great for you! For me, red is great on my shirt, for a scarf, just not on my kitchen walls. It also made it feel a little dark and confined. 

Before we started painting, I wanted a little expert advice. I have a great friend who knows a thing or two about renovating and updating. Amy was nice enough to come over and go over some paint options and give me a little advice! So, for the kitchen and dining room, I can't take all of the credit! 

The color we chose for the kitchen was Sherwin Williams Comfort Gray. However, I'm cheap......or frugal or however you want to look at it. So, Lowes Valspar paint it is. They can color match and we've been very happy with it! Enjoy a few before and after photos for now......give me a few weeks and we'll have the finished product! 

The beginning

A whole week?! And I've about lost my mind. The kids have been out of school for an entire week and I'm not one for idle hands. Idle hands aren't always bad, but not normally my cup of tea. So.......As I was painting this afternoon (no idle hands remember) I began thinking about the photos I would love to post on my facebook to show my family. I then realized that the majority of my facebook friends could probably care less and may be annoyed by my photos. While I don't think that's very "friendly" and it is my facebook to post as I choose, I thought blogging may be more appropriate. I also thought that I could post a few details (while I remembered them) as I go room to room. So here's a quick rundown of the beginning........ 

Josh and I purchased a home back in December with the help of our great realtor, Kayla Moore, and our financial guru, Mark Neely. (If you are looking to buy a home, you would completely benefit from using either or both of these two people.) Moving with two small children right before Christmas (Hey I never said we were smart) was ROUGH. We made it with the help of some really great friends and some really great family. 

While I LOVE our house, it needed our touch. It was built in the 80's, and while the previous owners didn't have bad taste, it needed some updating. We started with our list of "musts" and haven't looked back! Among that list.....painting every room, staining those lovely, ugh, oak cabinets, backsplash, new floors, new carpet, ripping carpet in the master, staining banister, so on and so forth. And we want to do most, if not all, of it ourselves. 

I know this sounds like a great idea with little kids, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We love to redo and redecorate (or Josh at least tolerates it, not sure which). I want to teach my children how to do things. I don't want them to always have things done for them. I don't want to avoid tasks or adventures because I have small children at the moment. One of my most memorable experiences with my dad was when he decided to turn our garage into two separate rooms. I learned to paint. I learned to drywall. I learned to sand and mud drywall, which is the worst job ever might I add. So aside from teaching my boys the typical cook, laundry, yard work, if I'm able I'm going to throw in a little handy work. While our house is by no means a fixer upper, it does need some updating. So why not?

I promise every other post won't be this long! Just wanted to introduce you to our home and invite you in as we go from room to room!