Kitchen Renovation: Part Five!!

I think I said in Part One.. I hope I'm not here in a year posting Part 20 or something crazy like that..but we are going on five months since we started the renovation... Warning.. this post is "picture-heavy"

When we left off in Part Four we had finished installing all the new crown mold.  Hubby beefed up the chunky-ness factor using the crown that we removed in the beginning and by adding a couple more elements.  The first piece is basic base mold turned upside down.  Next he attached the old crown (also using some chunks of wood behind and out of sight for stability), then he cut a 1" by lengthwise and attached that to the top of the crown - coming out over the edge slightly.  Once this was caulked and primed it looks like one big crown mold!

Then the day came for the granite installation - I was blown away by the beauty...

It's called River White.  I was trying to find something as close to carrara marble as I could find. Hubby talked to his supplier and she knew exactly what to show us..  This is beautiful and has specs of ruby in it as well.  I'm so in love with it!

Then I started priming the upper cabinets.  I took off all the doors and we filled nail holes, caulked and primed.  See how all the crown/trim looks like one piece now?  Love it.

We also found these kick-ass corbels online for a great price. (sorry about blurry pic - I cannot hold my phone in my left hand and take a decent picture)

Stair Makeover

Hello!  How is everyone!  I have been MIA since last October – but I’m back and I’m going to tell you about one of the projects we started at 818 about a year and a half ago~~

Stairs.  Stairs are pretty essential to a two-story home.  And they can either look drab, or they can look stunning.  Ours were pretty drab.  As you can see in the first picture, they were covered with carpeting from the wall over to almost the end of the tread. (And yes, that is my husband on the crazy ladder - men!) The part that wasn’t carpeted was stained oak.  The carpeting was pretty grimy after so many years of kids/adults/dogs going up and down, and the rails were stained oak. (The only “before” pictures I had were from when hubby was painting the foyer!)

 

So one summer day Hubby and I were up at the neighborhood pool relaxing in the sun, talking about the different projects were wanted to do in our house – which by the way, are MANY – anyway, so he says, “when we get home I’m just going to pull that carpeting off the stairs.” It was kind of out of the blue, but hey, I went with it!  It is nasty work and he did it all - he's pretty much the best :)  (see below - still in swimsuit haha!)

And that’s what he did!  He pulled all the nasty carpet and padding up, and removed all the carpet tack strips.  We had no idea if the entire stair tread was oak or not, but we were hoping it was!  Much to our disappointment the majority of the tread was pine with oak woven into the end that was showing.  We knew that we didn’t want to replace them, so it was decided that we would paint them.  Paint them black!  And the posts and handrail, too – I was so excited!

He caulked and primed them – and there they sat.  For well over a year.  This is real-life folks!  Sometimes we just run out of time, or other things take precedence, but we learn to live with the imperfections and just appreciate the fact that we have stairs to someday paint.

The Dining Room Table Update :: It's Done!

I talked about the beginning of this make-over on the blog here.. and now for the rest of the story...

As I lamented to a friend over a Facebook pic of my dining room table that it had taken almost 2 months to get this thing done, he sweetly reminded me that "oh, you know, you did have that foot surgery thing going on..but no biggie!"

And he was right.  I DID have some surgery on my foot which kept me off my feet for three weeks.  Nothing scary or anything, but I could not walk on my foot for three. whole. weeks.  I used a knee roller, or they also call it a scooter.  It's not real conducive to painting or any type of household DIY.  I was basically shut down.

Painting the Old Dining Room Table

Hello all!  I am excited to show you my latest project! When we blended households back in the summer of 2009 I threw a table cloth over this cheap table in the dining room and called it day.

I figured I would buy a new one in a few months and until then this guy was fine with the table cloth on it.  Well, you know the best laid plans...

We kept on using the ugly table....  But actually, it works really well!  It has two big leaves so it stretches to hold up to 12 people (albeit tightly) and it's sturdy.  Here it is last Thanksgiving all stretched out and gussied up!

I realized I probably couldn't replace it cheaply.  Too bad this one was just so ugly.  I mean, it's pressed board with some kind of plastic finish (??) and the edge is rubbery.. bleck!

I decided to go ahead and paint it.  I figured if it turned out awful then I was no worse off. I could still throw the table cloth over it, right?  And then save my pennies and buy a better one down the road.

My hubby took it apart and carried it to the garage. I started by just sanding the heck out of the top with my new Ryobi sander (he had to buy me one because his was at a job site.. oh well!) and that was pretty fun.  I used the sander the best I could on the base - it was a little bit tricky because of the tube-like design. The only real wood on this table is the very bottom of the base!

I wiped it off real well then started priming with Kilz.  I sprayed, let it dry for over an hour, then lightly sanded with a block sander.  Then I applied a second coat and repeated the drying/sanding.  I did this over one weekend.

The next weekend my hubby started painting with Rustoleum Heirloom White - the same color we used on the dining room chairs.  Well, some parts came out great, but others came out not so great.  I'm not sure if it was too hot or dry outside, but the top is very splotchy and uneven, and also very bumpy/grainy feeling.  We ran out of time and energy that weekend, then went to the lake with the whole entire family the next weekend.. and we haven't gone back to work on it.

We need to sand and put on a second coat.  He's thinking about getting a can of the Heirloom White and rolling the top?  Or maybe spraying it with his big sprayer like he did the dining room buffet.  Either way, it won't be getting done this weekend either... I'm having some dumb surgery on my left foot and won't be allowed to walk on it for three weeks. yay. -_-

So, here it sits.  Dining room's a mess.  Who knows... maybe I can just get him to finish it while I call out orders from the couch!  I can dream can't I??  hehe  Do you ever start a project and then just can't seem to finish it?  Do you walk by it every day and it drives you crazy?  **Heavy sighhhh**

UPDATE:  See the finished table here!

Sharing at That DIY Party - always a bunch of cool projects!

Love,
Kelli

Rachael's Room::Update

As I was looking back through some of my older posts, I realized i had not done an update and showed the progress of Rachael's/guest room.

Rachael is living in Tennessee going to college at Middle Tennessee State, and only comes home a few times a year.  I showed you how we painted her room here - and left you with the image below... kinda sad huh?  a lot has been done since this!

My idea was to have a place for her when she comes home, a place where you could watch movies (on an old tv) and a place for guests to sleep.  We don't have ton of overnight guests, but my sister stayed here for several days this past fall (remember, she painted my pink dining room) and the room was perfect!

We had the twin mattress from when Rachael lived in Atlanta and went to school at Georgia State, so all I needed to find was a cute bed frame; one that looked like a daybed.  I found this one on Craigslist for $50. The owner had just put a fresh coat of white paint on it!  Then began the fun part of dressing the bed and moving the furniture around..

I found the large gray body pillow and the two fluffy white pillows at Ross, and the little ombre mint one I got at Target along with the rug.  The comforter is from IKEA - $20!  What a deal, right?

Back in September I found these adorable curtains on sale at HomeGoods so I snatched them up thinking they would be great in this room.

I just hung them YESTERDAY, Feb. 12. Six months later.  Who does that?  I guess I just forgot about them because I hung them in the closet.  But this week we have been out of work/school because of a really bad ice & snow storm - so I ran to Lowe's before the snow came in and found two cute curtain rods on sale for $10 each, and we (hubby and me) hung them up!

I took the picture below in the evening, so that's why the wall color looks so different. During the day I could not get a good picture at this angle, just too much light coming in through the windows. Can you see all the snow out there though? so. much. fun. Seriously, we never get snow so I was thrilled!

The picture hanging between the windows used to hang in our family room (you can spy it in this post) and was painted by my husband's Uncle Sam - same uncle who painted the picture that sits on our mantle.  The colors work perfectly in here with the mint and gray.

I'm pretty much in love with this little room.  Although there are still a few things I would like to do, like paint those two little lamps a matching shade of something and change their shades, add more artwork to the walls...  also, i'm going to have to add some material to the bottom of those curtains.. I wanted to hang them higher so they are too short..

I could not wait any longer!  I had to get them up - and really you don't notice the length behind the tables, but wanting full disclosure I'm showing you where they literally fall short.  I need to find just the right fabric, just like I did for my family room curtains - again, it's the thrill of the hunt ;)

Now let's go way back to the beginning to see how far this bedroom has come... this is one of those times we started a project before I took the "before" picture - bed already gone! (and yes, we did store a box spring under the bed.. doesn't everybody?)

And now... today..  YAY!!!  *clap clap clap*

So how did you spend your snow days?  Did you have snow days?  According to the weather reports, every state in the country except Florida had snow somewhere in the last few days.. wow!  Crazy winter huh?  I'll share our snow days story soon!

Linking up again with Thirfty Decor Chick and The DIY Showoff and Party!

Love,
Kelli

More Black Doors

Lawd it has taken me forever to get some things done around here. I started painting the doors on the first floor black way back here - over a year ago - then kind of ran out steam/gumption/desire whatever you want to call it.. But now I have managed to paint two more doors! "Yay!" she said so proudly.

The door leading to the garage (even though I have not tackled the other side - it has been too cold!!):  And I ALWAYS forget to take a "before" picture so I stop and take one after I started.. it's a blurry phone pic too. #bloggerfail #lol

Here you can see all three - the other two are pantry and coat closet in the short hall that leads to the dining room. We have a long row of hooks for extra coat/jacket/purse/lunch bag/dog leash storage on the opposite wall.

 

And the back door going out to the deck: again, forgot to take a picture so i found another pic i took when my husband was out on the deck grilling...and it's grainy too...

I have just one door on the first floor left to paint, and it's kind of a weird one. It's the door to the office and it's an exterior door, so the grids are inside the glass and there's no way I can paint them.

I'm wondering if I should paint it at all - ?? Will there be too much black since it's next to the front door?  Would it be weird to have one door not painted?  What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by :)

Linking up with "That DIY Party!"   and Twirl and Take a Bow!

Love, 
Kelli

In the Pink - Pink Walls That Is...

Hello my friends!  It has been a month since I've written anything.. It has been crazy around here! My sister came to visit for three weeks and it was wonderful! We also had a baby shower for my sweet daughter at my house so we have been really busy..

One of the things (among many) that my sister is really good at, is painting.  When I say she's good, I mean she's really good!  She cuts-in with no tape!

So I have been wanting to paint my dining room pink ever since I saw Cassie's dining room.  The navy served us well for many years but it was time to lighten things up.  My husband was a little skeptical at first. But when I showed him her room he was sold.  Besides - I wanted just one itty bitty room in my house that I could "glam up" and this was the perfect one! 

This is what it looked like a few weeks ago - messy and full of thrift store treasures!

When my sister came over and started priming the walls she did NOT want to use the blue tape and was only doing it because she though my hubs wanted her to. She didn't even want her picture made with the tape on the trim haha!  We only used it right there, on that one wall. The rest she cut-in by hand - she's awesome. Here she is posing for her glamor shot - love her!  You may remember, she helped me with my sexy bench redo, too ;)

What a trouper!  She primed those walls in an hour. We used Valspar High Hiding Primer.  We used only one coat to prime over that navy blue.  Wow!

She painted the pink when I was at work one day so I came home to find this!

My sideboard/buffet looks awesome with the pink.

I am in love.  I feel like I'm in Charleston or something! I am sooo very happy with the way it turned out - I used the same color as Cassie did, Sherwin Williams Verbena.  This room faces north so during the fall and winter it is rather difficult to get a good picture - not a whole lotta sunlight gettin in here..  but you get the idea.. 

Well I'm no interior designer/decorator, but I think this room is the bomb!  Thank you a millions times to my sweet little sister!!!  

I still need to paint the two chairs sitting in the corners on each side of the piano (and cover their seats), and figure out what to do with the unsightly table under the black tablecloth, do some curtains, and probably find a rug.  Lots to do, but that's the fun of it all, isn't it?  The thrill of the hunt!

Let me know what you think - leave me a comment!  I looovvveee to get comments!  So Happy!!

Love,

Kelli

LInking up with Thrifty Decor Chic! And That DIY Party !