Nursery Love

A little update on what's been going on in our house.

We are having a boy but I wanted to keep the nursery for any future children so I tried to make it as gender neutral as possible. We are still waiting on the chair, a rug, and some other things here and there but all of the heavy lifting is done. If you have a baby I highly recommend you work on the nursery early. At five months I could handle being up on a ladder painting but now I wouldn't last an hour.








These shelves are a mess, I have ordered some baskets for the toys, etc. to keep things tidy. Will post more pics as things come together.

Breakfast nook/Butler's pantry

This isn't really a fair "before" because well, this is before we owned the house. These are the previous owners belongings but I want you to take a close look at the light fixture. This is a view of the breakfast nook that is connected to our kitchen.



See that brass beauty with the glass globes on top?


Well, I took it down, spray painted it black, and replaced the glass with mini shades.


And here is the end result. Not bad!



And in the room. That wall is a little naked. I need something, but, one thing at a time.



And right outside the kitchen we have a small butler's pantry. We kept it cohesive by using the same paint, granite, and backsplash as the kitchen. See below for before and after. I need to clean up my mess, but, you get the picture.

Kitchen Part 2

Recently my husband asked me to take pictures of the house to have for insurance purposes (hurricane season). I realized that I hadn't blogged in a year, so I thought I would at least complete the story of my house and go from there.

Here is where we are in the kitchen:

The first step was to improve the functionality of the cooking space. We tore out the old cabinets and appliances (ew) and hired a cabinet maker to build us cabinets that fit in with the rest of the kitchen. Since this is not our forever house, it was important to us to keep the budget small, so we kept the remaining cabinets and painted them.

Before:

After. Now I have space on the sides of the range to put bowls, spices, or anything I need to cook. The range is a Kenmore Pro commercial series. This is a really good option if you want a commercial range without the price tag. It is duel fuel (gas on top, oven is electric) which is better for baking (supposedly?). I have to admit I love having a gas range. The only downside is this thing puts off some serious HEAT. I am very glad I decided to put a fan in lieu of a pretty fixture.



It would be a lie to say that painting cabinets was easy. It is a huge project that took both my husband, myself, and my in-laws lots and lots of hours. I will try not to bore you with too many details, so here is a quick list.

1. Number the cabinets and cabinet boxes (blue tape with sharpie)
2. Take the cabinet doors down and remove all hardware.
3. Clean the cabinets with liquid sander (so paint will stick)
4. Paint the cabinets one side at a time and allow 24 hours per coat for dry time. Use oil based paint.
5. And most importantly, keep large quantities of ice cold beer on hand. You will need it.




And here is my dirty laundry. For all to see. This is why I think open shelving/glass front cabinets should be used in moderation. It would be such a challenge to keep everything orderly 24/7.



After the cabinets we were ready for granite. Here are a few pictures of the installation. This is not a DIY project! I think you are crazy if you attempt to do this yourself.

Just a little reminder of what the old countertops looked like.



My new undermount sink. I chose to not use a divider and I don't regret this decision. It is so much easier to wash bulky pots and pans.



And they actually do the cutting on site.



That looks heavy.



And ta-dah!



Paint, countertops, cabinets and valance.



And here is the backsplash. It is beveled subway tile with a crackle finish (hard to capture in pictures). Of course the tile was installed by Hubby. Attorney, contractor, and lawn man extrodonaire!



A year later the brown paint started looking grimey (grease spots, etc.) so I painted the kitchen (again) about a week or two ago. I am much happier with the paint color and it seems to be holding up better. Do not use flat paint in your kitchen! This time around we used Sherwin Williams Duration Home in matte (has a slight sheen) so it can be cleaned. Much cheerier I think.

Time for the Kitchen!!

I've been planning my new kitchen since we moved in. We probably won't be done for another 6-8 weeks, but this project has to go quickly since we will be without a kitchen for a while. On the plus side, a lot of the work is cosmetic, and we are saving most of our cabinets. But, we will be gutting one side of the kitchen for a new cooking area!

I'm so excited about some of the new materials. We shopped around Beaumont for a new gas range, but we ultimately made an early morning drive to Houston to pick up the new one. Kenmore Pro, dual fuel (gas cooktop and electric oven), with convection oven--it's going to be perfect!





The existing space was completely not functional, with the old electric cooktop, no counter space on the sides, and having to stand next to that wall to cook...



We already ripped out the cabinet above the existing vent hood and cabinet above the cooktop, and the drawers and wall-oven area are next to go. When it's done, the range will be centered on the wall, with cabinets on both sides and traditional wall cabinets above. Since we're losing the microwave on the wall-oven, we'll be installing an over-the-range microwave with a built-in vent hood (like this Viking one from TriSupply).



On the other side of the kitchen, we'll have this new KithenAid dishwasher (purchased during tax-free energy star weekend, of course), new sinks and countertops, etc...



We've still got some planning work to do and a few materials left to buy. I'll keep you posted!

Grasscloth Dominates Entry

I've been writing about my new grasscloth for months, and it's finally on the walls! While Hubby was feeling ambitious about hanging it, the thought of scaffolding on the stairs and the possibility of ruining the grasscloth led us to a professional. He was on-time and made hanging it a breeze. If only all contractors shared his enthusiasm for being on time...

The striped wallpaper we replaced was dingy and needed an upgrade.







Now my foyer is welcoming, with the most perfect shade of grasscloth

Second Bath is Done

I've been so busy with the house that I forgot to post the updates! But, the guest bathroom is finally done (except for maybe a window treatment and little decorations). My gorgeous marble-topped vanity that we negotiated for at Lowe's and painted blue



The glass shower door that I love, even though it's not frameless



And, voila:



In case you forgot, this is what we started with, except it originally had red floral wallpaper and we discovered the toile wallpaper underneath...

trim.

Trim is finished. I am happy. Now the only person we have to depend on to show up is our plumber (who coincidentally goes to church with our contractor who flaked on us). I'm optimistic about this one. Either way, we have to get everything painted this weekend so it will be ready for the plumber on Monday. Woo!

Wall color is looking a little boring, but with my blue vanity I wanted to keep it neutral. Below is the new knob to replace the 1980's blue one.