Kitchen Painted

I am so happy to report that the contractors finished fixing up our kitchen on Friday. The dogs are happy that a lot of strangers aren't coming to their house every day, and I'm happy not to be cleaning dust off of every surface in the house. The lovely workers from White Star Construction took our kitchen from disaster area:

Crater above the laundry room. Notice the light fixture is still hanging on...

Tree branches on the floor...

To livable kitchen (in Martha Stewart Schoolhouse Slate):

Look at that pretty new ceiling!

No tree branches or holes in the ceiling now!

The rest of the fix-ups for the kitchen will be DIY.  Scott and I discussed getting butcherblock countertops to match the kitchen island. We can get the Numerar 1.5" thick butcherblock from Ikea for under $250 for the whole kitchen. Maybe with an undermounted sink and some new hardware for the cabinets, this can look like a whole new kitchen!  I'm also seriously considering removing the mismatched doors from the line of cabinets above the sink and painting the insides the same color as the base of the island for an open shelving look.  I don't know what I'd like to do for the backsplash yet, but I wouldn't cry to see those ugly square beige tiles go. 

My kitchen inspiration comes from the blog This & That. I love everything from the beadboard backsplash to the butcherblock countertops to the brick flooring. And they redid this entire kitchen for under $2000!  Amazing! I envy their DIY ability.  Head on over to This & That to check out her entire kitchen redo process.

Kitchen Island Painted!

Eeeek! I'm so excited the painters are coming today to finally finish up our kitchen. I have no idea how many days it will take, but I'm so exited to have everything done and to not have a single light dangling from the ceiling like some sort of crack den.

Wood color before - this is the retail photo of the island we purchased a few years ago at Nebraska Furniture Mart. Have you been to that place? It's my heaven.

In preparation, I painted the base of my kitchen island to coordinate with the new look. The color is Gabardine by Martha Stewart color matched to Behr paint and primer in one. The finish is eggshell. To do this, I sanded the piece and then wiped it down with a damp cloth. Then, I taped off all of the hardware and the top, primed, then painted with two coats using a small foam roller. But...I am dumb and forgot to purchase new hardware, so the old wooden knobs make this look a little country.  I am thinking I want brushed nickel cup pulls for the drawers. Thoughts? Bar pulls for the doors? Or something more fun?  I don't know...

The color is actually just a couple shades darker than the color we picked for the walls - Martha Stewat's Schoolhouse Slate. I can't wait to see the finished look!

DIY: Roman Shades from Mini-Blinds

This no-sew project first appeared on the Little Green Notebook a couple of years ago. You can pop on over to her blog and read her step by step instructions and see all of her other amazing projects and inspiration.

I can't stand mini-blinds - they're get dusty and I just don't like the look of them. Also, the dogs enjoy chewing on them. However, roman and fabric shades can be quite expensive. Here's a way to make them for cheap (I mean...REALLY cheap) and without sewing!

Working with fabric is not my strong suit, so I chose to make the shades out of a thick, unbleached lined fabric I thought would look good in the kitchen once our walls are painted.  I also chose the fabric because of the price so if I screwed this up, it wouldn't be a big loss. If you're more confident, you can buy more expensive, prettier fabric. 

You'll need:
Fabric of your choice
Cheap mini-blinds
Fabritac or similar fabric glue
Scissors
Measuring Tape
Optional Trim (I chose black satin ribbon)

1. Open your blinds all the way and lay them on a flat surface.
2. Remove the plastic plugs on the thick bottom slat and set the bottom, heavier slat aside - you will need it later.

3. Cut all the ladder-like strings holding the slats in place - be careful not to cut the thicker lift cord that runs through the holes in the slats.
4. Remove all the slats. Measure how long your window covering will be and decide how many folds you want your shade to have. I decided to have a fold every 10 inches, so added back a slat for every 10" of fabric, plus the heavier slat for the very bottom of the shade.

5. Measure out and cut your fabric, leaving about 2 - 2.5" on all sides. Make sure your fabric is centered and glue your side "hems" and slats to the fabric. TIP: use a paintbrush to spread the fabric glue. Be careful not to glue the lift cord to the fabric, or it won't work. On the top of the mini blinds (where the pull cord is) don't glue on the very ends (about 1-2") because you will need to slide this section into the mini-blind holders to mount the shade.
6. Add any additional trim and let all of the glue dry completely.

7. Mount the shade like you would regular mini blinds.  Be sure to test your pull cord.  The image on the left is the shade closed, and the right is open.  Here is the other, larger window I did on the other side of the kitchen:

You can see all of the lovely work being done by our construction guys. Our ceiling is sheet rocked and mudded but won't be painted for about another week.  I hope you found this project helpful. Let me know if you try it - I would love to see links to images if you do!

Kitchen Paint Color

So, the contractors are officially supposed to start working on our house today from the tree falling disaster a couple of weeks ago. We got to do one fun thing (well, fun for me), and pick out the new paint color in the kitchen. I think we're going to go with Martha Stewart Schoolhouse Slate. Here's a couple of pictures of it I could find online (always try and google your paint color):

Via Decorpad.Com

Via Ourfinehouse.wordpress.com

Just a reminder, here's our ugly kitchen color before:

Wish us good luck with this whole contractor experience...hopefully the process goes by quickly!

In Honor of Mother's Day

My mom always gets annoyed when people tell her she looks like me. "No," she corrects them, "SHE looks like ME." And of course, she's right. But really, we both look like my mother's mother:

This is a picture of when my grandma was very young. I wish I had some of the ones of her in her 20s. We miss our grandma, but she did an awesome job raising my mom and her four brothers. Thanks mom, for being a parent and a friend. Happy Mother's Day!

New Products

Head on over to my Etsy shop to see my new products: Notecards!  Just in time for Mother's Day...hint hint.