More Kitchen Progress

This weekend we knocked out a few more small things off the House To-Do list. 

The 1980's brassy kitchen hardware has bothered me since we moved in.  It always seemed just a *bit* out of our budget to replace all the handles (there are 14 in just the kitchen), so I've lived with it for 18 months.  While browsing Home Depot on Saturday, we came across multipacks of new handles for a low, low price, and decided to give it a go.  

From this:

To this:

I know, it doesn't do much for those builder grade cabinets, but the sleek brushed stainless look makes me happy.

A close up:

A few months back we (and by we, I mean Big Daddy) got wild & crazy & yanked out the range hood.  The light had burned out long ago, and as the entire contraption was essentially decorative - it didn't actually vent to anywhere - we decided it needed to go. 

The kitchen when we moved in:

Unfortunately, taking out the hood also revealed a large hole in the drywall and a live electrical wire. 

We only left it like this for 3 months....

And now it looks like this!

So.  Pretty.  

And finally, we (and again, by we, I mean Big Daddy) yanked out the horrific fluorescent light over the kitchen sink.  I had had visions of a lovely pendant light to go along with the freshly painted cabinets, butcherblock counters, and updated flooring.  And then I woke up, and we decided to try a recessed light.  After all, we knew there was a electrical box right there, and the gaping hole left by the original contractors even gave us a start for the new light.  Plus, as BD pointed out, this IS our practice house, so if we're going to try out anything, now is the time.  

In just 20 minutes this beauty was in place and shining down on my suddenly much more dirty looking sink.   Love. It.  

Have you done any home improvements lately?  

The William Morris Project: Stripping!

I FINALLY got off my bum and decided to take on the Super Glue wallpaper border.  

Remember this?

 The wallpaper border that took me 2 hours to strip away 5 feet?

I decided that my time (and shoulder muscles) were more valuable than that, so I caved and rented a wallpaper steamer for $25.

 I think this beauty was first purchased in 1932 by a Hungarian weightlifter named Franz. She weighs about 56lbs. when empty, and is nearly immoveable when filled with 5 gallons of scalding hot water. 

The steamer box (seen in the green bucket) was also missing a perforated cover, so it commenced to shoot skin-melting steam out of a single hole, along with random drips of scalding water. It was so hot, and so heavy that I had to wrap a towel around my left hand so I could grip the hose & heave the entire thing above my head (the metal box plate, not the water tank).  After holding it in place for about 3 minutes, the wallpaper simply peeled away..... taking some of the primer and a smidge of the drywall paper with it.  Can't win them all, can I?

But now it's done!  And all I have to do next is sand it, skim coat it, sand it, and paint it!

I'm actually far more excited than that sentence can begin to convey.

Because when I am done with this room?

I GET TO PAINT MY KITCHEN.  

YAHOO!!!!

This post is part of The William Morris Project via Pancakes and French Fries.

PS: Sorry this is late.... I've been attempting to blog via iPad, and it is not working for me at all.  Any tips?  

PPS: Too bad no one was around to capture photographic evidence that I ripped out the curtain rod with my bare hands.  Yes, that's how frustrated I was - bare hands & bloody fingertips. 

Design Help Needed

This is the window in the master bathroom.  It is currently covered by the plastic blinds that came with the house. I've kept them because they were 1 of 2 that were not hideously damaged by pets, and because this window not only looks over our front yard, but is also level with the second story of the house across the street. At 35"w x 46"l, it not exactly a small window.  The towel bars underneath it preclude any sort of actual curtain (I think.  Am I wrong?)

This window also faces East, and the sun blazes through there from about 2pm on. This makes it incredibly hot in the summer.  Because of this, could I use an outdoor fabric?  Or a blackout liner?  I would hesitate to use a less sturdy fabric because I think it would disintegrate after 1 summer. 

I am feeling paralyzed by indecision, but I see the choices as follows:

A.  Replace them with white faux-wood blinds.  This would be fine, but probably the least interesting. 

B. Make a roman shade using a patterned fabric & the existing plastic blinds. I've seen the tutorials all over Pinterest.  It looks pretty easy, but this also means I'd have to choose a fabric, and the options here are few. I had a recent, bad experience with buying fabric online, so I am reluctant to try this. (more on this after I work through the bugs of blogging via iPad.)

C. Cover the window with window film (aka clear contac paper). I don't think I'd feel comfortable with the amount of coverage this would offer.  But, I might try it because a roll of contac paper is under $5. 

So, what do I do here?  Are there options I am not thinking of?  My budget is no more than the cost of cheap, faux wood blinds : about $25 max.  Any suggestions are appreciated. 

The William Morris Project: Knock, Knock

This week's project was a happy accident.  

A fortuitous occurrence.

A most welcome happenstance.  

It started out as a mistake, and ended with another little piece of my heart filled with happiness. 

We went to Lowe's on Monday to buy paint for our new beehive. 

First mistake: Lowe's on a holiday. 

Second: Buying paint from Lowe's on a holiday. 

The paint lady was completely not paying attention when my husband told her what he wanted. 

So, we ended up buying 2 quarts of the same color: one flat, the other semi-gloss. 

Fortunately, we love us some blue. 

Now, instead of basic white:

Our door is the color of a ripe blueberry!

3 coats with a brush/ roller + 36 hours of drying time.

We didn't even take the door down - just taped off the edge. 

I think it really brightens the whole exterior. 

I love the color. 

It 'pops' against the white storm door & red brick.

The white door was too bland. 

A red door?  Not with red brick.

Black?  Are you on crack? 

Blue, you are juuuuust right.  

This post is part of The William Project, brought to you by Pancakes and French Fries.  

The William Morris Project: Bedroom Update

Yes, we finally did Big Sis' room, and I am utterly MEH about the results. 

I'm glad it's painted, and the trim is done, and all the door hardware is painted, and the fan is painted, and the outlets & switches have been updated.......but I'm just not feelin' it. I didn't get to do an accent stencil in the closet like I wanted, there are no pictures hung yet, and we haven't even put up the mirror we've been keeping for a year.  I'm also severely bothered by the clashing pink of the table & dresser.  I feel like they either need to be a brighter pink or white.  And I don't love the fan.  It feels lifeless.   

I'm hoping that doing the above - and really finishing the room will change my mind.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Close-up of bedding

Close-up of fan

I do love the curtains, the new bedding, and how the lamp ties in with the duvet.  Maybe I actually do need to paint an accent wall..... or hang a lot of artwork .....or something. It just feels BLAH right now.  Is it better than the purple?  YES.  But I don't think it's quite in the "Beautiful" category yet.  

This post is part of the link-up at Pancakes and French Fries.  Go check it out!

  

The William Morris Project: Week 8

Holy smokes, I can't believe we are 2 months into The William Morris Project.  I still feel like I have to scramble each week to accomplish my projects, but that may be because I have been tackling some MAJOR stuff.  This week is no different.

What I WANTED to show this week was a big reveal of my girl's room.  But we haven't even begun yet!  I had my schedule cleared & supplies purchased, but the project was contingent on her helping to clear out her room.  And she hasn't shown a modicum of interest in it.  The Type-A in me wants to drag her upstairs and Get. It. Done.  But the trying-to-raise-a-good-person Mom in me was offered the gentle suggestion that perhaps I need to back off and let her do it in her own time, under her own prompting.  Given that it's been 2 weeks already, her own time may mean 2013.

So instead, I give you the Family Room (a story in 2 parts).

When we moved in, it looked like this:

Your eyes do not deceive you. 

Those ARE teal walls.  

With a burgundy accent wall.  

And filthy green berber carpet.  

Plus the dreaded brown wood trim and slightly chewed up vertical blinds. 

This was NOT my favorite room, but it is the room that is the most used.

And now: 

In full disclosure, I admit that I painted the walls and trim in late October.  

I chose a creamy tan that actually looks pretty great with the CLEAN carpet. 

But after the painting, it was pretty much empty: just the sofa, chair, TV stand & TV.  

This week we added the bookcases flanking the TV stand, and we hung the TV. 

Mounting the TV seemed to open up the room tremendously.  

Yes, I dislike the cords hanging down, but we haven't yet decided if we'll run them inside the wall, or otherwise bundle & conceal them.

I LOVE the bookcases.  They are cheap-o's from Ikea, but they match & they allowed me to open up boxes of books that haven't seen the light of day in years.  I still need to tszuj it up with some actual baskets at the bottom and a few more knick-knacks.  And also figure out what to do with the TV stand once we clear all the stuff off the top.  

More books, you say?  Yes, please.  

Ikea also yielded a new curtain rod, as someone who shall remain nameless (side eye to the 3 year old) decided to swing from the curtains on the previous, now utterly warped, rod. 

Ahem.  

Phase II for the week is my "Wall of States" project that I have been "working on" for months. 

When we moved in, I decided that I wanted to buy a print to represent each state that my husband and I have lived in (separately and together).  

I spent months trolling etsy for prints that felt right.

And then those lovelies spent months gathering dust in a corner of my bedroom while I decided how/when/how much to spend on framing. 

Finally, a change in schedule this week prompted me to finish it up (that, and they fact that I am giddy every time I look at the bookcases and free space under the TV). 

I purchased a bunch of dirt cheap frames from WM, and got down to painting. 

Cold weather = turning the empty front room into a painting studio. 

Prime, then 3 coats of semi-gloss. 

My attempt at plotting out a hanging arrangement was 65.2% successful.  

As soon as I moved the frames downstairs to hang, I chipped one!  Curses!

It took me hours to paint, clean, and hang everything, but every minute was worth it. I am astonished that I was able to frame all 11 prints for around $40.  The colors all go together, and I smile every time I descend the stairs and The Wall of States is the first thing I see.  

For future projects I have my eye on some new pillow fabric, and also plan to swap out the brown &  beige curtains for white with a patterned border.  I may even go really crazy and introduce some actual COLOR into our tan/brown/white color scheme. It must be the Spring Fever talking.      

Sources: California and Louisiana prints, Colorado print,  Utah,  Washington,  Idaho, Iowa,  Oregon,  Michigan, Ohio

The William Morris Project: Week 7

This sort of felt like the lost week.  As though it was never going to end, and when I reflect back on it, it will just seem like a giant void that leaves me wondering "What exactly did I get done that week?".  And then I look at J's room, and I KNOW.

BEFORE:

Cleveland Brown colors (even the fan blades!)

*this was how it was when we moved in.

It was truly awful.  It was both jarringly bright and depressingly dark.  There were uneven lines at the corners and blobs of paint on the ceiling.  The decals were peeling off.  

AFTER:

I originally planned to stripe this wall with orange, but the husband suggested I do a dashed line instead.  The orange was really bright, and I think a full, striped wall would have overwhelmed the space.  Much better.  

It did take a lot of time to measure off, tape off, and then paint the line.  I rolled on 2 coats of orange, then had to go back and smooth out almost every side of each rectangle.  Given that my college painting professor mocked my affinity for detail work, I was totally prepared for some delicate touch up.  

I also decided at the last minute to paint all the trim white to match the rest of the house.  

Yes!  Let's add another 4 hours of work to this already drawn out project!

The inspiration for the room was his robot sheets.  The blanket on the bed is not done yet, but I wanted to show that it will add another pop of orange. 

We picked up the lamp at IKEA this weekend.  

I painted the blades the same color as the walls, then tipped them with orange because it reminded the husband of a propeller on a plane.  

The frames are cheap-o's from WM.  They were black, but I painted them a dark grey semi-gloss that I already had.  I realized I couldn't remove the glass, so I shimmied some saran wrap between the glass & the frame - worked great!.  

All that's left to do is add the vinyl decals (I didn't realize I had to wait 2 weeks for the walls to cure), and a few more prints.  The walls look really bare right now (and huge!  His room is not that big!), but it will be better with a few more frames. 

Paint colors: 

Wall - Behr Subtle Touch

Dashed line, fan - Behr Electric Orange

Primer: Kilz and Zinsser Bulls-Eye

My boy loves his new room, and was so excited to get back in there & sleep in "My New Cool Room!".  I know.  He's 3.  

But I appreciate the enthusiasm.  

As always, this project is part of The William Morris Project started by Jules at Pancakes and French Fries.  She is awesome, and so is this project.  

PS - You'd think that by now I'd be almost done with my daughter's room.  No.  Not at all.  Haven't even started.  But I'll leave that story for next week.  

PPS: The nearest IKEA is 2.25 hours away in PA.  We made the drive on Saturday & it was totally worth it.  Mostly because of this: 

That my friends, is a Primanti Brothers sandwich.  

I can't wait to go back!