Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Out With Green - In With White!


Cabinets, that is!  I am so excited about how our kitchen turned out.  It took A BUNCH of hard work, but in the end, it is so rewarding.  I honestly feel like I live in a different house, just because I love my kitchen now!  I tried to take pictures along the way so I could show you all exactly what we did and how it turned out.  Keep in mind, we do not like our kitchen lighting, it is not very bright, and these pictures were taken at night, so it kind of gives off a yellow hue to the photos.  Also, I hate that these pics can't be bigger, so if there is one you want to get a closer look at, I'm pretty sure you can click the picture and it will show you a bigger version.
  
Let's get started!  Here is before picture of how the cabinets looked green. 


It's not that the green cabinets were ugly per se....they just weren't me.  They were dark, and I am kind of going for bright and airy.  Also, I did not care for the way they had the counter top material as backsplash, everything I would put on my counter, just faded into the background, nothing stood out, which made it no fun to decorate. 


Okay.  Now you know the before.  First thing we did is take all the doors off, and my handy hubby added a small trim to the doors to make them look more "custom".  In the end, this made a HUGE difference. 




Once we got the trim on all the doors, Clark started to work on the bead board backsplash, which was quite complicated to get right, but so worth it.  And in the meantime I started to paint all the doors.  The Lord blessed us with about five sunny/warm days right in a row, it was perfect.  I had to put three coats on these babies, and I learned after using a brush on the backs of all of the doors, that rollers are my new best friend.  I will never paint a flat surface without a roller again.  It was much quicker and much smoother, although I still had to use a brush around the trim areas. 



Just so you know, this is what my house looked like three days before I had everyone over for Griffin's second birthday!  I don't know what we were thinking, but it was motivation for sure!


I sat all doors up on something when I painted so I could get the edges, and wait for each coat to dry.  It was quite a process.  Clark said I was the definition of barefoot and pregnant, and let me tell you, I wore the same thing every night that week, it was my painting uniform, and yes I'm big and pregnant, and yes I walked around all week without shoes, there is a reason there are no pictures of me to be found during this journey ;)  We did not go to bed before 1:30 a.m. the whole week.

It was hard work, but if felt good, and once it was all put together...ahhhhhhhhh, I was in heaven.  Everything looked so good, except the windows were bare, which just wasn't cutting it.  I am so picky about my curtains, and have waited to do the kitchen before I would spend money on them, because I just don't like to buy them unless I love them.  But the kitchen looked so pretty in white, and I needed something to go on my windows!!!  I looked through my pile of fabric that I have had stashed away for a rainy day :)  One of the fabrics I used, I had literally had for like three years...it was just meant to be!  Got out my trusty sewing machine, and made me some curtains.  


I know how to sew just enough to get me in trouble ;)  My grandmother taught me when I was young, and I would make Barbie clothes and Barbie sleeping bags...that sure has come in handy!  But I am such a winger -- I completely winged this.  I didn't have a pattern, so I used some curtains I already had in my bedroom, and just tried to copy.  I'm really pleased with how they turned out, so I'm glad I was impatient and went for it!  


I have white fringe with the cute little balls to go all across the bottoms of these curtains, but didn't have time to add it before Griffin's party, so I will just do it later.  That's another post for another day!

Okay.  Ready to see the final product!?  

Here you have it!  White cabinets :)  



Something cute will find its home right above our stove in that free spot.  I have some ideas ;)


We added this detail to the front of the fake drawers right under the sink since they don't open, just to add a little extra something :)


And we added new pulls and knobs.


We took off the two small cabinet doors above the stove to make it a shelf, they were cabinets we didn't use anyway, and thought it would be nice to display stuff in. 


Now, I love my countertop, it looks completely different against white.  And when I decorate, I don't feel like everything gets lost in the background, since we have bead board now.  I found the "Fresh Eggs" sign a the Peddler's Mall that week, it's actually worn and had been used, and I just fell in love with it when I saw it!


I also pulled out Clark's late grandmother's rooster dish, it's an antique, and I love it.  Filled it with sweet-tart jellybeans for easter.  Mmmm, so addicting.  The lamp is at Lowe's for $10, and the frame I made with scrapbooking paper and a wooden frame from Michael's that you can buy for just $1.  -- All my MOPS ladies, this is the frame I made at MOPS, I just added a little scrapbooking sticker that says "smile" :)

Well, that's all folks!  Took us seven days, and we were dog tired, but we got done just in time to party for Griffin's 2nd birthday (can't believe he's two).   It seems so overwhelming to think of doing a project like this, but you just have to go for it, and you surprise yourself with what you can do, for so much cheaper than buying new cabinets!!!  Hope you like them!!!

Gotta go -- gotta get some sleep AND eat a whole bottle of TUMS, at the moment I have heartburn so bad I feel like I could blow fire...oh, the joys of being pregnant :)  

LOVE AND HUGS - 
Lindsey