Pantry Makeover

It seems that everyone is cleaning out and cleaning up. Especially the pantry. The pantry seems to be a big one this month.

We're gettin' on the bandwagon, and redoing our pantry. We're doing this for several reasons, actually.

I've been reading the Family Dinners book (see my post about it here) and making sure that we've got a few staples in our pantry so that no one goes hungry, God forbid there isn't pasta in the cupboard.

Here's our current pantry.

Things are fairly organized, but the shelves are not great. They are starting to bow in the middle and we can't put things in the back because we can't reach them. They also aren't very kid friendly.

So, the idea is to get things into jars, so they are visible. I've got a few already. Then I found these at TJ Maxx for seven dollars. That's right, 6 glass jars for fourteen dollars.

I'm hoping this weekend we will be taking the wire shelving down and adding some C shaped shelves made out of MDF in there.

I'm also hoping to convince hubbs to put up a glass door....we'll see about that one!

Here are a two pantries from Country Living that I dream of.

I love the color AND I love all the glass jars and the baskets....

And this one. Wow. I love the white. And the chalkboard. And of course all the jars. Delish.

Hopefully I'll have something to show you next week!

Painting the island dresser.

 Last year I put together this dresser and a piece of butcher block for our new kitchen island. I picked up the dresser for eighteen bucks and then we spent $37 on the block at Ikea.

We took off the original top of the dresser and just attached the top with an L bracket. Not a biggie.

After painting our kitchen gray and brightening things up around the house, my sweet neighbor kindly suggested that I should paint our island too. Of course she was right.

So I painted it the only bright color that I can actually stand for any amount of time.

I am so glad I have a nice neighbor to gently shove me in the right color direction.

I love it. LOVE. It.

Oh, color is Rustoleum, Strawflower.




Goodbye.

Glass in the cabinets, check.

Just putting some finishing touches on the kitchen. I've been talking about putting glass in the cabinets FOREVER. We don't have a router and we didn't want to buy one just to do these two cabinets. I decided I was going to rent a routing tool and tear up one set of doors on my own. Well, with T's help. But then he was working and I wanted things done, so I called my good buddies at the local glass place that fixed my broken window and they cut them up for me and I didn't have to worry about screwing up!

They also cut me two pieces of glass. Easy peasy. Although one was a teensy bit too big, so I had to go back and have them cut it again, three kids in tow, pouring rain out....he noticed it was cracked a little, because I tried to shove the hinge in the back, and cut me a brand new piece....for free! Gotta love businessmen who know how to do business! When we are ready to order our shower door, I know where we're going!

(Ummm....maybe I should take down that Christmas wreathe....?)

I don't have a step by step of installing the glass, but, they just routered the back of the door and I put a bead of silicone on the inside and slid the glass on top. Let dry for a zillion hours and you're done. The bead of silicone and glass create a suction and you don't have to worry about doing anything else.

I also took the doors off the cabinets above the fridge, painted the inside gray and added some baskets. Oddly, those cabinets were empty before. And the baskets are empty too. I can't reach up there! No point in putting something in there when I can't even reach it without climbing on the counter. And that's just takes too much effort.

Put in a new light above the island,

and fixed the switches and outlets....that took forever. And I needed a tiny bit of help from my hired help. You know, hubby. Those daffodils don't look dead in the photo like they are in real life. Ahh...the power of photo manipulation.

And we're done. I think.

Tiny little race cars all over the floor....

Board and Batten Kitchen Backsplash

You all know that I've been tormented lately about our back splash. Tormented, I tell you. It keeps me up at night. We I have been throwing around several ideas that just never came to fruition, for many reasons. Too white, too ugly, too much money, too ugly, too much beadboard, too much money, too much money.... get it?!

So, Tuesday afternoon I just started painting. I painted it the same color as the cabinets. Then I saw these in our garage. They were strips of wood that were left over from having to rip 1x3 to make 1x2 for the bookshelf. I kept them because I had big plans for some flexible wood artwork on the wall....hmmm...never got to that....

Lightbulb! Board and Batten back splash. No idea if I had enough or how I was going to do it, or if it was going to look okay, but I did it anyway!

And I took pictures along the way just to document the insanity that is me. Now, you will either like it or you won't. There's no wishy-washy feeling on this one. You either think it looks cool, or you think it looks a little like the old drop down basement ceilings....you choose. Please choose the first.

Whenever I do something dramatic like this I always wait to form my opinion until the next day when I have fresh eyes.

I started by nailing a strip to the base of the shelves and right above the counter. Can't leave the tv unplugged!

Then I measured it all the way around and spaced strips every 21 inches. That's what it came out to. Roughly. I used a tiny level to make sure they were straight and nailed them in.

Thank you pneumatic nailer and compound sliding miter saw.

After that I filled holes and areas that weren't quite perfect. Although there weren't very many of those....ha. Who am I kidding, there were tons.

I capped off the ends with a piece as well. Here I actually had to separate that end piece because the cover overlapped and it didn't work. It looks good now though. 

And now, here it is. Please ignore the almond colored face plates, outlets and switches. Those will be replaced on my next trip to HD.

It is a shame that it is so hard to see!

Is anyone else saying in their head, "she really should paint that trim on the window now. It would look so much better." Because that's what I'm saying!

Here it is again....I am really liking how it turned out. Like I said, I came down the next day and I was sold. And - it was totally and completely free. FREE!

So...hit me with it....what do you think? Should I paint that window? Should I tear it all down and start over? I can't believe I'm throwing this out there....eh....I asked for it....

Kitchen Cabinets

First and foremost, my BFF since the 8th grade turns twenty-two today.....okay, not 22. But, super close....33. It's okay, she's okay with it. And so, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best friend a girl could ask for. Now. Move here. Today. Pack up your cute hubby and three adorable kiddos and move here. There's a house for sale, two doors down. Please?

Now, onto the kitchen cabinets.

Remember:

Wow. It seems so different than what it is today. I don't even remember that kitchen.

So I painted them.....

And I love them. Still do. But, we needed more work space, so I added this:

Hello! Amazing. We use it EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. I can't imagine our kitchen without it. But, I was feeling like the kitchen in all it's white was feeling...too...crisp....

So, the other day I did this:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

See it? See the difference in the two sides?

I think it warms it up just enough to not make it feel so....hospital and more....home....

Just enough distressing to give it that lived in look. Not so much that it looks trashy. I am in love all over again.

AND! Just wait until I add this to the backsplash:

I hate this table...But I love this table!

We got a new table.
A new to us table.
I'm so angry about this table, I might just drop the f-bomb. Right now. But I will refrain for my non-swearing readers and my kids when they eventually read this.

The table we had was from Tom's grandma.
It was a cast off.
She was going to donate it.
We didn't have a dining room table, so we took it.
It's lasted us nearly 8 years.
It's ready to fall apart. It's frail and fragile and sticky.
Just like me. Poor me, frail and fragile and sticky.

Enter the new table.
We don't have a formal dining room. Well, we do, but it's being used as a craft/storage/play room.
Our kitchen dining room is not large. In fact, it's awkward and funny.
Kind of like me. Poor me, awkward and funny.

I wanted a round table.
I wanted this table:

 

Photo Courtesy of Crate and Barrel, Avalon Extension Dining Table, $499.

Now, before you get all, "be happy for what you have, at least you have a table...." I know that I should be happy for what I have. I've said this before, I am so thankful for my life and family and what I have, blah, blah, blah...So, onward with the whining and complaining and swearing.

I found a table. In fact, I found a Crate and Barrel table. (There were stickers underneath in several spots for me to know) For $24.99. At GW! Hooray! I can't begin to explain how excited I was to score this table:

They painted that beautiful white table. Brown. It was sticky and gross and I was determined to fix it. I thought I could save it. So, I gathered my materials:

Chocolate covered cashew clusters, of the Amish kind, orange smelling stripping gel, scrapers, a brush and of course, DC.

I started with the leaf to see how it would work.

Apply, and wait....

  

Lots of bubbles....then scrape....

And apply more and scrape. It was starting to look good. Except that I realized I was going to have to paint it anyway because the previous paint had stained the white. So I decided to just sand the rest of the table.

I sanded and then used my Kilz to prime.

Then painted in semi-gloss white. 

This is where it all goes to crap. The white looked great! I was so happy. 

Then I did it. I used polyurathane. Gasp! I knew I shouldn't have done this. 

But, I was going on the advice of the HD guy. He said he used it and it turned out great. 

I should NOT have done it. There are two types of coating you can use. Polyurathane and Polycrylic. I used the polyurathane. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. I've known this to be the case, but I thought I would try it.

But first.

When I was putting the table back together I ran out of battery in the drill. We have two batteries, no biggie, I thought. But guess what! When the second battery is sitting in the charger and the charger is unplugged...

So I used my small drill, that stripped the screws...not all but one, and that one did not get screwed. At all.

Here's what a drill bit looks like after it has stripped a screw:

Cool. Not.

Oh, and the leaf that I stripped and sanded and primed and painted and applied poly. It's sticky. And ugly...

So, here's my new white yellow table sitting in our kitchen.

 

  

Of course, the yellow is hard to see in pictures. But trust me, it looks like the boys stood on the chairs and peed all over the table....

As soon as I stop swearing, take a couple deep breaths and compose myself I will redo it, because I love this table. I do.

It may take a few days...

I couldn't stand it and redid it. I sanded the top and got out my trusty old Behr Black Suede and got to work. Although I'm still not altogether happy, but it is much better than pee yellow. I would rather spray paint it, but I have to wait until it warms up a little, then I can work in the garage.

 

See them? All those lines. It is so frustrating!

It really is a great table. Now I just need to re-do it. Later. Warmer. If I can stand to wait that long...

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