Kitchen Reveal!

The kitchen is finally finished! I posted a month or so back about the new countertops. Well, this is the big reveal. It's. all. finished. Backsplash, countertops, cabinets, island, everything! Yay!!

This is what it looked like when we first purchased the house back in June.

On the opposite wall across from the window, there was a wall, which had to die. 

 

And we killed another wall too....R.I.P.

Luckily, what I did like about the kitchen were the cabinets. I love having the smaller ones on top of the larger ones on the wall. Gives the space lots of character. So, all they needed were some paint and new hardware, which saved us a TON of money!! I used Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformation kit to paint the cabinets. No priming or sanding required! We also saved money by going to Ikea for our cabinet hardware. It was about 40 - 50% cheaper there, than at Lowe's or Home Depot! We repositioned the refrigerator to the opposite wall, as well, ending up with this. 

 

After taking out one wall and moving the refrigerator, we had an exposed open cabinet. I called a cabinet maker and he made me two new doors and a drawer that match my others exactly for only $125! We also removed the wall cabinets on one side to make way for some open shelving. And I spray painted the counter tops black to keep me satisfied while waiting for new counter tops. And then my husband built me a beautiful kitchen island made out of old barn wood and porch posts and in December we got new counter tops!! 

 

We chose Silestone in Bianco River because it has a marble-y look. I really wanted marble, but knew that it didn't hold up too well in kitchens without some routine sealing that I knew I wouldn't do like I should. For Christmas, we got a Lowe's gift card, which meant.....back splash!!!! We chose white subway tile. I. LOVE. SUBWAY. TILE. This is what our kitchen looks like now.

What do ya think?

You may find me partying it up here. 

Valentine's Day Wreath!!

Over the weekend, I made this super cute Valentine's Day Wreath!

 

All I did was wrap a straw wreath in yarn, just like with my Fall Wreath, spray painted wood cutouts from Hobby Lobby, and ta-da!!!

DIY Bottle Lamp

Remember that awesome old wine bottle I bought at the Insyde Outsyde shop back in September??

 

Pottery Barn sells these bottles for a ridiculous amount of $$$, but luckily I found a great deal on one and turned it into a lamp. All I did was buy a bottle lamp kit and harp at Lowe's and away I went.

The lamp kit is way easy to do. Just follow the instructions on the back. Pretty soon, I had this....

 

But, I needed a shade. Luckily, I had picked one up at a Goodwill half-off day for about a buck.

I got some of those leftover burlap bags that Lowe's let me have (and what I had used on my burlap bench) and re-covered the shade in it, then added a ribbon detail. Finally, I came up with this...

What do you think?

DIY Chalk Paint and Results!

I'm sure you have heard of the Annie Sloan Chalk paint......everyone says it is THE WAY to paint furniture. I don't doubt them a bit. However, I just can't bring myself to fork over $35 for a quart of the paint!! I am cheap and not afraid to say it. The paint is supposed to be the best because it takes only one coat, no primer or sanding needed, and it sands off in a chalky manner to distress furniture easily. It also dries a flat finish. I found a recipe online for home made chalk paint and decided I would try it out on this $5 yard sale table I have.

 

This was originally stained, but I painted it a french country blue and then realized I had no idea what to do with it. Poor thing, it has been living in my garage for the past 6 months. With the baby on the way, I decided I would move the current guest bedroom nightstand into the baby's room and put this one in there. However, the color would never do. I wanted to go with a gray color. 

 

I mixed a cup of the Stonington Gray from the baby's room and 1 tablespoon of non-sanded white grout (about $7 at Home Depot).  I mixed enough to get the lumps out. You can also add a little water to the tablespoon of grout to begin with and mix it together to form a paste, then add your paint in and mix well.  If the grout is extra lumpy this step helps.

If you have problems with the paint drying out too quickly, add a little water as needed to keep it wet longer. You have to brush this on, there is no rolling with this paint. I did not prime or sand any part of the table before painting. The home made version stuck to it amazingly! Yay!! It also dries really fast. By the time I was done with the first coat, I could tell there were a few places that  needed a bit more paint. It didn't really need a full second coat, I would say it took 1 1/2 coats. By that point, all that brushing had me wore out, so I went to bed! The next day, I applied a wax finish on the table to protect it.

 

It's just a nice clear coat to protect the finish. I wanted to keep the flat look of the paint on the table. And the result was.....

 

I am very pleased with it! Especially considering the fact that the whole thing took less than an hour to complete! I will definitely use the home made version of the chalk paint again. I have a shutter that will match the table to become a head board in the guest bedroom. Anyone else out there used home made chalk paint before?

Vintage Nursery Rhyme Tissue Box Cover

I made my first baby project! Yay! When I found out I was pregnant, I picked up this tissue box cover at Goodwill.

 

It was half off, so it only cost me $1.50!! Whether it was a boy or girl, the whale was not my taste, but I knew I could do something with the bones of it. 

I picked up these vintage nursery rhyme books at some antique stores I go to every week visit occasionally. My intention was to frame some of my favorite rhymes for wall art in the nursery. I chose some to frame and decided it would be cool to decoupage some of the others on the tissue box! How could I throw away such cool vintage rhymes?!

First, I primed the box with Kilz and then painted it a buttery yellow color.

 

It took quite a few coats to cover up those dots! Instead of using regular Modge Podge to adhere the rhymes, I tried a homemade version since I was out. All I did was combine one bottle of regular white Elmer's Glue and the same amount of water and shook it all together. Definitely cheap and easy. The final result was this:

 

My favorite side is "Hey Diddle Diddle." The homemade Modge Podge did very well in adhering the paper to the box. I put a couple of coats on and it was good to go. However, it did not have that satiny sheen that I usually get from Modge Podge. It was not as thick either. I may go back and put a coat of the real stuff on there....I'll live with the box a little first! Hope the baby will like it, cause it's goin in her room either way!