An all white kitchen! FINALLY!!!

Welcome Back!

I've been MIA for a

long time apparently! 

Gosh....it says I haven't

blogged since SEPTEMBER!

YIKES!!!!

What can I say we've been as

busy as a one armed clothes hanger!

Guess what....

we FINALLY tackled the kitchen!

I'm going to share all of it with you

the good, the bad and the 

close to calling a divorce attorney bad!

But hey....in the end it all got done...

We are all satisfied...

 and the marriage is

still happily intact!

This is a before picture of the kitchen!

 And here is the after!

I was aiming for a mix between the kitchens

from It's Complicated, Downton Abbey

and Practical Magic....

I think I hit closer to Practical Magic...

what do you think?

 So let me start by saying this....

kitchen redo's are not for the faint of heart!

Sweet husband and I have tackled our

fair share of projects in the past

but I have to say this one darn near

did us in!

Of course he would start by telling

you that MY first mistake was

trying to pack a 2 month or more

project into 1 week (yes 7 days!)

over the kids spring break..

 But in my defense who wants to pack

school lunches and make dinners in

a messy kitchen? I thought...we can

do this...one week...TOPS!

UUUUMMMM.....yeah....NO

Granted it was back in tack by 7 days 

with the majority done...but it was no

where close to done! 

And after 7 days...we were both exhausted

and barely speaking...not sure if it was all the

work, the paint fumes or the countless 

decisions that had to be made...but it was rough!

 However, I did learn a few things 

about myself, my family and kitchen redo's...

I'm going to share them with you and then I promise

to get to the good stuff!

1.

  I HATE painting kitchen cabinets! Matter

of fact...you will never catch me doing that again!

I will save up every penny I own and buy white

cabinets before I EVER do that again!

2.

Just because you're husband is a General Contractor

and can make/do/fix just about anything.....

this does not and I repeat NOT mean he

is the right GC for you! 

Because believe you me....it makes for an 

uncomfortable family dinner time when 

you have just fired him off the job that morning!

3.

My daughter will jump a sinking ship faster than a rat!

Day 3 she had called her Nana to come get her

and save her from the chaos!

4.

My son is oblivious to anything as long as you

keep feeding him...

breakfast...snack...lunch...snack....dinner..snack

5.

If you think it's going to take an hour/week/month

and it's going to cost $/$$/$$$

 well just go ahead and double everything...

you're better off that way!

6.

And finally I always thought I was

pretty confident in my decorating 

decisions and most of the time 

pretty good at it....

this taught me I know nothing 

and it's a good thing to have 

friends who are design savvy

who can help you when you

are almost in tears in the middle

of the grout selection at the Depot!

 Now...on to the good stuff!

Much to sweet husband's dismay I decided

if I was going to paint cabinets then I was

going to use the GOOD STUFF!

Annie Sloan Chalk paint...here I come!

I ordered from a wonderful store...

 http://robynstorydesigns.com/

seriously they were super nice and super quick

with both shipments of paint!

(remember...double everything...HA!
 I didn't buy enough first go around)

Upon researching the colors
on other blogs and websites 

 I found that Annie Sloan's

Pure White would be too white

and Old White would be too yellow.

But a 1 to 1 ratio of both would be perfect!

And it was! 

It took about 3 good coats..but we got there.

I then finished with a coat of 

Varathane water based

satin floor sealer from Lowe's

 

Sweet husband did a fabulous job 

building a faux range hood.  

I found the corbels at a thrift store

awhile back so we added them 

into the design and then painted

everything to match.

He also added trim to all the cabinets

and finished out the under side of the cabinets

so everything would look custom and complete.

Luck was on my side when I found this

deep white Kohler porcelain sink on Craigslist...

for only $20!

I really think it added so much 

to the style of the kitchen

One of my splurges before we even

started this project was buying

Bessie the cow!

I've wanted her for so long...but she 

needed the perfect spot....hence

the reason we built the hood!

Her name is now Daisy and we love her!

You can buy your own Bessie at

Piper Classics!

I think they are on back order right now...

but hopefully will be back in stock soon!

 

 We used classic white mini subway tile from

The Home Depot as well as the grout

 the color we chose was Bone

The flooring was also from the Depot and is

a really cool product. It is water resistant and can

even be used in basements. 

We installed it right over the

existing floor. 

It even stands up to commercial use!

Perfect for a rental home such as this!

For those of you who don't know or don't remember....

we only rent here! So everything we did had

to be in a classic design and be able to hold

up for many, many years! Plus, since we were 

doing everything ourselves cost also played a 

big part!

Because, lets be honest if it were my house

you can bet I would have been looking at

great big beautiful white marble slabs and

new stainless steel appliances!

But all that aside I think it turned out wonderful!

And not to be tacky and talk money here....

but....just so you have an idea...

everything from the 

hardware, paint, counter top, tile, wood, sink, & flooring...

we spent under $800.

Even though I realize I have a free General Contractor...

 I think anyone can do what we did.

And while the upfront money was hard to stomach..

that's honestly only 8 REALLY good dinners out!

At least that's what I keep telling myself!

Hardware is from The Home Depot

as is the counter overlay we used.

 I hope you like our "new" kitchen!

Check back soon and I will show you

how we transformed the glass house into

a different room also!

What can I say...we were really inspired by

the house in the movie

Practical Magic...

hint hint!