House Tour: Kitchen and Dining Room

A couple of weeks I promised you a house tour.  So far, I've shown you the living room.  I've gotten a bit sidetracked by summer fun, but I better get cracking on another house tour post...especially since my friend Jessamie mentioned my nonexistant house tour on her blog!

I know that some of these pictures aren't new, but I thought it would be nice to have them collected in one place.

Let's start in the dining room.

The dresser was a Craigslist find.  I painted it Plumage by Martha Stewart and cream.  The gold mirror was originally brown, but it got glammed up with a coat of gold spray paint.  The sunburst mirrors from Hobby Lobby are some of my favorite things.



I also really like the Wheatfield's colorful prints, which can be found on Etsy.  I had to include a picture of my best dog ever, Henry the golden retriever, who died about two years ago.

I got this little candle during the Target Missoni madness.

More sunburst goodness.

I'm planning on painting the brown wall Benjamin Moore Gray Owl to match the rest of the house.  The vases were 25 cents each at the thrift store.

Not the best picture, but I love how my black painted French doors turned out.

Gotta love the $1.00 Neimann Marcus brass tray from the thrift store.

Let's move onto the kitchen.  The kitchen is definitely a work in progress.

For more of the tour:

Living Room

New Paint in the Kitchen

Last Wednesday was a long day.  Big K was out of town for work.  I had been busy shuttling the kids around and entertaining them at home.  I was looking forward to relaxing in the evening.  Instead, as I was making dinner, I decided it would be a good idea to pull out a can of paint and start painting the kitchen.  I can multitask - cook dinner and paint at the same time - no problem!  Don't ask why I thought this was a good idea because I'm not really sure.  I was questioning my decision as 10:00 rolled around and I really wanted to be in bed with a book rather than in the kitchen with a paint brush.

I used Benjamin Moore Gray Owl to cover up the sandy brown that was throughout my house.

In this light the paint reads light blue, but it really is a light gray.  It's much lighter than the dingy brown that was in there.

I'm thinking about changing the curtain above the sink to something a little more subdued or neutral.  I've had this one for about a year.  How often do you change your decor?

As you can see, I don't have a lot of decor in the kitchen.  I like to keep the counters uncluttered...until they inevitably become overflowing with papers, magazines, etc.  I used to have a bunch of stuff on top of the cabinets, but it started to look dusty and cluttered to me, so I took most of it down.

I like this Mexican pottery that my utensils are in.  I got in on one of my first trips to Mexico with Andy.

Now, I'm obsessed with painting my cabinets white and/or gray.  I'm a bit intimidated by the project though, especially since my cabinets are in good condition.  I'm afraid I might ruin them.

I would also like to add a tile backsplash.  One of these days all of my projects will be done!  Then it will be time to start over.

Aren't these lilies pretty?  I have a bunch of them blooming right now.  I will have a little tutorial for you later this week on how I painted the vase too.

March's Project and Feature Friday: My Friend Darcy

I didn't have many (any?) local friends who love DIY projects and blogging as much as I do....until, my friend Darcy bought a "fixer upper" last fall.  She has tackled so many projects around her home and I'm impressed with the changes she's made.  Darcy is a mom to four kiddos and is also a professional photographer.  She posts beautiful pictures and blogs about her life and family at New Beginnings.

Here's Darcy and her cute girls.  She also has a two-year old son who didn't make it into this picture.

The day Darcy moved in, she had second thoughts about purchasing the house.  Check out her kitchen:

What's up with the two-tone and the dirty, ripped up floor?

Darcy did a project that I have been too scared to try...she painted her cabinets!

Doesn't it look so much better?  I know it was a lot of work.  But, her hard work paid off.

I like the hardware she chose:

She also took out the center of each cabinet and replaced it with beadboard.  She installed beadboard on the island too.

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Remember way back at the beginning of March, I linked up this post to Lisa's monthly before and after party?

I had HUGE aspirations to paint, stencil, build shelving and paint some more in this little niche.

What was I thinking???  I was a little too ambitious this month.

I did get some stenciling done.

Here's the bottom section completed.

Here's the top and I started on my shelving project:

I was having problems stenciling in the tight space and I couldn't get the corners to look right.  I kind of gave up and thought I could just live with the imperfections, but they were way to big and glaring.

So, I decided to paint over the stencil.

I had some leftover paint, Martha Stewart's Plumage, out in the garage that I tried.  I didn't love it. 

So, I'm back to square one!!!  This month was a bit of a failure.  I've tried stenciling in the past and it never turns out like I hope it will.  Lesson learned...NO MORE stenciling for me!

Here's to better luck in April!

Stop by the Before and After party at Shine Your Light to see some bloggers who had more success in completing their projects. 

Feature Friday: Anne from Hello Newman's

You know that area above your cabinets that is a dust/grease/knick knack collecter?  I've often wondered what to do on top of my cabinets.  I used to have lots of decor up there, but that all came down last spring when I wanted a cleaner look.  Now that area is looking kind of sad and neglected in my home.  I also have to climb up there every now and then to scrub off that yucky dusty build-up that hangs out up there.

I just about fell out of my chair a few days ago when I saw what Anne from Hello Newman's did with that area in her home.  I was so excited about this project, that as soon as my husband walked in the door from work, I made him come over to the computer to check out Anne's post and to try to convince him that we could do something similar.

Before I show you Anne's kitchen, I have to share her adorable little family with you.  Don't they look so fun and happy?  I want to hang out with them in real life!

Check out how Anne and her husband added height to their cabinets with a few pieces of wood and trim.  Here's where they started:

They nailed MDF to some scrap pieces of wood they attached to the ceiling:

Add some trim:

Add some paint and here's the completed project:

I think the added height looks great and it looks like the cabinets were always meant to be that way.  Anne and her husband make the whole thing look so easy!

This project is definitely going on my "Home Goals 2012" list.  Now, if I can get Big K to cooperate.....

Thanks so much to Anne for letting me share her genius project on my blog.  If you haven't visited Hello Newman's, you should hop on over for more details on this project and to see what Anne and her husband are up to next.  I always look forward to seeing what they do!

Happy weekend everyone!  We have my parents visiting all the way from Minnesota, so we're looking forward to lots of fun grandparent time.

Purchasing Power

I have been thinking about these metal barstools for the island in my kitchen.

Source: homedecorators.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

They can be found at the Home Decorator's Collection.  (Has anyone else noticed that Home Decorator's has had some really cute things lately?  I hadn't seen the catalog in a few years and I was really impressed).  They would replace the clunky wood ones that I now have.

However, I have been thinking about money and how I spend it a lot lately.  This all stems from an email my husband got several weeks ago from his employer instructing him to stay home on a certain day and wait to receive a phone call telling him if he would be laid off or would keep his job.

Waiting for that phone call was sooooo stressful.  In the time leading up to the big call, I had a million thoughts going through my head.  Would I have to get a "real" job?  Would we have to move?  Could the kids continue to attend all of the activities they enjoy? Etc., etc.

Thankfully, he kept his job.  But this made me realize that his income is not stable and could be taken away almost immediately.  Sometimes decorating can be expensive and purchases can be frivolous.  I want to concentrate on living with what I have and adding small things (hello Craigslist!) that I can makeover myself and that are meaningful to my family and me.

So, as much as I love them, I probably will not be purchasing those bar stools.  Darn!  I can already tell that frugal living is not going to be easy!!!

Anyone have any frugal living tips?