The Power of Paint: Kitchen Before & Afters

Making the kitchen feel like us had been our largest project to date. We were lucky because it wasn't in bad shape when we closed on the house - everything worked - but it just wasn't our style. Here's the before:

So much oak.

The only item that needed to be done was to refinish the hardwood floors in here. I don't think they'd been refinished in the entire lifespan of the house. You can't really tell from the pics above but there were spots so worn down that the finish was gone. We ended up replacing them because they were engineered hardwood (and not refinish-able...learned a good lesson there) and love the look of them now. We painted the cabinets and replaced the hardware as well. It's so light and bright in the kitchen! We did this project ourselves and it was a labor of love. It took about two weeks including paint curing time. The majority of the work was done in 2-3 hours bursts on the weekends and after work. Our diligence totally paid off though and the finish is durable and, dare I say, semi-professional! We also put in a stainless steel sink and new faucet.

When we had our first floor repainted, the kitchen got a new color too. The blue is so fresh and I think the cabinets really pop now. The old chandelier hit Craigslist and we added a new fixture that is not only brighter, but lower profile. It works a lot better in the space and it's now centered above the kitchen table.

We have plans to update all the appliances to stainless steel this summer. We've only replaced the dishwasher so far and already the stainless on that side of the kitchen blends SO much better with the cabinets, hardware and overall feel. Down the line, I'd love to try my hand at a DIY backsplash and maybe under cabinet task lighting. All in due time. :-)

Easy Art

This past weekend I created some $5 artwork for our master bathroom "water closet". Is that word not hilarious? It's a pretty accurate description for the little room where our toilet is housed off the main master bath. Inspired by something I pinned a while ago, I used a cheap two pack of canvases, leftover craft paint and painters tape to create some art.

First step is tape the canvas in all sorts of directions. Next paint. Let dry. Remove paint. Admire! It was so easy and Scott tells me he enjoys having something to look at in there now! ;-)

My helper

Two pack of canvases from Michael's ($5)

No rhyme or reason to this. Just tape. Wrap tape around the sides.

Paint - any color, any pattern. Paint the sides of the canvas as well.

Supplies.

Ta-da!

Kiss My Brass

The door handles in our house were a mix of brushed nickel and brass. You can probably guess which I prefer. Enter spray paint.

Spray paint party in our yard!

The after, re-installed.

How to:

1. Remove all hardware. I recommend labeling which handles came from which door if yours are left/right specific like mine are.
2. Wipe down with a coat of liquid deglosser (near the paint thinner at the store).
3. Stick all the parts in styrofoam or cardboard, including the screws. 
4. Using Rustoleum Universal Metallic Paint + Primer in One, spray 3 light but even coats with 10-20 minutes of dry time between each.
5. Flip deadbolt locks back and forth between coats. 
6. Let them cure for 48+ hours; the longer the better. We lifted that table and carried it into the garage for safe drying.
7. Re-assemble (make sure you do the screws lightly and by hand so you don't mess up the new paint job) and enjoy!

This update is totally a personal preference detail. I do think it immediately updates the look of your home since most new homes use nickel or oil rubbed bronze vs. brass these days.

We have one lingering brass handle and that's the front door. It will be taken care is this summer when we paint the door though! Adios brass!

Budget Decorating: Our Guest Room

We have a lot of extra rooms at the moment. I'm sure one day they will be filled with adorable, well-behaved, exceptionally smart children. ;-)

For now, we wanted to make our guest rooms feel welcoming without spending a fortune on them.  The upstairs guest room is my favorite of the two. Decorating the whole room cost about $150  including paint. We painted this room when we moved in (as the room had 60+ sailboats stenciled on the wall in paint) and I love the color we chose. It's a soothing beige with hints of a grassy yellow/green.

The bedding was a super clearance find from Macy's Martha Stewart Collection. The entire set with all the pillows was $60. I actually chose the whole color scheme of this room around the bedding. We had the bed skirt, lamps and old IKEA furniture from our apartment. We also had the drapes...I tried to make them work in the city but they didn't. They are definitely too long for the height of these windows but they are hidden from the doorway - out of sight, out of mind.

I found a few accessories at the thrift store or at Homegoods. I love this green vase and throwback college pic. We had the tall "green sticks" as Scott calls them and a black mirror (not pictured above).

I created the canvas artwork with a wooden "S" letter from Michael's with an old canvas, some super glue and a can of spray paint. Super simple tutorial: Glue on the letter, spray paint, hang. Voila.

And, of course, these guys have to live somewhere in our home so this is their room. :-)

Master Suite Before & After

Continuing the celebration of our one year house-iversary...the before and after of our master suite.

One of my favorite rooms in our house is our master suite. I guess it's technically two rooms but there is no door between them. Our bedroom has huge windows overlooking the yard and forest preserve and vaulted ceilings. Our bathroom has the same vaulted ceilings and is open to the bathroom. The toilet is tucked away in its own room which was a huge selling point. I don't know if we can ever go back after having this luxury. I think it's essential for a happy marriage.

We knew the master had a lot of potential when we viewed the home but the color was so dark and the way the furniture was organized blocked a lot of light from the windows. Here's the before with a dark, wine colored paint.

And now for OUR space...light and bright blue paint with an accent wall (Martha Stewart's Peacock mixed at Benjamin Moore), all our bedding we registered for at Macy's finally broken out for our king size bed and rearranged furniture. And a Casablanca ceiling fan (a gift from my parents) which is amazing.

Wedding day photos were printed poster size and inserted into IKEA 20X20 frames.

The woods look amazing in the summer and fall!

Playing with the panorama function on our camera - the entrance to the master bath is the opening on the left.

The master bathroom was brown. So very brown. Brown paint, brown shower curtain, brown floor and light brown cabinets. Oh, brown towels. I guess they liked brown. And lights from the 90s.

Here's our new master bathroom. I painted the cabinets using Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformations Kit in Espresso (big fan!) and we updated the light fixture. We chose to use the same paint color as the bedroom since these rooms flow into each other. Throw in a new shower curtain, rugs and towels and it looks like a totally different room.

Ahhhhhhhhhh!

Art from my Bachelorette Party which matches the bathroom perfectly

 We love it!

1 Year House-iversary

Happy one year of home ownership to us! It's so hard to believe that just one year ago we got the keys to the kingdom, ha! I remember the day clearly...we started with breakfast in the 'burbs, went to our closing, drove immediately to our house and laid on the carpet in the empty family room smiling ear to ear.

Closing day smiles

Texting our family telling them we were officially homeowners!

 We have taken on many projects since we moved in, some big and some small. Over the next couple weeks, I'll be sharing some before and after pics of our home. One year in, we are nowhere near completion of all the updates (again, big and small) that we want to make. But, we have definitely made progress and the house feels like our home. And, summer project season is coming. ;-)

Here's the first project I'll share...the outside of our home. We've updated the light fixtures with chunkier, more modern fixtures that are solar. We love them. They automatically turn on at dusk and off at dawn. I love coming home to lights on when Scott is out of town! We also added some character to our garage door with a hardware kit. We think both these updates make a big difference in the curb appeal. Still on the to do list: paint the front door a brighter color (bright blue or red - cannot decide!!), get the lawn and landscaping in better shape and add a storm/screen door for ventilation in the house.

Home exterior on closing day

And, today

Close up of garage hardware and new lights

We'd be remiss not to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has helped us with home updates along the way. Our home would not be in the shape it's in today without tons of help from our family!

Happy Spring

Well, it's the first day of spring and it's a balmy 17. But it feels like 2.

Delightful.

This is classic Chicago weather.  Everyone knows spring doesn't really arrive in Chicago until nearly May. But every year we hold out hope that we won't need winter coats over our spring skirts and dresses at Easter.

The "pending spring" has us thinking about yardwork, spring cleaning and home improvement. Home Depot has increased the amount of emails they send to me...and they are tempting me in with patio furniture and manicured lawns.

This is our year to get the outside in order. When we moved in last year, we cut down a few dead trees and branches and watered the grass. That was pretty much it. We focused on the inside for most of last summer and accomplished a lot. We have big plans this year. We're installing a patio and clearing our back lawn from the overgrown brush, boulders and dead trees. We're going to create a backyard oasis. I can't wait to be enjoying grilled fare with a chilled wine in my hand. And, I'm going to dream about that all day today to get me through the cold.

Happy first day of spring!

Spout It Out

This post is about faucets. :-) I got a little creative with that title.

Much like many home projects, our kitchen is a work in progress. When we moved in, we transformed our totally 90s cabinets into a brighter and more modern look with paint and new hardware. We replaced the floors too - from a beat-up light engineered wood to a medium brown real wood. These changes alone made a huge difference.
 

Kitchen before. Hello oak wood.

Sorry for the dark pics - these are from my iphone!

Ahh so much better. Even with the old appliances.

Phase 2 of the kitchen involves a new sink and faucet. Our shallow, grody white sink is out. As is its best pal - a leaky, dirty, cracked faucet. Thanks to my sister's wonderful BF, we have a new, shiny, deep stainless steel sink to install! We are trying to decide on a faucet. We want something that

1. Fits our modern taste
2. Is sleek with clean lines
3. Will last - we are looking at quality brands since the sink gets the most use out of anything in your entire kitchen

We've narrowed it down to three options. Which do you like best? Have you owned any of these brands?

Kohler Simplice

Delta Trinsic

Moen Reflex

 
Phase 3 will be new appliances (praise stainless steel!), paint, under cabinet lighting and a tiled backsplash which we'll attempt to DIY!

Who's The Boss?

Things get real tense in our house when we have to hang stuff. Nothing makes us more frustrated than this seemingly simple household task. Something about the measuring tape and drill gets us stressed and we always end up snapping at each other. I think it's because we want the project to turn out perfectly and not have to spackle and paint giant holes in the wall.

Well, we took on our most daunting hanging task to date on Sunday afternoon - six vertical hanging wine racks from Crate & Barrel. And we lived to tell the tale!! I credit this miraculous fact to two things: our love of wine and THE BOSS.

THE BOSS (see below) is a giant, contractor grade level that my dad was smart enough to make me take home for this project. I tried to decline the boss not one but twice...but Dad insisted so I took THE BOSS mostly to get home. Oh but THE BOSS was wonderful. It allowed us to mark straight lines all the way up the wall and all the way across. So thankful for Dad's collection of every tool imaginable 5 minutes away.

 

We are so proud of ourselves! Every time we got one rack up and the level showed we did it right, we jumped up and down and high fived! Yes, hanging things sucks this much at our house. Haha.

Now on to the beauty shots...the wine racks are on an empty wall in our dining room. We couldn't put a piece of furniture here because the room is a little bit narrow to fit a table, hutch and a sideboard or something similar on this wall. We think it turned out great and matches our style.

I painted the art piece on the wall too! After some serious Pinterest searching, this blog inspired me and I attempted the project. It feels cool to have something hanging that I painted - feels a little more unique than my usual HomeGoods art prints.

Now we just need to fill up those racks with some vino! Who wants to go to Napa? ;-)