Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

I finally finished. Here is the after of the kitchen cabinets. I'll take you through it quickly.

Here's the before. No hardware and hohum cabinets that were kind of dark. I have no window in the kitchen area.

First I painted the bottoms. I had doors all over the place. I sanded, cleaned, primed both sides of the doors and did 2 coats on the backs and 3 coats on the fronts. I used Benjamin Moore Advance Decorator White and I loved it. It has a really long dry time, but flattens out any roller marks as it dries.Then you wait 3 days for it to cure-yes I said 3 days!

Put the lowers back together and started all over on the uppers.

Put them back and added the hardware. 

Hardware was bought on the internet through Amazon. Cheaper then big box prices.

It really brightened up the kitchen. It also made a more neutral background. Was it worth the mess for 2 weeks and the back aches? Totally worth it. This is the 3rd house that I've painted the cabinets in and I think the BM paint was the best. I used  Young House Love for a refresher on painting. Check this video out if you are thinking about doing your cabinets.

I'm so glad I took the plunge. Not much of an investment moneywise-just time, but the results speak for themselves.I still have some tweaking to do-staging it better, but now I can enjoy it.I'm still painting-some small house fix-ups, but I'm so glad this big project is done. I'm joining Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday. Check out some other projects at Brenda's. Hoop you all have a good week!
Leslie

Kitchen is Done(Almost)

Monday mornings-I just love them. For some reason I always feel like getting organized on Mondays-paperwork, housework all that good stuff. Above is the after pic of my kitchen table area. I'm thinking of painting the table white(maybe with some red accents on the legs) and we need to get new chairs. These are antiques that aren't holding up to heavy use. I'd love to find some and paint them red. What do you think?
Here are some different views of the kitchen. We had the granite put in, I had already painted the cabinets white. We never had a backsplash, so we tiled it with white subway tiles.
Here's my little desk nook. Sorry about the glaring sun.Love this area!
Here's the before of the floors-Remember we had 6 different floors on our first floor. We now have 3-the new ceramic tile and wood in our living room and laminate in our family room. Much calmer.
Here's the same view-after.
Here work in progress-I was really glad to get rid of the tile counter tops. I don't miss them a bit.
Love the granite-even though I didn't think I would.
This rooster was made by my Aunt Ruth- every animal that she made (and she made tons of ceramics) have eyelashes! Little red toy stove was found in an antique store, on sale. This is in my window over the sink.
What we hired out-granite counters
tile floor install
What we did-painted the cabinets white
ripped out old floor and backsplash
tiled backsplash
painted walls
A few more little things to do, but hey that never ends. I was able to keep my vintage things witch I love, but kind of modernize the overall look.
Thanks for all your positive thougthts about BJ's wisdom teeth. He's coming along just great and will be tooting away on hist trombone soon!
Happy Monday!
Leslie

Buckets of Fun! Not!

Here is Max checking out all the commotion from upstairs. This is a favorite hiding place. He thinks we can't see him. What's all the noise about?
Our new favorite tool. Rented from Home Depot-and made short work of this messy job. What job you ask?
This is what we did all day Saturday. Ripped out our tile in kitchen, and entryway. We had 40 buckets of tile. I was pretty sore on Mom's Day, but felt good that we got it done. We are hiring someone to lay the tile(Thank Goodness). I don't think our backs would survive.
I'll show more pic's as this project comes to a close. Thanks for following along. Also thanks for some good advice and hints and your projects. That's what I am loving about blogging-I love hearing from you.

Grouting and Red Signs

Hi all,
I'm still in the middle of grouting as you can see, should be able to finish it today. Sandra from Sawdust and Paperscraps was nice enough to send me some helpful hints. I took a cue from her great kitchen re-do to do my backsplash in white subway tile.




Here are some red vintage signs that I have in my kitchen in honor of Rednesday from It's a Very Cherry World. The red root beer sign is glass and I think was from an old soda machine. The thermometer was bought on the way back from Austin on the side of the road. It was kind of bent and the guy just hammered the dinks out. I would have been scared to do that.
I would like to thank you for your comments. I enjoy reading them and getting to know you all. It's so much more fum blogging when you know someone is reading along. I love so many blogs and have been reading some of them for years. You guys make my day!
Leslie

Kitchen Progress

Well, I made it through the weekend.
Highlights-granite countertops are in.
-Tiled backaplash-took twice as long as I thought
-Grouted small part of backsplash and decided I hate grouting. Has anyone grouted and has wonderful tips or hints for me?

I'll continue grouting this week, and hopefully finish by Saturday, because I have a piano recital in my home on Sunday. Busy week. I' missed so many garage sales this weekend. I'm jealous of all of you who got to go out in nice weather. Anyway I'll keep my nose to the grindstone and fill you in on my progress. The pic above is from my bathroom-at least it is finished!

Red Dollhouse at Brookhollow Lane

Hi- come on in to the Sweet Shoppe. In honor of Rednesday from It's a Very Cherry World
I thought I'd show my little dollhouse. The bakery was inspired by Turkey Feathers Dollhouse Bakery.

I found the dollhouse shell at an Antique mall for $14. I added the door the attic window and flooring and furniture. I had the most fun doing all the decor, just like for a real house.
I wish I had a sink like that in my real kitchen. Looks like they are making gingerbread men!
Anyway I hope you enjoyed my little tour. The Sweet Shoppe is always open for business! Happy Rednesday!

Leslie

Rednesday and comments

I'm so excited to receive comments this morning.Thank you! Yea!!! I think I may start to really love blogging. I'm not much of a writer, but am an avid reader of many blogs. If I ever figure this out I will mention them.
On to Rednesday hosted by It's a Very Cherry World. The red stool was thrifted by my Mom. She always knew what I loved. The little red teapot thermometer was found at a garage sale. The little pot holder hanging on it was found at an antiques store. I think red is such a happy color, don't you? I think red goes with every type of decor, vintage, country, really anything.
I'm off to find some flowers -I think I missed the boat on nice weather here last weekend and everything is sold out or picked over. I may have to wait until Friday to get a good selection. It's great day here in Texas. Enjoy yours!

Leslie

Happy Rednesday

I wanted to join the fun. Red is my favorite color- here's one of my favorite things.
Enjoy!
Leslie

Under Construction

Well I'm beyond the point of no return. I took out our white tile backsplash today. It was pretty easy-the tiles kind of popped off. It was like they wanted to be off the wall. We are having granite countertops installed soon. Than we'll move on to the tile floors. I have mixed feelings on losing my vintage kitchen. I definitely will NOT miss the tile countertops. Those should be outlawed!! Anyway, I haven't decided on what to do as a new backsplash yet. If anybody out there has a great idea, please share. I'm kind of between white subway tile or possibly leaving it blank.
We have white cabinets in the kitchen now. I'll update as this project goes along.