Kitchen Redo - Part 1

For the past eight years since we bought our house the kitchen has looked like this.  

Those are the original red walls that and valances that previous owners left to us. Now I loved those walls for a very long time but that time has ended, like 2 years ago. I have been thinking for a long time of ways I could change the kitchen up without having to redo the whole thing. Something that wouldn't require ripping out cabinets and getting new countertops. Oh the green countertops. They have been the biggest obstacle when it comes to picking a color palette and finding something to coordinate with them. Psh, I thought it would be nearly impossible. That is until I came across this tile at Lowe's.
  

I.fell.in.love. Love the colors, love the shape, love that it was on sale! Funny story about that. When I found the tile I made sure Jimmy liked it, which he did, and then decided to let it simmer in my mind for a week. I used that picture up against my counters and cabinets to get a general idea about how it would look in our kitchen. It looked lovely. So the next week I went back to buy the tile and noticed that the price tag had moved to the bottom of the rack it was on. Suspicious if you ask me. So I loaded up my 36 sheets along with some tiling materials (float, trowel, spacers, buckets, etc.) and happily made my way to the counter (oh and this was my birthday present). The girl rang me up and the total came out to $200 more than it should have been based on my previous calculations. "Uh, the price on the tile said it was $7.98 a sheet. It was on the bottom of the rack." So she calls to do a price check and tried to tell me it was for a different tile. Whatever, the barcode on the back of the tile sheet say has the same dang name on it as that yellow sticker (I didn't say this but thought it). Then the way she said "Ok" to the person on the phone told me she had to change the price!  Woo woo!

So I brought it all home and has been sitting in my entry way for over a month. Ha! I first had to do my first ever demo job and rip out the existing 6x6 tiles.  It was a little scary yet exciting at the same time.

 
This side came down much easier than the other side but was a little more difficult to do at the same time. 

 

 A couple of those suckers were really stuck and I ended up ripping out the drywall. Oops, there was another first for me to replace drywall. I used the California Patch method Lowe's You tube channel. Another funny story, when I had a lady at Lowe's help me locate the 2x2 drywall piece I asked her about that method and she had never heard of it. I patched the two drywall places and then spackled over it all. Now after all the researching I did online everyone said that this isn't necessary, that you can just tile straight over drywall. I just don't feel comfortable with that. I also primed it to help with moisture.  And that is where we are with the tile. 

I primed the walls on a Sunday and could only take it a couple days like that before I painted it.  It was bright!!   I am so freaking happy to be done with the painting.  We are still getting used to the light color (Olympic's Tightrope matched to Valspar Ultra Paint and Primer in one).  I even painted the ceilings (which is totally for the birds), spray painted the can light rings because the were yellow, and I caulked around the windows. Stuff just kept popping up that I needed to fix!  Now we just need to rent a saw, buy thin stet and grout, make cornice boards for the window, and buy new placemats. I think that should be it???  

You can kind of see it in the last picture but here is a close up of the fabric for the cornice boards.  It is heavy duty upholstery fabric and the brown pattern is velvety.  2.5 yards at $5.00 a yard at Hancock Fabric with a 40% off coupon came out to $7.88!!!  Man I love finding a good deal like that!

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Kiera's bedroom

Well I feel it is safe to say I am done with Kiera's room.  I shared a few things here before and finally picked a wall color.  I am not sure if I mentioned before but Kiera wanted a rainbow room so that's what she got, within reason of course.  Some of it I chose and some of it she chose.  None of the colors here are really reading true to life, but I guess this one is the closest, and the wall color has some green in it not so baby blue like you see here. 

You can't tell in this picture (since I hadn't fixed it yet) but I added red flannel backing to the curtains because the light shone through from the window.  I didn't even think about that happening when I made them.  Kiera wanted pink curtains and I was having a hard time finding a pink that matcher her quilt.  I think this is from the same fabric line, just a different pattern.   I am pretty proud of myself for making that quilt too, especially since it was my first ever!

 Ohhh her desk and bookshelf.  It only looks this tidy because I cleaned it by trashing all the bazillion happy meal toys and organizing the books while she wasn't around.  She has plenty of toys  they are just hidden in bins under her bed.  She has a few little nick knacks that she likes to keep on the bookshelf which is fine.  This is her room after all and I will respect some of her little treasures.  I mean, the girl brings home rocks and shells and little sticks in her jean pockets every single day.  The desk and lamp I brought home because it was going to be trashed and she loves them.  She loves the desk and we constantly find her sitting there and drawing.  I would like to eventually spray paint the lamp and add a cute little canopy of ribbons above her name 'cause it looks a little bare up there.

She had a hand in helping with a couple things on the wall above her bed.  I found the butterflies and mirror at a yard sale for like $1.  They were an ugly brown color so I gave them a coat of white primer and I let Kiera go to town on the butterflies while I painted the mirror.  I let her loose on the "K" also and I did everything else.  I think I mentioned before the "Summer Girl" is a Katie Daisy painting that I modified.

 Oh and I really like the envelope pillow cases I made too (they are super easy and addicting).  I love houndstooth (almost as much as plaid) and jumped at buying it when I saw it in JoAnn's (it was new).  Do you know how hard it is to find a cute purple fabric?  This is actually flannel!  I didn't have enough for the length so I had to use some from the width of the fabric to make it a little longer.  I kept staring at it wondering why it looked different in the middle and then I realized the fabric is upside down.  Luckily I did that on both pillow which was a happy accident. I think it adds a little extra somethin' somethin'. 

This is one of my favorite things in her room.  I found this rock in the Illinois River (where we always go swimming and camping) and kept it since it is in the shape of Oklahoma, and the rose rock (our state rock) my dad gave Kiera.  I slapped some scrapbook paper in the shadow box and used this thick double sided tape to hold the rocks in place.

 And I love the dream catcher I made her too, since she is Cherokee and all (so is Jimmy, I am not).

 

She is happy with her room now and that is all that matters. 

K's Bedroom Redo - in process

I have been in the process of redoing Kiera's bedroom since she no longer likes the pink and tan and brown and have kinda been working on it for months. I totally planned on having it done for her birthday at the beginning of August and when that didn't happen I then hoped to have it done by the end of August. Here we are in September and all I have to show for it is a partially done quilt (my sewing machine copped an attitude one night a month ago which is ending up to be a $150 attitude), a bunch of random stuff to hang on the walls (which aren't hung yet) and a ton of blue squares on the wall since I can't find the perfect color. Hopefully by the end of September it will be done.  I figured I would share a few pics of things I have done and what a hot mess things are. 

 

A dream catcher made out of fabric scraps, embroidery hoop and doily.  There are also some feathers and turquoise beads hanging from the sides and the top there.

Here is the quilt I am in the process of making.  Super simple. A lot of straight lines.  Sim.ple.

I recovered the letters of her name hanging on the wall. 

This little hoop art was super easy to do.  Google it.

I also did my own twist on this Katie Daisy print.  Kiera is a summer girl all the way, when I showed it to her she said "Yep, that's me".   I think it needs more of something...or not.

 

There is more but they are stuffed in a bag...just waiting.  Gah I can't wait to get my machine back and finish that dang quilt!  I guess I will just have to do the rest of her room first!  Eventually!

Bedroom makeover

I have this amazing friend.  We met 9 or 10 years ago when we were co-workers at the bakery.  We easily became friends and have continued our friendship even after we have gone on separate career paths.  We were pregnant together with our girls.  She is a tell it like it is no nonsense person and I can be exactly the same with her, and not have to worry about someone getting their panties in a wad.  She is a single mom who works full time and goes to school (she does online classes but still) and is a foster mom.  Like I said, amazing. 

She recently decided she wanted to update one of her bedrooms for her foster kids and asked that I help.  Um of course I would!  I love her and will not pass up redoing a room!  I would basically throw ideas at her and she let me know what she did or didn't like.  There was a lot of texting pictures back and forth.  Here is the room before...

And after...

 I made the little mobile in the corner and the curtains.  We both worked on painting the alphabet letters one Saturday morning while our girls played.  She also has a frame for each kid with their name, a picture of them with their hand prints and the date she got them and the date they went home.  One baby got to go home last week and she still has two more living with her a brother and sister who are 3 months and 2 years.  Next on to her daughters bedroom!  

Cat feeding station

My brain is complete mush right now and could not think of an opening sentence for what I am about to share.  As you can probably tell from the title I am going to share our "Cat feeding station".    Poor Lilly was missing out on some of her meals because she is a grazer and Berkley would go and steal her food when she wasn't around  (we only feed them once in the evening).  So Berkley has been gaining weight, and Lilly losing.  She is at a healthy weight and she definitely isn't starved, but our boy is getting quite stocky.

We decided that we needed to elevate her food somehow and hide the bags of food that have been hanging out on the kitchen floor for years.

                

So Kiera and I went to PetSmart and Southern Agriculture on Saturday to look for an elevated cat feeder while Jimmy was getting his haircut.  We had no such luck.  I decided to then go to a favorite little antique store in Collinsville to see what they had.  They always have a TON of furniture outside and some of it is dirt cheap.  It is the same place I got my nightstands.  I was in luck that day because I came across this awesomely hideous bookshelf.

For $2.50! I didn't even hesitate buying it. 

 

As you can see it was in pretty rough shape on the corners but it is really sturdy, and there wasn't anything a little paint wouldn't hide.  Except for some water damage on top but still, I had plans!  Apparently Kiera did too.  She had fun on our little quest and excitedly gave me all sorts of "ideas" on what we could do.  She is drawing up her own plans here.

First off I sanded the edges and roughed up the laminate part and then gave it a good wipe down.  I gave it a nice little coat of primer too.  I have had the same primer can for almost 4 years now.  It is close to empty but I still have a ways to go with it!  I actually had to buy paint cause I don't have any "white" on hand, so I bought a quart of Olympic Semi Gloss Kitchen and Bath in Olympic's Garlic clove (not shown yet), which is the exact same thing I used on my baseboards when I painted them last year.  This way I will have it on hand for touch ups in the years to come.

 

I also had a spare piece of wood from the base of my nightstands that we added to to top front of this to add a little finishing touch.  Just nailed that sucker in from the outsides and painted over it.  You will eventually see it.

We also stopped by Hobby Lobby to grab this lovely duck cloth to cover the front.  I don't know what it says but I like it a lot!  Of course I used my 40% coupon and spent a whopping $5.84 for 1 yard.  I only need a 1/2 yard but better safe than sorry!  I will used it for something else anyway.

And here is the finished product!  I already had a tension rod on hand and sewed up my little curtain for the front and pushed the rod all the way to the top inside.  Yeah it is by our front door but it doesn't really fit where Lilly's food was before.  Actually it does but Jimmy feels too cramped with it back there.  We have had to show Lilly a couple times to jump in the chair then jump to the table, but we can tell that she really likes it.

I just threw some black lace up there and put her mat on it for the time being, but I plan on replacing her mat with a solid black one.  I might even paint a little Fleur de lis on it or something.  Berkley is not a fan of it at all.  

   

And now the food is all hidden too!  The kitchen looks so much more tidy with it off of the floor. 

 

It was super easy and quick to do.  I am thrilled it only cost me less than 10 bucks to make!

Master bath redo - in process

OK so I got a whole lot of nothing accomplished in adding some more decorations to the master bath this weekend. I have been on the search for an old window pane or even just a new window pane mirror and have found nothing. Actually I have only they are too big or too expensive. There are a couple other things I am looking for only haven't found them yet. I still need junk for the shelf thing and something to hang on the wall in the toilet room. 

The pictures on either side of the tub were gold with pictures of tubs before so I spray painted them oil rubbed bronze and but some shimmery golden zebra print scrapbook paper in them.  The curtain is just one giant 21 foot long piece of fabric (Hobby Lobby 40% off = $12) tied around the end of the curtain rod.  I also have a few lanterns to hang from the bottom of my shelf to try and mimic my inspiration photo but not sure if I want to do that now. 

Here is the toilet area.  Yay for plaid fabric (Hobby Lobby 40% off= $12)!!!  I was actually thinking ahead of time and only Heat n Bond 3 sides of the curtains and left one undone so I could test how it would hang.  With the Heat n Bond at the bottom it hung really straight (since the fabric is fairly thin) so I sewed the bottom seam.  

This topiary picture used to be in the tub area with a gold frame so I spray painted it oil rubbed bronze and then sponged brushed over it with metallic bronze acrylic paint so it wouldn't look so black.  This is the spot I want and old window pane to hang.

I bought this little basket at Hobby Lobby (50% off = $3, notice a trend here?) to hold my hand towel since I had nothing before.  I want to incorporate more woven and natural things to the room I'm just not sure how.

Here is the shower, the door to our bedroom on the right and Jimmy's closet on the left.  The little cubby holds towels and washcloths on the top and the trash can is on the bottom.  I thought hanging something above the shower, but not sure if I want to.  I could make a sign that says something like "Shower".  Hahahaha!  You know the little metal signs that say "Le Bain", I would just be super obvious.  Yep, that is the shower. 

And that red rug needs to go.  Once again sorry for the craptastic pictures.  Taken with my iPhone and the little wide angle lens that goes with it is what made those round pictures.  I promise when I get it finished I will share beautiful detailed pictures from my DSLR. 

Next step in this room, waaay down the line of course, is to gel stain the cabinets an nice dark color.  Not looking forward to doing that.  But if it works out well and isn't too terrible, we will consider doing it in the rest of the house.