Thinking about making some changes

I’ve have been thinking about this for a while ever since I saw this fantastic coffee table make over at Red Hen Home.

I love how it turned out, and I think my own coffee table would look great with the same kind make over. Here’s a picture of my coffee table at my old apartment. It’s probably the best picture I have it. If I didn’t have a cold, I’d take a better picture of it.

Anyway…….. I think my coffee table deserves a make over. It had been through a lot before I found it abandoned by the trash bin at my old apartment complex. The top had all kinds of white water marks, which I lovingly treated with mayonnaise, baking soda and a hair dryer. So I think it would appreciate being refinished.

The thing is…I don’t know if I have the patience she had to sit on the floor with an overhead projector painting it by hand!! I mean…Look at that detail! She really did a fantastic job!

She did give all the instructions in her tutorial… Hmmmmm…  What do you think? Should I give it a try?

Next Kitchen Idea

Now that my refrigerator is where I want it and my kitchen is more functional, I'm feeling like I want to make it more pretty. Last year, Jim agreed to let me paint the cabinets. Now, I still haven't done it, but I can tell he's even more open to the idea. Still I know he's fond of the oak cabinets, so I want to compromise a little.

The kitchen looks warm and cozy in this picture

Do you see how dark that upper cabinet looks even with the sun shining in?  But the lower cabinet look warm and blend well with the oak table and chairs... I'm not totally hating the oak cabinets so much in this picture. That brings me to my idea for a compromise.

Inspiration for our kitchen

I loved the kitchen in the above picture the moment I saw it. I think painting the upper cabinets Swiss Coffee, which is the color the trim molding is painted around the window would brighten up the room. Without even realizing it, I've already painted the kitchen the same color as the walls are painted in my inspiration. That was completely unplanned!!!

Loving the space, now it needs to lighten up!

I would also like to remove the wooden valance over the sink between the two upper cabinets and replace the light fixture with a pendant light. I haven't found a light fixture I like yet, but I know it's something I want to do. I think it will help let in more light and make it feel less 1990's. I wonder if I could add feet to the lower cabinets like in my inspiration picture?

In the future, I'd like to replace the stove with a stainless one, slide it over closer to the sink, put in another cabinet next to the wall, and replace the countertop. I have picked out the countertop I want. It's a Wilsonart laminate in their premium line called Granite. Sure, it would be nice to have real granite, but we'd be over improving the house for our neighborhood.

Wilsonart Laminate "Granite"

You can't tell by the picture of the laminate, but it really ties in all the colors, the white (Swiss Coffee), the green (Frosty Pine), the oak, and the stainless steel appliances. It has a real country feel to it, that both Jim and I like. Neither of us likes the white countertops, because they show every scratch and they're really hard to keep clean.

I think all of these changes will make the kitchen appear even larger and more spacious. But first things first. Right now I can get the upper cabinets painted, and that will make me even more happy!!!!

Please leave a comment!  I love having conversations with all of you!

Toodles!

Before & After: Kitchen Pegboard Pot Rack

The reorganization of the kitchen continues! Let me tell you, I am LOVING the new layout of my kitchen. It is really amazing what a difference moving one appliance makes in the functionality of the room.

Before: Pegboard leaning against wall

If you recall, when I posted pictures earlier, I pointed out the pegboard resting against the wall. Well, Jim put it up and I am so happy with it. I love having my pots and pans out in the open and easy to find.

After: Up on the wall and all organized!

I am so happy with how it turned out. It took forever to figure out how I wanted all my utensils, pots and pans arranged. Jim kept walking through the kitchen and commenting about the pegboard getting more and more things on it. Well, the more things that are on the pegboard, the few things that need to be in drawers or cupboards.

Before: Another view

I know there are a lot of people who don't like having all their pots and pans on display like this. I remember recently reading a blog that said this was going out of style. I can't remember which blog that was, but sometimes you have to come up with creative solutions for small kitchens. This does, however, mean that the bottoms of my pans have to look super clean and shiny all the time, which I don't mind, because I like the sparkle.

After: Another view

I think it looks warm and friendly now. I love how the morning sun shines on everything giving everything a cozy glow. The before picture was taken when there wasn't any sunshine coming in the window, and it surprised me a bit how different the pictures look aside from the fact that the pegboard is different.

Of course, putting up the pegboard meant there were changes in other parts of the kitchen too. I had to find a new place for the calendar.

Before: Refrigerator with potholders

I decided to put it on the refrigerator. I need to find a different magnet for it, but right now it's working just find. I do kind of miss that my cute calendar holder won't be used, but that's a small casualty. Honestly, where it was hanging before was too high for me to change months without a stool, so this location is going to work better. Plus, it is close to our bulletin board, which makes it more efficient.

After: Refrigerator with calendar

That's not the only change that happened because of the pegboard. The storage of my utensils on my my counter changed also.

Before: Countertop by the stove

Most of my stainless utensils are hanging on my pegboard now, which makes them very convenient. Before they were in a beautiful Tuscan inspired metal planter box along with my wooden spoons. That was convenient also, but the counter always looked cluttered.

After: Less cluttered countertop

Doesn't it look soooo much better. Although, again, I'm kind of sad my Tuscan inspired planter box had to be sacrificed, but for a less cluttered look, I think it's probably worth it. On another note, these two before and after pictures were taken from the same angle... In the before picture, the table is definitely in the in the picture.  Look at how the table is not blocking the path to get to the stove in the after picture!

The best thing about all this change is that I actually enjoy working in my kitchen now. That's the most important thing. There are some things I still want to do, such as move the stove over and put a real cabinet in on the other side with a real countertop. I also still want to paint the cabinets. But in the meantime, this is a vast improvement, and I'm happy!

Please leave a comment!  I love having conversations with all of you!

Toodles!

Before & After: Kitchen II

I think you've all heard the story about how I have been wanting the refrigerator, microwave cart and china cabinet flip-flopped. I, unfortunately, was becoming a bit of a nag about it, because I knew it would make the kitchen feel bigger and make it more efficient. Well, Jim didn't see that. I think all he saw was the trouble it was going to take to hook up water on the other side of the kitchen for the water dispenser and ice maker.

How the kitchen was.

Last week, I calmly asked him why he didn't want to move the refrigerator, and he explained he didn't see how it would gain us any space. So I finally found a way to explain it that made sense. I explained that the refrigerator encroached almost three feet into the room from one side, and the wall also encroached almost three feet from the other side of the room. That was six feet of encroachment total. If the refrigerator was moved beside the wall, there would only be three feet of encroachment. Now that he understood, and suddenly he was on board with changing it.

Now, I didn't let that rest too long... Two days later, we got the parts he needed to hook up the water. Then yesterday, it happened!!! Jim moved everything around, and I couldn't be happier!!!

How it looks now!

Once it was finished, Jim looked around and was happy too. Of course, he then had to take credit for the idea and asked me why I insisted the kitchen be the other way for so long!  And you know what? I don't even care, because I so much happier with my kitchen!!

Here are some more before and afters!

Before

See how cramped it was. I couldn't even use that space or really get into those cupboards. I felt closed in, because the refrigerator and the microwave stuck out into the middle of the room taking up all the floor space. It was awful!

After

Now you can see all the space I have. I can get into the cupboards and the drawers. Jim and I can actually work in the kitchen together.  The pegboard that is leaning against the wall is going to be hung up in that location, so I can hang up my pots and pans. That's what I used for them at my apartment and I loved it!

Before

Do you see how the wall stuck out into the space? That's the wall I told Jim encroached into the room. It made walking around the table difficult. Plus with the table where it was, it was hard to get into the china cabinet.

After

Now you can see that the wall and the refrigerator take up the same space. It's given us so much room. I can now get into the drawer on the microwave cart more easily. As an added plus, we now have a place to store the leaf for our table! We never had that before!

Another view of my new kitchen!

We noticed this morning that the room was much brighter over by the china cabinet. I think it's because the refrigerator, which has black sides, isn't blocking the light from the window. 

After

Do you see all the room there is to walk around the table?  I'm loving it.  Jim and I are no longer bumping into each other. Not that bumping into him wasn't pleasant, because I do enjoy being close to him, it's just it was hard to get anything done!  Now it's easy to move around.

Now my next project in the kitchen is to paint those cabinets white! I think that will make a huge difference in making our kitchen look bright and friendly!

So what do you think?  Better, huh?

Toodles!