Kitchen Decorations: A Final Decision

A while back, I shared the ideas that I had for the kitchen. I wanted something large for the huge expanse of beige wall that was completely blank, but I also wanted the decoration(s) to be on par with the travel-theme and red/beige/black color scheme that the den had. Since the den and kitchen are basically one big room, it's important that elements from both mix and match appropriately.

The final decision:

I found the travel sign on clearance for $30 at Marshalls. It's actually MUCH bigger in person than it looks in this picture, but it fits the space without overwhelming it. 

The mirror is actually gorgeous up close. The frame is one huge piece of wood that has letterpress style letters carved into it. LOVE IT! It was also a Marshalls HomeGoods find (but unfortunately wasn't on clearance...clearly, that factor didn't make or break my decision to buy it!). I love HomeGoods because you just never know what you're going to find in there. 

The red curtains match the brown ones in the living room, so they're coordinating without being matchy-matchy. They're 84" curtains by Waverley from Lowe's (they don't actually have the curtains anymore online, but they might still be in stores). Don't forget to hang those curtains a couple of inches higher than the window box--it will make the room look bigger. Promise!

The chargers, napkins, napkin rings and runner are all from Pier One. They make the BIGGEST difference in making your table more personal. The crystal bowl (Shannon crystal by Godinger) is actually part of our wedding crystal, but I thought it looked nice there. 

Now, to get the hanging pendant light above the table and replace the floors and we'll REALLY be in business!

Table: Ashley Furniture
Curtains: Lowe's
Sign: Marshalls HomeGoods
Mirror: Marshalls HomeGoods
Runner, chargers, napkins and napkin rings: Pier One
Crystal bowl: Bed Bath and Beyond

Kitchen Decorations

For the kitchen (which is our next big project to tackle), I have BIG ideas for the decorations. There's one long wall that screams out for something fun and funky. For some reason, I've been hung up on a focal point that has the following two requirements:
1. It must be of epic proportions. No 8x10 picture for our kitchen wall.
2. It must have something to do with subway or bus signs. Don't ask me where this came from. Just go with it. :)

A few ideas that I've been tossing around:

A reproduction of a bus blind in London from the Transportation for London Museum Shop. When I lived there, I used to take the 11 bus all of the time (my stop: Chelsea, World's End). If I can't live in London, I can bring London to me!

source: TfL

Another poster from TfL Museum: I adore the bold black and white graphics on this one. It's London but done in the coolest way possible. Both of the TfL posters come in a variety of sizes so I could get a BIG one like I really want.

Or, what about these subway sign panels from Flying Junction store on Etsy?



Ceilings: Before and After

KITCHEN

Before 

when the kitchen ceilings still had their popcorn-ness

and when the old (horribly dim) florescent light still existed in the kitchen

Kitchen

AFTER

shiny, smooth ceilings

shiny new light fixture!

I don't have a picture of the living room before, so use your imagination!!

Living Room

AFTER

I think we are ALL so glad to be done with this project--it was messy and time-consuming, but 150% worth it.

On to painting the downstairs tomorrow!!

Tearing My Hair Out

We're to the point in our kitchen project where we just want to take a wrecking ball to the whole thing. Will it never be done??

The last round of ceiling sanding is going painfully slow since Landon broke his hand last week. We discovered sagging wallpaper under the kitchen paint, so that's had to come down, too. The wallpaper didn't release like it should, so we've had to sand and peel the wallpaper backing off veeeeeerrrry slooowwwly.

So, even though we've been working on this project for several days, you can't really tell that we're making that much forward movement.

Eleven days until Landon's friend's bachelor party descends on the house! EEK!

Tearing up the Place

Our house has gone from bad to worse. In the process of prepping the ceiling for primer and paint, we discovered that there is (was) wallpaper under the layers of paint in our kitchen. Hideous, blue and brown striped wallpaper. Yuck!

So, in addition to sanding the ceiling last night, I also had to begin the process of ripping the painted wallpaper down so that our new paint will go on smoothly (lest we create even MORE work for ourselves). Our house honestly looks like some homeless squatters should be living it in! (Pics to come!)

And to make things even worse, Landon broke his right hand falling off of a ladder Tuesday night, so I'm the only able-bodied one for the time being. What ELSE could happen???

I just want to finish all of the painting by the time Landon has some friends down in July for a bachelor party (not his own, but a friend of ours). If we're done painting, I can at least put the furniture back in place before they get here.

Halftime Report: De-popcorning the ceilings

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Landon and I have decided to upgrade the ceilings from the popcorn ceilings in all their 1987-glory to smooth, painted ceilings--hopefully, bringing another portion of our house into the 21st century (watch out kitchen and bathrooms: you're next!).

Landon is just finishing up downstairs with the scraping, and we'll be able to move onto the spackeling and  sanding tomorrow or the next night, followed soon by the actual painting of the ceiling.

Here's where we were as of two hours ago:

ALL of our furniture from the downstairs--the pictures, the kitchen table, the couch and anything else you can imagine--is now crammed into the 450 square feet or so of our living room. We're doing anything but living in it, as you may imagine.

The clean, non-popcorn ceiling in the den. Oh, how lovely it will look when we have painted it white.

Still left to do: the kitchen (the white portion of the ceiling) in contrast to the already scraped foyer.

Darn you, popcorn ceilings

Our house looks like a construction zone.

We're not constructing something--we're destructing. The popcorn ceiling, that is.

Our house, which was built in the mid-80s, has the knobbly popcorn ceiling that was all the rage at that time. Landon and I can't stand it.

We've been planning on a kitchen remodel, but our kitchen remodel budget isn't quite there just yet, so we decided to take on some more budget-friendly jobs while we're waiting to do the kitchen. The popcorn removal is just the first in a series of wall/ceiling tasks we plan on taking on over the next few months which will include: sanding and painting the ceiling white, repainting the entire downstairs (kitchen, living room and stairway) a darker khaki to replace the pale yellow that is currently there, repainting the trim and putting up crown moulding in the living room and kitchen.

Hopefully, once we're done with these jobs, it will be time for the kitchen...our downstairs may be looking like a construction zone for quite some time!

More Thoughts on the Kitchen

Here's our kitchen now:

Look at those horrid beige counters and that atrocious backsplash. You can't see the inside of the cabinets, but they are made of (deteriorating) particle board that really needs replacing. Luckily, the appliances are all new, so we don't have to update those!

And here's how the kitchen will look after the renovation (as per my own brilliant sketch!):

Everything's staying in more or less the same configuration, but we're just updating the way it looks. We also plan on adding drawers instead of the cabinets that currently exist on either side of the oven. The drawers will have organizational racks to help tame the insane tangle of our pots and pans. In a quick, cosmetic change, we'll paint the entire kitchen (and living room, since it's attached) a darker beige to better coordinate than the current pale yellow.

We're hoping these upgrades will make our life here a bit easier and will also help with the resale value of our house down the road. After all, a kitchen is where people gather most, and we want to make our kitchen a living space that works with what we need, rather than against it, like it's currently doing.

Countertops

The fun thing about a kitchen renovation is that you get to think about elements of your kitchen that you'd rarely considered before, such as countertops, pull knobs and tiling.

For our countertops, we know we want a darker color in a solid material. We're considering both the Sensa granite and the Eco line by Cosentino. I love the look of granite, and it is often what potential buyers are looking for...something we have to keep in mind since we do eventually plan on reselling our house (not in the next five years, but eventually). But, recently, more buyers have become more interested in housing that is environmentally friendly, which is where the Eco line would be nice to have. All of the products in this line have at least 75% post-consumer materials, like bottles and mirrors.

We like these two options from the Eco line:

(black forest)

(starlight)

More Kitchen Thoughts

Another inspiration picture for our kitchen:

This picture is getting REALLY close to what we'll be doing: white cabinets, dark countertops, khaki walls and stainless steel appliances. Our first recon trip to Lowe's happened Monday night...we're getting all sorts of great ideas!

Kitchen Renovation: The Early Stages

Landon and I have been talking seriously about what it will take (fiscally, mentally and physically) to renovate the kitchen..and it looks like it may all be possible soon. We are SO excited about the prospect of a new kitchen since our current one lacks many of the features we want in a cooking space.

So what are we going for? Something similar to this:

We have a fairly small L-shaped kitchen, so we want to keep things light and airy. We currently have white cabinets, and we're planning on staying with that color. We would like to add darker countertops in the new version of the kitchen, which we think will work well with our stainless steel and black appliances (which were just purchased, so they will stay in the new space). Instead of the painted brick above, we're considering glass subway tiles, possibly in a white or beige. We're going to paint the walls a khaki, so either white or beige tiles would work well within that color scheme.

All we have to do now is really start budgeting...and counting down the days 'til the new space!

Refrigerator

During a great day out with my mom and sister, we found a refrigerator that fit all of mine and Landon's requirements: it's stainless steel, it's fairly inexpensive (as far as fridges go) and it will slide perfectly into the space into the kitchen.

We first found it at Costco, but then (after price checking) found it at Lowe's as well. It was about $150 more expensive at Lowe's, but they have a great program where, if you find an exact model somewhere else, they'll match the price AND give you an extra 10% discount on top of the lower price. Plus, Lowe's does free delivery on all large appliances, unlike Costco. Lowe's for the win!

We like this one because we've already got a black stove and dishwasher, but we prefer stainless steel. We'll eventually replace the stove and dishwasher, but until that time, at least the black handles on the fridge will serve as a nice connector between the stainless we want and the other black appliances.

Closing is tomorrow, which means we'll own a house in less than 24 hours!!

Recycled Glass Countertops

A few weeks back, I went with my mom, dad and sister to the Charleston Home and Design showcase at the Gaillard Auditorium: we saw SO many great ideas for my new house. One of my favorites was the Fisher Recycling Company products. They take used glass bottles from the area, break them up and put them onto your kitchen or bathroom countertops. There are a bunch of color options so the matching options are endless.

Ooh, pretty!

I don't know if we'll use this in our kitchen or bathroom remodels, but it's definitely an option.

See Fischer Recycling's website for more information and other product pictures!