Painting Kitchen Cabinets

Here's the truth.  I wrote this post earlier this afternoon and then tonight we went to someone's house that we'd never been to before....and they have an amazing kitchen.  AMAZING.  Gorgeous.  A newer home with quality materials and beautiful craftmanship.  Wow, I was in a bit of shock. Coming home tonight the contrast kind of hit me.  I realize my kitchen is modest.  But it's a happy place for me where we share life together.  And so I will post because I'm documenting real life.  Here & now.  Ugly, old fridge and all.  

I thought I'd post, six months after the fact, that we painted our kitchen cabinets.  This happened back in August. It was labor intensive, so much that I stopped tracking our hours, but it was at least a week.  Dozens of hours, mostly spent in the garage.  It didn't seem like we had that many cabinets but once the doors and drawers were in the garage it seemed an enormous amount.  

I love the look of white cabinets and I'm happy with our finished project.  Our cabinets were in great shape to begin with.  I was inspired by Young House Love's blog and we mostly followed the process they outlined here.    

Here's the short version of the steps:
1. Took off all the cabinet doors and took out the drawers [numbered] and put in garage.  
2. Continued inside the house by sanding the cabinet frames/boxes.  
3. Removed all the hardware from the doors and drawer fronts.
4. Sanded the cabinets doors and drawer fronts [1st pass 60 grit and then 180 grit].
5. De-glossed everything.  
6. Primed [Zinsser].  Primed everything again.  [We used a paintbrush for the raised trim on the door fronts and then rolled the rest with a small foam roller.]
7. Applied 2 coats of paint.  [Behr's Popped Corn, semi-gloss]
8. Spray painted all the hinges.
9. Rehung the cabinet doors.  [Wasn't as easy as it sounds.]
10. Added new knobs and pulls.  

By this time, we were ready to be done and out of the garage but if I were to do it again, I think, I'd apply a 3rd coat of paint to the door fronts.  Six months in, they still look good and are wearing well but we have a few knicks from abuse like Addie driving her little, metal shopping cart into the doors. While I do tell her to stop, I'm ok with a bit of natural patina.  

"A welcoming home is where real life happens.  It's where personalities are nurtured, where growth is stimulated, where people feel free not only to be themselves but also to develop their best selves.  

That caring, nurturing quality- not the absence of noise or strife- is what makes a home a refuge."

~Emilie Barnes~ 

[I saw this quote on this blog]

Turn me on [Lights]

How do you say Happy Love [Valentine's] Day to your wife?   

I suppose there are many ways.  

Here at our casa it was dust and traces of pink insulation as my husband decided it was the perfect day to put in recessed lighting in the living room and entry.  

No sarcasm in my tone, as a practical person, I appreciate these gifts.  I must say there is something attractive about a husband hard at work, fixing things. 

Somewhere in the mumbling talk of red wire, black wire, white wire and multiple 3-way switches, he lost me.  He also liked to continue to repeat the phrase "in theory".  

The dust has settled, the snags have been ironed out and the living room is now lit.  He put the living room lights on a dimmer switch for ambience, so, I'm thinking there's romance there.  

We're also still getting along which is never a guarantee with home improvement projects.  

It was a sweet Valentine's Day.  We gave hand crafted love notes to the kiddos and each other. Vanilla cupcakes and milk were shared around the table before bed.  Last night we went to a Valentine's dinner at church.  We got 2 out of 10 possible points on the Newlywed Game, coming in last place of all the couples.  The only two questions we got right were ones we had a 50/50 chance of getting because the answer was either "him" or "her".  My conclusion: we just need to date more. Much more.  

self expression and paint

I did a little painting on Saturday.  The girls' bedroom ceiling was dingy and had some previous touch up spots that were bright.  Grace requested light blue so it would look like a sky.  So it is.  

I am trying to allow her personal self-expression.  

The other day she was leaving for school and I asked my husband if I should say anything about her outfit.  Nah.  This day it was red leggings, a gray & pink striped character t-shirt with words, and a cream, floral, lace scarf.  Speaking of self-expression, Addie's latest is saying "I'm angry" and then she growls a very wicked sounding growl.  

  

Anyways, I've digressed.  Back to the painting...the ceiling color was in the off-white section [Behr's Waterfall Mist]. The walls were already a light pink [Behr's Silk Sheets].   I would take a picture but our camera is still at Nikon for repair.  It's been months.  Nikon is now a bad word in our house.  I'm angry.  [insert a very wicked sounding growl].

our big or little gray house

I was reading earlier this year from the book Organized Simplicity: 

National Public Radio reports that from 1950 to 2004, the average American home has doubled in size, what was once 983 square feet is now 2,349 square feet.  

Family size is smaller.  Houses are bigger.  Today, smaller families (average family size was 2.62 in 2002) "need" bigger homes. 

Statistically, the amount of stuff we have accumulated, the size of our storage & closets and our pursuits of more are excessive.  Yet, the average Americans aren't happier than a rickshaw driver in Kolkata, India, according to a documentary I watched the other day.  Even with all the more....Americans aren't any happier than they were in 1950.  

 via National Geographic 

Since our move last fall I've thought about needs vs. wants and our housing.  In recent years, I've traveled to other countries...and walked through homes.  In Haiti [2010], a woman gave me a tour of her new home.  Her home was considered nice in contrast to her neighbors.  It had walls, a roof, wood doors, a few rooms.  [I'm guessing it was maybe 400 sq. feet?]  Her and her husband were so proud and beaming as they gave our small group the tour.  A few things struck me.  1. She was sincerely happy and thankful.  2.  She made it a home.  Concrete walls and dirt floors were the backdrop of pretty little curtains hanging from a wire in one window and there was a single piece of art in the home.  I thought of how we do our best to make a house our home irregardless of our culture or financial means.  

Happiness isn't dependent on our surroundings.  I know this is true but I need to be reminded and let go of my grip on things.  In the documentary I watched it said studies prove that once our basic needs are met [for food, shelter, etc.] our happiness does not go up with our income.  Scientists stated that they found people's happiness does not really increase whether they earn $50,000 or 50 million as a yearly income.  

I've had various thoughts as we moved.  We get used to what we have.  I want to remember I have enough.  Maybe someday I'll live in a bigger house.  Maybe I never will.  I want that to be ok with me.  Not because there is anything wrong with a bigger house.  But I don't want to look to that or wait for that day.  I have enough.  Here in our little gray house [by today's standards in America] or our big gray house [by yesterday's or many countries' standards].  I am happy here. 

"The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, 

but in developing the capacity to enjoy less." (Don Millman)

10 Hours One Weekend

 *Warning: If you happen to believe painting wood is criminal then you're gonna hate what we've done. 

Before: 

After:

I wasn't feeling well the last few days with congestion, fatigue and body aches.  I googled 'body aches' and googling health issues never seems to be a good idea for me.  It'll make you wonder if perhaps you could have meningitis or muscle diseases.  A few nights ago I took a nighttime cold multi-symptom medicine which I'd never done before and don't think I will ever again.  It knocked me out so hard, I dreamed R rated dreams, drooled like a baby all over my pillow, and could not wake up the next morning.  True story. 

Anyways, back to the shelves...it actually was a project we did the last weekend of July.

It involved: 

1.  Buying new wood brackets [from Home Depot].  I got the idea here at Young House Love.  
2.  Sanding & then priming [with Zinsser primer] 
3.  Painting the cabinet & shelves [x3 coats of Behr's Popped Corn.  We bought a gallon for this project and another one we had in mind].
4.  Painting the back wall [pint of Benjamin Moore's Storm Cloud Gray]

[Spent about 10 hours on the project.  We bought the brackets with a gift card, had the primer on hand, purchased the paint.  Total cost under 50 bucks.]

Oasis

What do you think of when you hear the word oasis?  

The Mr. and I were in a small group at church and the facilitator asked...
"Is your home an oasis?" 

I smiled and I may have laughed.  Images of our home and life with our children [9, 5, and 2 year old] flashed through my mind.  I'd use various words to describe our home but "oasis" doesn't come to mind.  

Life is messy [literally, get out the disinfectant, I'll spare you the details].  It's noisy.  It's moving fast.  [I tend to like quiet.]  Most of the time it feels like I'm not up for this.  

I want our home to be an oasis.  A place that "provides refuge, relief and pleasant change from what is difficult".

I hope in the midst of...

walking on Legos,
cleaning up my son's concoction of "hosta leaf soup" [from the bathroom sink],
treating rashes and bee stings,
wiping noses and booties,
wondering why the kids seem to destroy so many things,
reminding to be kind [don't hit and don't growl].  And that's just the kids!


...[in the midst of] all this life, I hope our home is an oasis.  

I recently read this... "Peace: not the absence of noise, trouble or hard work but to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart."  

I love it.  I need it.  I also need a full night's sleep because tomorrow we're going to do it all again and our children will go, go, go....until they crash at the end of the day.  

Every night before I go to bed, I "tuck them in".  It's a sweet routine that reminds me how thankful I am for these three amazing children.
  

Jude's imagination never ends.  

Grace nurtures Addie and it is beautiful to see.  

Goodnight!

Kate 

Light On

Remember the thrift store lamp I wrote about here?  It's gone white.  My husband thinks it looks like a giant chess piece.  

You know how one thing leads to another?  Well, while I was at it I decided to paint [have my husband paint] the other  lamp white to bring them together in unity.

For a before paint job photo, I found two baby dolls tucked in the lampshade.  Not sure who put them there but it wasn't me.  Creative.

And to bring the lamps together in further unity I headed over to Target for two white drum shades.  

Time=minimal.

Thrifted lamps= The top one was $3.50 and the bottom one I've had for years [paid $2.50].

Paint=on hand.

Shades=about 15 bucks x2.

I like it.  Thinking about what else I can paint white...

 

~Kate 

Linking up with Simple Design.

Color Our Nest

We've been in our new nest four months.  In reading about my personality type 
[see earlier post ] it said my type has a need for order and beauty in the home.  
It might help explain my tendency to constantly "nest". 

Because paint colors make me drool, I thought I'd share the colors of our new nest.  Yes, I have painted.  This palette is much lighter and cooler than our previous homes.  I tend toward a love of brown and earthy colors and was quite obsessed with "sandy brown" for a decade.  This nest is "cozier" than our last and so I was thinking lighter and brighter...and different.  
 

Stonington Gray [Benjamin Moore]= living room and bedroom.

Hawthorne Yellow [BM]= kitchen.  Soft Fern [BM]= master bedroom.

Silk Sheets [Behr]= girls' bedroom.  Chocolate Froth [Behr]= bathroom.

I've still had thoughts about the sandy brown color.  Maybe it would be a good choice for the basement.  'Course first we would need to remove the dark paneling sheets and hang sheet rock.  We'll save that for another day. 

~Kate

We're Compatible

We’re in!  If you’ve wondered where I’ve been, I’ve been internet-less at the new home.  I am experiencing major withdrawal on that front and I’m eagerly awaiting connection this week.

We moved into the new place a week ago today on a rather wet, snowy day with the assistance of a half dozen strapping young [and not quite as young] men.  I’m so thankful to share life’s moments with friends.  A good moment, at the end of unloading the moving truck, was sitting around our kitchen table, our stuff piled high all around us, with two of the college age guys [Andy & Tony].  We polished off the last of the cookies.  

[Here we are on moving day morning- last photo at the swell old place.]

Week one at the new place was good.  I taped paint swatches to the living room wall and when my husband came home from work I had him sit on the couch and tell me his favorite of the [12] choices.  He so happened to narrow it down to my #1 pick.  We are so compatible.  Maybe not on the 1,400 levels of E-Harmony’s compatibility but we did pick the same paint color.  I kissed him after this…as if it was a major positive sign.

He also removed three unpleasant spindles and a shelf that were an ugly decorative barricade between the kitchen and living room.  The bottom half was a planter, complete with plants, which were growing up the spindles nearly reaching the ceiling. 

I love him for this.
  

~Kate

Our New Nest

This is the week!  Thursday it's closing day and Friday we move into our new home.  We've been renting a house the last three months which has worked out really well.  It's a great house but it's time to say goodbye to this temporary arrangement.  Two moves in three months.  Clean, clean more [for showings and open houses], purge, pack, and unpack.  Save boxes and do it all over again.  I'm glad we travel light.  

In between packing boxes, I’m daydreaming about paint colors for our new nest.  I LOVE to paint.  I’m thinking of trying some new colors and choosing a palette of yellow, grayish blue, and green yellow [grelow?].   This will be considered at length.  I'm not sure, am I indecisive?  Some ideas...

via Design Crisis

The new place is pretty much void of color.  Wall color, that is.  There are, however, some avocado green bathroom fixtures.  Oh, yeah, baby. 

  via Apartment Therapy

The apple wallpaper border in the kitchen is definitely out.  Not to worry, I have a lot of wallpaper removal experience.  Maybe a yellow kitchen in its place?  This is the third house we have bought in our nearly fourteen years of marriage.  It's also less of a fixer upper than the first two.  It's clean and well maintained which probably helps explain why the retro fixtures are still going strong.

 The things I like most about the new place.  Location.  Backyard.  Location.  Location.   

It's going to be great.  The Mr. & I and our three kiddos living life and making memories together within new walls. 

 

 via Massucco Warner Miller  

~Kate