Refinished Cabinet

Well, in my blogging lapse I had forgotten all about updating you on my cabinet refinishing project. I know you were all waiting on pins and needles.  Well, wait no more my friends. 

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I explained it in a previous post back in September of 2012. 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

(This picture reminded me that I need to touch up the old screws with the new color.   Also, the reason they don’t line up perfectly is because our crazy floor is *that* uneven.) Also, sorry this is in bold…it won’t let me “unbold” it.  Crazy computer.

It’s definitely not perfect…at all.  But I *love* the way it turned out – and I *love* the way it looks in my house.  It gives that wall a homey, comfy vibe – which I love.  I got to decorate it at Christmas and that was really fun! 

I am really proud of how it turned out. It was a SERIOUS labor of love. Judd didn’t believe me when I said that we could revamp that cabinet and turn it into something beautiful! Well, needless to say, I turned him into a believer! Although, I have to admit, he and I were both sick and tired of spending all of our free time working on it by the end. We finished it just a little before Thanksgiving. So it took us from September to November. With a newborn. Ha!  The hardest part was, by far, the sanding.  We sanded for a solid month.  We used stripping gel which made it easier, but it still took a long time to get in all the crevices.  There were lots of places that had to be sanded by hand and those took a while.  The painting actually didn’t take long at all.  We got a cheap paint sprayer and in about an hour I had the cabinet painted – inside and outside.  The doors took less time than that.  Then I cleaned the hardware thoroughly and spray painted it.  I loved the old hardware and couldn’t find anything like it – so we soaked it and scrubbed it until it was clean enough to paint.  I love the way it turned out.  Judd added the feet (from Lowes) after I stained them.  I stained the top in 3 coats.  *sigh*  It was a lot of work, but we feel like it was worth it. 

It’s decorated now like the “after” photos above.  It still needs some little knick knack type things but I’m trying not to buy the first thing I see so that I know I get what I want.  I know I want some old books to make the lamps taller.  I’m also thinking about some kind of pottery for a knick knack.  Any suggestions? 

The mirror and lamps came from consignment shop in town.  The mirror was actually a picture:

So I tore the paper off the back, took the picture out, spray painted the frame (the same color as the cabinet hardware) and had mirror cut to size.  That project took me about 30 minutes total.  The lamps were originally brass and were spray painted silver but I bought them that way…no work for me! 

It holds SO MUCH stuff.  Everything that I had in my china cabinet now fits on the top shelf.  So I’m basically using it as extra cabinet space to hold large platters, decorative kitchen/dining items, etc.  My china is also in there stacked up. 

So there you go.  The last project I’ll ever take on….HA!  Not really, but after I finally finished I vowed not to start another one for a long time!    I welcome any suggestions for decorating it! 

Living Room Makeover (Again…)

Before pics of LR – Please excuse the mess – it’s always like this.  HA!

AFTER!

Seriously – BIG difference!  Yes, I need some new pillows and matching knick knacks – but the curtains themselves made a huge difference in the room.  I’m so happy with them!

The curtain rods are from Lowes (Allen Roth – Walnut Stain) and the fabric for the curtains is Wildwood Jubilee by Richloom.  I ordered mine from Maryjos.com.  She had the cheapest price I could find anywhere!

This picture is a good representation of the actual color of the fabric!

Love the fabric!

These curtains definitely have a lot of mistakes and I can’t sew a straight stitch to save my life.  But HEY – not that many people are gonna be checking out my stitches.  They were a labor of love – because I love them.  A lot.  I used THIS tutorial to make my curtains.  I used it more as a guide than anything.  Mine are lined and I wanted to make sure I did that right.  Two panels can be lined from 1 king size flat sheet.  My curtains needed to be 90” long and 54” wide, and it worked perfectly.  It took about 2hrs to make 1 panel.  It could just be that I’m slow, though.   

I think it made a huge difference in my living room.  Now I gotta talk Judd into a new couch (I’m thinking leather to break up the throw up of beige) and I’ll be pretty content with my living room.  The big cabinet from my MIL is coming along!  Pictures coming soon! 

I know you’re all tired of hearing about my living room so I’ll try to keep these posts to a minimum from here on out.   

Now, back to the regular programming…

Nakey baby!  (Washcloth for modesty.) 

Living Room Before & Afters!

Living room Before. Where the wall is sitting is where the couch will be sitting in a minute! ;)



Above is the other side of the wall. (The brick is the wall knocked down!)

Above is where the TV will be sitting in a minute. ;)

Wall knocked down. I'm standing at the front door looking towards the living room. :)

AFTERS:


Look in the middle of the wall. See the "fold" in the wall? That's where the wall was knocked down. It was a brick wall on one side and paneling on the other. It opened up the room tremendously by knocking it down!

Where the couch is sitting is where the wall used to be!

This dresser was in our master bedroom in our other house. We had painted it a bluish/black color and I repainted it red and got the mirrors and lamps from Kirkland's!

That's my Papaw's Bible. :)

So happy with it!

Kitchen Remodel Pictures!

BEFORE of kitchen. Destruction had started that morning!



AFTER!

These are the same cabinets! We painted them SW Black Magic and added a trim to the doors and drawers. The paint and cabinet trim made a HUGE difference in the room.


It's hard to tell in the before picture, but the dual-height bar was not there either. We added that to add some countertop space and two extra large cabinets!






I LOVE undercabinet lighting!

Pendant lights over the bar!

Bullnose edge on the granite tile is one of my favorite things!

So - there's the kitchen! I'll put up living room renovation pictures later! Hope you enjoy!