Happy Earth Day, my Peeps!

So did you do anything green today? I watched plenty of HGTV that was very green-oriented. That made me happy :)

"What?!" you ask. "What were you doing watching TV when you have a kitchen to redo?!" Well my friends, it is almost done :) And besides, when Joel is crying all I can do is sit on the couch and hold him (and have HGTV on in the background, of course).

So while watching HGTV, I discovered countertops made of recycled paper. How cool is that? I looked it up online and found this site. You should totally check it out. The first countertop on that website is made from recycled green glass. I totally love it, and want it! Too bad it's expensive.

So why am I now looking into countertops? Isn't painting the cabinets painful enough?

You all know from the other day that I was debating between white and blue for the cabinets. I decided to go with a very light blue that looked almost white so that it would look good against the white appliances and the beige colored countertops. (Yes, I know what you're thinking... how awful is it that the previous homeowner mixed white and beige?)

Now that the paint is up on the cabinets (for the most part), I can definitely see that the "blue" paint is not blue at all. It looks terrible up against the beige countertops. And I also discovered that the dishwasher is beige! I've lived here for seven years, and I always thought it was white. Geesh. Up against the stark white cabinets, the dishwasher looks very dirty. *Sigh*

If I have a job next year, I'd replace the countertops in a heartbeat. (I so, so, so want those green glass countertops!!!!) If not, I will have to live with it. Either that or go back to the store and get a darker blue paint I guess.

But who has the energy for repainting the cabinets? Not this gal!

Maybe I could just get some appliance paint and give the dishwasher a facelift. Or maybe I should just replace it since the house is twenty years old, and the dishwasher is most likely original to the house. We already replaced the fridge, and the previous homeowner had replaced the oven.

Speaking of the oven... they had replaced it but not the range hood, so the range hood was still beige (and really nasty at that). A couple years ago at a flea market, I totally lucked out and found the exact same model of range hood but in white for five or ten bucks. It sat around in my basement, not installing itself, for a long time until my father-in-law installed it last year. Woohoo! What a find :)

On another happy note, I do really like the new drawer pulls, and how they pop against the white cabinets :) Photos will come soon, I promise!

Kitchen Cabinets "Before" Photos

My Rabbit Pepper Grinder. Notice the tuscan faux finish on the wall.


An overall shot of the kitchen


Notice the mismatched wood tones. I hate it.

Please excuse the dust on the light fixture! I bought that one several years ago on clearance; there's another one on the other side of the kitchen.

Another overall shot.

Yep, another one. Last one, I promise.

What Have I Done?

I am insane. Insane, I tell you. I went to Lowes and bought 20 new drawer pulls for the kitchen cabinets. They look very sleek and contemporary... not usually my style, but I've been watching so much HGTV that I'm convinced my house will never sell with its current "country" decor. I do like the knobs though, and they were only 97c apiece so I got them.

Keep in mind I'm throwing a wedding shower in a week. One Week. And it's at my house.

So I told my husband to put the baby down to bed and get ready to help me unload the kitchen cabinets because I'm going to wash them down, sand them, prime them, and paint them (two coats).

Yes, I have gone completely, utterly insane.

We now have food, glasses, plates, silverware, pots, pans, vases, cookbooks, and a heap of other things piled in the dining room and living room. My husband doesn't know it yet because he went to bed before I did, but I also emptied the entire cabinet of plastic containers into the playpen. It filled up the entire playpen. I need to get rid of some of this crap.

The good news is our local Volunteers of America is in desperate need of donations because they had a mercury spill the other day and had to throw away everything in the store (even the racks). Wait, nevermind. I can't believe I just called that "good news." Ugh. I cringe thinking of all that going to the landfill. And it wasn't one of those little stores either; it was a really big one.

Anyway...

I forgot to mention that I still am not done cleaning the grout on the bathroom floor (though thankfully the shower is done so we are able to shower at home again).

Pray for me this week. And don't expect to hear from me much for the next seven days. I will be busily tearing apart my kitchen and putting it back together.

Chickening out

I'm worried that if I were to paint my kitchen cabinets blue, I would turn off potential buyers when we put our house on the market in a few years. I would hate to paint them blue for my taste, but then turn around and paint them white a few years later so that the house would sell easier. *Sigh* I think I'll just go with white cabinets. Not that that's a bad thing of course! I absolutely love white painted furniture. I'm quite shabby chic :)

Here's some inspiration.

Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

My mom hates painted wood. We've gone round and round through the past decade about it, since I love white furniture. She loves oak.

I hate oak.

If I have to have the real wood finish showing through, I like cherry or maple pretty well, and even a rustic pine is nice. But oak is just fugly.

I have wanted to paint my kitchen cupboards since moving into this house seven years ago, but was worried that if I did, I would never hear the end of it. The other day, she gave me the green light. She said that my house is twenty years old, and so I could paint the cabinets to give them a bit of an update. Woot, woot! I am so excited.

I am thinking of having a painting party, and y'all are invited. And by that I mean, how about you come over and clean and paint my cabinets?

Here's some pictures of kitchens I like. I always assumed I would go with a creamy white, but lately I've been thinking I'd like blue cabinets. My appliances are white, and the walls are faux finished with a tuscan plaster effect. I just can't decide on the paint color. What do you think?

An interesting Coincidence

I was just looking at a photo of the tombstone of Joel Shumaker, my great-great-great grandfather and the namesake of my son, and I realized that he passed away on the same day as my son was due. Joel Shumaker died on February 26, 1887 when he crossed the railroad tracks in front of a train. He was struck and instantly killed. What's especially sad is that Joel didn't die alone that day. Let me explain.

His son (my great-great grandfather)'s name was Albert, and Albert was married to Ella Rose Smith. Ella's father also was struck and killed with Joel on that fateful day. I can't imagine losing both my father and my father-in-law in the same accident.

Cottage-y Cotton for my Cookie Cutters

I was inspired by Tabiboo to make a drawstring bag for my cookie cutters. I had them sitting in a basket on the ledge until the ant infestation a couple weeks ago. My husband went a little nuts-o with the bug spray and got it all over everything, so we had to wash all the cookie cutters and utensils that were sitting out on the counter. I finally got them washed today and was able to put them into these two cute bags. (I only meant to make one for them all to fit into, however it turned out a little smaller than I had imagined).


Thank you Tabiboo for the inspiration :)