Wine and Dine Me

I promised that I would keep you posted on the progress of the kitchen! I've now got all of the cabinet doors hung up and back in their proper home. Phew. That was a lot of work! I also put up my clock and some of my other accessories. It's beginning to feel a lot more homey! 

We all know how much I love a good glass of wine. (If the wine rack in my dining room is any indication.) I found these cool wine glass holders super cheap at Goodwill roughly 6 months ago and they've just been floating around my house. So! I decided to install them! Awesome! Except they only hold 6 glasses.... I dunno why but hey! It still works out well. They add a little extra to the kitchen, plus frees up a ton of space in some of my cabinets.

In order to make room for my wine glass holders though I had to rearrange where the counter top appliances were. So I moved the microwave back onto the other side of the kitchen...

And thus created one large work space for prepping food or serving as a buffet area when having parties...

And since the toaster is probably the least used appliance in the house I put it under the cabinet... so that way if you actually need it you can put it on the counter and use it and then.. put it away! Awesome.

I was on a roll when I was doing the cabinets and I also *finally* installed the "up-lighting" to the counters. I was originally going to do it as under counter lighting but the length of the lights didn't correlate with the cabinets. So here is the "before" (it was daylight so just use some imagination):

These were just some rope lights from Hobby Lobby on clearance last summer for super cheap..

And viola! You can kinda see how it is much brighter in the far corner of the cabinets...

It looks much cooler when it gets dark out, you can really see it now. I will have to rearrange the lights when I put the decorations and such back up but it looks pretty great!

Phew! Lot's of work done so far but still a lot more to do! I have some awesome things to show you over the next few days so keep watching! I am totally falling in love with my kitchen!

Cabinets Finished! Finally!

I can hardly bear the excitement that is coursing through my veins as I prepare to show you guys the finally finished kitchen cabinets! Of course it doesn't mean the whole kitchen is finished but! It means that the main part is done! 

Are you ready to seem some awesomeness?

I thought so.

After I finally finished chasing the cats off of my newly painted cabinet doors (disadvantage to painting inside in the winter) I had to apply the "new" hinges. Really they are the original hinges from back in the 1980s, just with a little bit more modern oil rubbed bronze spray paint.

Revel in their beauty....

Aww. That was magical, really. I'm glad we could share that together. Anyways! Back on task here.

A quick reminder of the "before:"

The hinges belonged to these doors here. This is the main work space for all of the cooking that would happen in the kitchen if I was a worse decorator and better cook. Either way when my Mom comes over I want her to be able to have ample work space for her to create an awesome meal for me to chow down on.  Hehe. Love you Mom. Or maybe I really will start using my new crockpot! Who knows.

Don't they look great? The whole thing is just fantastico!

Here's a farther out shot of everything tat is going on. This was sort of "in progress" so it's a bit of a chaotic mess. But! You can start to see how the white cabinetry is really starting to make sense with the laundry room and the red machines sort of compliment the blue rugs!

Counters still look kinda crappy but... One step at a time! I'm headed to Lowe's today to get some more materials!

Talk about increasing visual space! Doesn't it just look gigantic now? Even with all the stuff on the counters it's looking like a bigger space!

And I love this shot... again...

For the cabinets up above the refrigerator I found some great baskets at Michael's that I think will look really nice. I don't want to put the doors back up because they are complete hack jobs and look awful. The baskets can house some of the extra serving wear and that kind of thing for all the fancy parties I don't ever actually have.

I started to add some decor back in. Like my cute and awesome chalkboard.

I'm on a hunt for a good stencil for under the counter at the bar area. I think it would make it a little bit more interesting if there was some detail down there instead of plain white-ness.

Anddd again!

I do realize that there is paint on the walls, keep in mind I will be painting the walls a completely different color very soon.

 I haven't painted the range hood yet (though I have the paint) but I did give it a good degreaser scrub down. Also extremely nasty if anyone was wondering.

Here's a lovely shot from inside the laundry room. Ooooooo. Ahhhhh. LOVE IT!

 I must say that I am extremely proud of myself. At least 87% of the entire kitchen remodel has been me working on it by myself. My friend Seth helped paint a bit and Travis (my roommate) helped me put the drawer pulls in, but the design and all the painting I have done myself. And for being a single 20 something... I feel like that is pretty damn impressive.

I hope that you guys are liking it as much as I am! Thanks for joining me on my crazy trailer kitchen journey so far, lucky for us it's not quite over yet! We still have to figure out a back splash, counter tops, and paint the walls. Oh yeah. Gonna get wild.

Linked to: Shabby Nest

Half a Whole

It is three days into the semester and I am already swamped! Luckily it is my last "real" semester on the college campus! Next semester starting in August I will be doing student teaching in a ninth grade English classroom! Just have to survive this semester.

And get a 4.0.

No pressure.

This weekend to celebrate our last semester at Colorado Mesa my friends and I had a "Pre-Semester Ladies Night" at one of our favorite downtown spots! (Left to right; Chelsey, Katrina, and me!) The quality of the photo isn't so fabulous but it was a really fun night!

Now meet my new kitchen rugs! I bought them at Lowe's on clearance. 26.99 a piece. Still cheaper then the big rug I was going to settle for from online. I think they're pretty awesome! I love the dark blue and the moroccan pattern makes me feel like dancing! 

They are really durable too because they are made from wool, which is good for such a high traffic area.

The old knobs from the drawers were not going back into the kitchen. First of all they were ugly, and second they were broken. So I splurged and bought this great little drawer pulls, also from Lowe's, for 2.99 a piece.

Insta-improvement don't you think?

They look so awesome! My roommate helped me attach them because I strained my wrist... again.... dang it. But! How classy do they look? Totally classy!

The in progress kitchen was looking a little bit stressed out. Eek. I was also deep cleaning the stove. PS. Not a pleasant experience.

Though you can see how it is starting to look a little better with each door that is added on! I have also been doing a bit of reorganization which is really helping with the space. I keep finding things I didn't know that I had. Like 6 muffin tins. I've never even made muffins. Hmmm lol.

The right side isn't looking quite as fabulous... I have to move the fridge to paint the rest of the cabinets, which isn't a big deal but I figure when I move the fridge I need to have the paint to paint the wall that is behind it. Which I don't have. Hence random side not painted. lol.

But! look at it now! So beautiful!! The hardware is all painted oil-rubbed bronze. Total investment for hardware? 16.00. and that is just for the drawer pulls. I already had the paint and the handles are original same with the hinges, which are also spray painted. Looks FANTASTIC!! And it really is starting to blend in with the laundry room now.

Plus I did the dishes. Hehe.

Part of the project I still have to do. Put in new toe-kicks. They've been missing since the flood in 2009. Hate to rush into things.

My paint color for the walls is going to be the middle one on the paint sample. Bye-Bye orangey-peach-toasted-coconut!

Filling these little cubbies with vintage crystal champagne glasses and ball jars filled with wine corks. I love mixing vintage with some modern elements. I'm still in love with Ball jars no matter what though!

Ahhhh soooo prettyyyy!

This stove fan thing doesn't even work. And it looks awful. Bisque. I have bisque. That one I'm still trying to figure out. Spray paint it? See if I can replace it somehow? Who knows.

Broken ceiling lights. It's a better view of the huge fixtures. I still have to figure out how to get some new ones... maybe that BOTH work. lol.

 This is the not done side. The doors are mostly finished. Just need to do a few more coats of white on the lower cabinet boxes before I put the doors back on.

A picture of both Pouka and Lucy together! Though Lucy looks a bit malevolent...

Pouka is my princess kitten. She is also very spoiled. But I love her A lot.!

Still have to paint this part of under the cabinets... Right now it's all white like the rest but I was contemplating doing some sort of stenciling or something just to add some character. I've scouted out some really cute Martha Stewart ones at Michael's. Plus... I have coupons!

The lighting sucks in this picture but you can sort of see how all the white is starting to blend together. Makes it feel really open and cohesive. Which is what we were going for anyways!

These stools are going to need a little love soon! They are the most used seats in the house though. They often get used as shelving, end tables, table legs, and ladders. They aren't fancy but they are definitely sturdy!

Disadvantage to being tall in my house. You can't see anybody's head through the cabinet pass through. But it is nice to have! We'll be replacing those stilt things so they look less ghetto and more purposeful.

Check out the side by side comparison! It's not done but it's already a hugeeee difference! Ahhh the power of a $30 dollar gallon of paint!