Kitchen Remodel Update

It has been a long time since I posted anything about our kitchen remodel. It's been a slow and painful process since we would rather be outside biking then cooped up inside working on our house. We started the kitchen remodel in mid-April. The kitchen has been painted gray and the cabinets have been painted white. Let's take a look...

And currently.....

I honestly didn't even recognize the old kitchen. When I looked at the old photo, I had forgotten how ugly it was. The painting took us forever. It was hard to stay on task and motivated. We did two coats of primer and three coats of Benjamin Moore Advance paint. The paint is pretty awesome. It has a super high gloss finish.


I really love our little chrome knobs. They were less then a dollar each because they were on clearance at Lowes. It's so nice having doors on my cabinets finally!!! I was sick of my house looking like this...

and all the doors taking over my living room...
I'm glad to have my house back now. Things are put away where they should be again. The next projects will be installing new windows and counter-tops. After that we will put up our back-splash! I need to spray paint our light fixture that is hanging over the dining room table also. I have plans for a fun painting as well. We are kinda of putting off the rest of the work till the fall. We are too busy cycling right now to worry about remodeling projects. We figure it's better to do that stuff in the winter months when you are forced to be inside.

Now...


So what do you think? I can't wait to get everything else done.
It's going to be so pretty! Have you or would you paint your kitchen cabinets?

You can see more before photos of the kitchen HERE.

Kitchen Remodel Progress // Painted Walls

A few weeks back I shared photos of my kitchen and the ideas I had for the remodel. I wanted to share our progress so far. Here is a picture of how the kitchen looked as a reminder...


Our first step to remodeling our kitchen was to remove all the ugly wallpaper! We sprayed the walls with vinegar and water to help loosen the paper. This process took us a few days. Getting all the glue off proved to be harder then we thought.


When we removed the wallpaper above the cabinets we found bright orange walls with lots of holes in them. Cody had to do lots of patching in the entire room. I guess it took the previous home owners quite a few tries with a nail before they liked the placement of items! (Poor walls) I painted over the orange with white primer to help hide it. I knew it would bleed threw when I went to paint the room.

Cody ripped out the fake brick paneling next...
After that we painted the ceiling. It needed brightened up!

I decided to paint the kitchen a very light shade of gray. Which was a difficult decision for me since I love bright and bold colors. I was thinking about resale and trying to be practical. The color I picked is called Horizon and it's by Benjamin Moore. However I had it color matched at Home Depot so that I could get BEHR paint.


I do my own stunts, don't worry I'm a professional. HA!

I never thought I would be so happy to see clean/new/bright light switch covers!! The kitchen is already looking a hundred times better. All the trim in the room also got fresh paint. We also picked out cabinet hardware. We scored some cute chrome knobs priced at a little over $1.00 each. It was too good of a deal to pass up.


I plan to share the total cost of the kitchen at the end of the remodel. The kitchen is also getting new windows. The current flooring is staying for now and the appliances will get replaced later. We only buy things that are on sale or clearance usually, so that's when the fridge and oven will be replaced. Here is a before and after photo side by side...



The next step is painting the cabinets. This will be the most time consuming part. We plan to start cleaning the cabinet doors this weekend and if we are lucky start priming them. Once the cabinets are painted I think the room is going to look so much brighter. I can't wait to see it! After the cabinets are painted we will go to IKEA to purchase some wood counter tops. Once the counters are in we can put up our subway tile back splash. It's going to be so pretty. It will be nice to have the kitchen look like "ours". I look forward to bringing color into the room with all my accessories.

You can see before photos of the kitchen along with my design plan HERE.
View all the posts about my home HERE.

Simple and Cheap Hassle-Free Bathroom DIY Tips

Today Helen from Helen Davies Interior Design is going to share a guest post with you about decorating your bathroom. Cody and I have two outdated bathrooms in our house that we plan to remodel. Helen shares with us some great DIY tips for decorating and updating a bathroom. I hope you enjoy her ideas. I know I will be using a few of them....

Day in, day out, we put a lot of stress and strain on our bathrooms, especially when you have a young family like I do, and these spaces can start to feel a little worn and unloved pretty quickly. Well, without resorting to a full-blown bathroom renovation, here are a few quick, cheap and easy DIY upgrades, that will have your bathroom look fresh and revitalized in no time.

We can always do with some additional storage to house those extra shampoo bottles, bath toys and cleaning product . But these storage units don’t need to be dull. Stenciling is a cheap and easy DIY idea, be creative, make your own designs or visit your local craft shop for stylish patterns. Pick a style and stencil your bathroom furniture, cupboards and shelves. Use colours to complement your bathroom suite, why not add a little stenciling to your walls!


Alternatively give your bathroom furniture a new look by sanding down the old dated varnish and painting it in a new bright colour. Add some wallpaper to the inside of your furniture for that extra designer touch or try a little painting.

We are all guilty of buying cheap bathroom mirrors with the intention of framing them but never get round to it (I know I am anyway) now is the time to frame it. My favourite idea is to use old tiles and create a stylish mosaic, go down to your local builders yard and they are sure to have some old broken tiles they will give you for free. If you like the rustic look use some drift wood to create a beach style frame, why not add some shells to!


I have seen lots of bloggers create giant letters recently (I love them) This is simple to do and your kids can get involved to. Find some old wood or if you are handy with a jigsaw cut out letters and spell ‘wash your hands’ in a piece of wood. These can be hung on the wall of your bathroom. Don’t forget to paint these and make them look stylish and unique.

Shower curtains offer an affordable way to quickly refresh dull looking or cheap bathroom suites, you can make the shower curtains yourself. All you need is some old pieces of fabric (Lets be honest we all have heaps of scrap fabric we need to use up) create a patch work design or use old curtains to create a solid shower curtain. Make sure to use your old shower curtain as a base so that your new patch work does not get wet!


Don’t forget to add some finishing touches, some candles, coloured bathroom towels and cute bathroom accessories will help create your new bathroom look, so what are you waiting for? Go and get crafty!!

Helen Davies is a keen blogger, Pinterest addict and currently works as a freelance writer for Better Bathrooms.
Find her blog HERE.

Thanks Helen for sharing your ideas with us!
My decorating wheels are turning! I can't wait to design my bathrooms.

Remodeling Our Kitchen {The Plan}

Something about our vacation made us want to come home and start remodeling our house! I am sure part of it is also the spring weather. We decided that we really needed to start doing some of the remodeling and updates to our home now since we don't know what the future holds for us. We could stay in Wyoming for years or we could only be here a few more. Our kitchen and bathrooms have to be updated if we want to make any money when we go to sell our house. Since we spend so much time in our kitchen we thought it would be the best place to start. Here are a few photos of our kitchen the way it looks currently...



Our appliances are all almond/off white colored and will be replaced with brand new white appliances.
We plan to donate them to the Restore American thrift store.
Goodbye fake brick wallpaper,...you will NOT be missed.



We plan to paint all of our cabinets a crisp white with the help of this tutorial from Young House Love.
Counter-tops are still kind of up in the air. We are leaning towards wood counters stained a darker shade.
We believe there are hardwood floors underneath the tile. *fingers crossed*


When it comes to decorating and designing a kitchen I tend to like ultra modern ones. I love all white kitchens with clean lines and chrome accents. Our house doesn't really have an contemporary feel. Since I have to think about resale I don't want to over do the modern style. I am still going to put modern touches but keep it simple. I am thinking about pale gray walls and decorating with chrome and turquoise accents. I want the space to have a bit of a 1950's vibe since the house was built in 1953. Here is my design board for my kitchen....


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I feel like everything I picked out goes well together, but I don't really know if it's any particular style? I love the big glass canisters! How cool would they be filled with coffee beans? Plus I can reuse jars that I have or find some thrifting and just buy chalkboard labels. The "Make Tea Not War" print I designed on Photoshop. I thought it would add a cute touch to the room. I am also leaning towards doing maybe artwork that is vegan related instead. I have so many ideas!! You may have noticed that there is white subway tile in some of the photos of the kitchens. I love white subway tile used as kitchen back-splashes. I think it's so classic and it never goes out of style. The paint color on my board is more of a beige gray. It may work better in my house since the living room (located next to the kitchen) is bright yellow. Here are some photos that I found inspiring...


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I love the contrast of wood counter-tops with white cabinets. The wood adds such a great warmth to the space. Plus if we do have the guts to tear up the vinyl flooring that is currently in the kitchen the counters would match the wood floors. I decided on painting the cabinets because they are in great condition. No need to tear them out and go buy new white cabinets. I am glad that we can reuse what we have. We also plan to revamp our current light fixture and maybe even the fan. We plan to do the kitchen remodel in this order:

Step 1: Tear down all wallpaper, patch walls and remove chair rail.
Step 2: Paint baseboards, window trim and walls
Step 3: Paint the kitchen cabinets
Step 4: Install new kitchen counters
Step 5: Do tile back-splash

We may replace all three windows as well. If we do the floor it will be later on. Appliances will be purchased last due to cost. Our stove and fridge work fine. I'm all about waiting to get something on sale or in the scratch and dent section if I can. Our new dishwasher is coming this week however! Since we cook a lot, the dishes really pile up on us. Can't wait to not have all the clutter laying around!


So what do you think? Any advise or suggestions? This is our second kitchen remodel so we are pretty excited!
See my Kitchen Inspiration board on Pinterest HERE.

Decor Love

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I love World Cost Market because they sell some really unique items. They have a lot of items that you can decorate your home with if you are seeking a "traveled" look. Not all of will be able to travel the world and buy treasures from different countries. I also love that they sell unique food, coffee and tea. Last time Cody and I went we sampled red velvet cake coffee. It was amazing. Also at Christmas time they always have some of the coolest ornaments! I still have yet to actually purchase something from them for my new home but hope so in the future.

Have you ever been or heard of World Cost Market?

Decor Love

1 What a cute sofa? The color and shape is perfect!
2 Very cool picture.
3 Pretty vases.
4 OH! Love it. Great statement piece.
5 Love this pendant!
6 Such a cute bird cage.
7 Beautiful. Love the wood and white mixed together.
8 Love the bright orange bird.
9 Awesome wall clock.
10 Love the way the books lay.
11 FUNNY!

I am so inspired by the new CB2 catalog! Such bold colors and ultra modern goodness!
You can check it out HERE.

Decor Love: Coffee & Tea Time

I really want to put a coffee bar in our downstairs family room. It's not that I'm too lazy to walk upstairs and fix coffee or tea in our kitchen. It's just that we are addicts and it would be nice to have it much closer. I think it's a fun idea and I have found some great inspiration on Pinterest. We have the perfect sized wall to setup a sideboard or cabinet with all kinds of mugs, teas and coffees! Here are some items that I like...


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Above I have an electric teapot! I have actually never used one but figured it would be perfect for boiling water without a stove. I found the images below on Pinterest, links can be found here. I found them very inspiring...



Here are a few kitchen carts that I like from IKEA...



IKEA has many great options for me but I much rather get something vintage. We are super excited about setting this area up in our family room. It will be a few months before I really start decorating that area.
We also have to find a couch! If only money grew on trees....

What is your favorite tea or coffee?

Decor Love: Doggie Stuff

Unless you don't like dogs or animals in general, everyone loves a cute doggie item in their home. I picked out some of my favorite doggie home decor items from around the web. The lamp is hands down my favorite. I would love to have him and spray paint him a bright color!


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Have you seen any cute doggie decor stuff lately? Please share!

Inspiration: Kitchens

I am dreaming of having my own kitchen again someday! (non-rental kitchen) I would love to do another IKEA kitchen remodel. I still love really modern kitchens, but I also do like the mixture of vintage pieces in the kitchen decor. I love turquoise and pink kitchens but hold a special place in my heart for all white kitchens. If I was remodeling a kitchen today it would have to have white subway tile and white cabinets. I also am loving open wall shelves with pretty dishes and canisters sitting out! Here are some kitchens that I found inspiring....

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What would your dream kitchen look like?

Decor Love: CB2

CB2 (the more MODERN side of Crate and Barrel) is one of my favorite stores! They are a bit pricey for me, but I still enjoy looking at their stuff. I love the bold colors and the very "different" home decor items they carry. Here are some things I like from their website....


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I am so in love with the Panda print! It's limited edition and $200!
Cody would kill me! LOL
Shop CB2 HERE!