The Paint That Cured The Itch

Not THAT itch.  Thank god.  My itch is a little more mental.  There are so many pending projects around the house that it's feeling a bit overwhelming and with our budget cut it seems that nothing is going to get done.  This lack of progress has me in a bit of a funk and if you've noticed I haven't been up to much on this ol' blog (which is now one year old) and that's a bit scary.  If I'm dormant for too long - watch out!  I get that itch to get creative and who knows what'll happen.  This time around wasn't too drastic, but the final results did sway from my originally intended design scheme just a bit.

My plan was to paint all of the living spaces (i.e. the living room, hallway, stairway, landing, etc.) a light warm gray covering up the off-white that is painted everywhere including the trim and ceiling.  I swear they just moved through the whole house with a paint sprayer and no surface was safe!  (Sounds familiar, Pops?)  Yes, gray.  Just like everyone else.

I like gray.  No, I love gray.  If you're a Pinterest follower then I'm sure you're well aware of my love of gray.  It's a perfect neutral and is both modern and traditional.  It's perfect for our young little family and our little coastal cottage. BUT, my warm gray color would be a new purchase.  One that I don't really think I could rationalize to my hubby which means that I'd have to live with these hideous off-white walls for whoever knows how long.

Before & After: Bland Nursery to Hip Big Kid Room

The old adage "time flies" is ringing true this week.  Luke transitioned from his crib to a big boy bed after he started scaling it like he was climbing over a pebble.  I figured that his room might as well get a big boy update as well so I turned to my good ol' friend - Paint.

 
I broke out some painters tape and two gallons of OOPS paint from Home Depot one in a semi-gloss white and the other in an eggshell gray and painted large stripes on the walls.  Once I got the gray on

DIY // How To Paint Kitchen Cabinets White Update

With the cabinets in place we were on to the next step..."Painting the cabinets white, we're painting the cabinets white..." The Queen of Hearts would not be pleased with our cabinet transformation, but we sure are!  Simply changing the color and height of the cabinets (in addition to our changes with our windows & walls) has transformed our kitchen from a heavy and dark place we didn't want to spend much time in, to my favorite room in the house.  I love its bright and airy feel.  I can only imagine how amazing and open it will be when we finally have the walls taken down between the nook/mudroom/kitchen.  I'm never going to want to leave.

Now let's take a look at our Before photo with the addition of the stainless appliances.

DIY // Kitchen Update: Reinstalling the Kitchen Cabinets

Where were we?  Oh yes...waiting for the paint to dry.  For a look back check out Go-Go Gadget Kitchen Update, A Muddy, Dusty Kitchen Update and Rock n' Roll Kitchen Update.

With the paint finally dry and cured, we got busy putting the kitchen back together and mounting the cabinets.  We used the existing builder's grade cabinets and the same layout, so putting them back up was a breeze.  I sanded them down and gave them a coat of Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3 Primer.  Then we mounted a ledger (1x2) to the studs to make the mounting process even easier.

DIY // Kitchen Remodel Update: Go Go Gadget

Hey there!

(or is it HIGH there?  these paint fumes must be getting to me.)

Here's where we left off last...the walls were primed and ready for paint.  For a look back check out A Muddy, Dusty Kitchen Update and Rock n' Roll Kitchen Update.

Primed and Ready for Paint

Have you ever wished that you had some super-human power?  Me too!  It's usually something standard like flying, but today I wanted two bionic paint roller hands that could bust out the paint in no time and maybe some Go-Go Gadget stretchy arms so that I could do it from the comfort of the couch.  Say what?  Yes, I just dropped a righteous Inspector Gadget reference.  A-thank-you.

Anyways, back to the task at hand (or hands, heh.)  The Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3 Primer coat had dried and the walls were finally ready for their color.  I'd love to tell you the color we chose, but I can't.  We scored a great deal on paint a few months back.  A hardware store was selling 5 gallon interior eggshell paint for $35 and they'd tint it, too.  You heard me right, 35 dollars!!  We bought two 5-gallon buckets and had one tinted to a light gray and the other to a taupe.  And you know what I did?  I had color-remorse and took them in to a local hardware store and had the color darkened up.  Well, it didn't quite come out as planned and now I'm stuck with a taupe which was created from the gray (and really is not bad at all), a strange terra-cotta color and the feeling of regret.  5 gallons of terra-cotta....not sure what I'm going to do with that!  At least the taupe works (or greige if you're hip), which is what we went with.  I think it will look nice and warm against the cool white cabinets and trim and the stainless steel appliances.

Two coats of paint went on, and quite easily, I might add.  I'm sure all the credit should go to the primer...but I think I'll take it. We're getting there people.  We might have a late night ahead of us but it'll be worth it!

Two coats of paint dried and ready for the window trim!

So, what's left?

• Finish hanging drywall in kitchen
• Mud/sand
• Drywall texture
• Prime walls
• Paint
• Hang cabinets
• Install window trim & crown molding
• Paint cabinets
• Fun stuff (open shelving, nook benches & bookcase)

Ah, the end is in sight!

Until next time,

DIY // Kitchen Remodel Update: A Muddy, Dusty Kitchen

Here's where we left off in the last update...A nook with new drywall & a coat of mud and a few panels left to put up in the kitchen.  For a look back, check out the Rock n' Roll Kitchen Update.

And where are we now?

DIY // Kitchen Remodel Update: Rock N' Roll

Rock n' Roll kitchen indeed...Sheetrock, that is!  There's absolutely nothing more satisfying than completing a large project, especially one that was fighting you every step of the way.  Well, we're not finished quite yet, but we are well on our way.

The kitchen was pretty good to start with.  The cabinets were relatively new and the flooring was okay.  Aside from the FOUR layers of wallpaper, we were pretty much content with it staying how it was after we upgraded the appliances to stainless steel, until we realized that the cabinet was too low above the stove for the over-the-range microwave to fit.  So, the cabinets (or cabinet) would have to be raised and that meant the header-thing (or soffit, if you're technical) would have to be removed.  And then the list of things we wanted to change snowballed from there.

The breakfast nook, on the other hand, needed much more work.  And on top of the stuff we had to do, there was a lot that we wanted to do, like build a bench & bookshelf in the nook.