Our Kitchen's Dark Side

From the first time that we saw our house, we knew that the kitchen here was not exactly our style, but it sure had a lot of potential in there.

One of my biggest issues was the colour of those cabinets. It wasn't awful by any means, just not what we wanted. So, when the people over the The Home Depot got in touch and asked if we would be interested in renovating our kitchen quickly and on our own, we jumped right on board! A few weeks later this big bin of fun arrived on our front door step, with everything we would need to take our kitchen to the next level.

It took us a little longer than anticipated to get started due to both B and I getting sick, but by the time Black Friday hit (yup, it was that long ago that this started) I was ready to get moving! (Just as a foot note, we had to break the rules a little. Our kitchen is quite large and the weather was a little cool, so we had to do half of our kitchen first and then jump to the other half afterwards). I began by sketching out the cabinets we were removing and numbering them all. 

I then used some blue painters tape to put the coordinating numbers of each of our cupboard doors. This part ended up being a little silly. We ended up losing the tape while working on the doors since the tape had to come off and things got a little mixed up. Good thing all of the doors are different sizes, so matching them back to their proper spots was not an issue at all for us! 

Next, B removed all of the doors and I wiped them all down with a green multi-purpose cleaner before bringing them out to the garage for the de-glossing phase. B helped with this. I did the de-glossing and he followed along behind me to wipe off all of the de-glosser. It was a little slow going, but much quicker having two sets of hands (as I would later learn). It was really important here to have lint-free cloths, so I highly recommend you make sure you have those on hand for this project.

Before we de-glossed, B also filled any holes (mostly on the drawers where the new pulls would fit completely different), and drilled all of the holes for our new hardware. We decided to change them all since the knobs were far too small for many of our oversized cabinet doors. They just weren't balanced, and the new chrome pulls we have really help to update the look of the kitchen.

So, with all of our cabinets spread out in the garage, new holes drilled and de-glossed, I got to work on the tinted bond coat (don't mind our garage mess).

{After the first coat of colour}

One important thing I learned during the process was to make sure you invest in some really good quality synthetic brushes. The one's we had kept loosing bristles into this coat, so I spent a lot of time trying to carefully lift them out. Sadly, a few got stuck and are still on our doors, but aren't that visible with the darker colour.

Getting the tinted bond coat was quite a tedious process. Each door needs two coats front and back, and you can't forget the edges of the doors either. I had a hard time getting around the small edge of our recessed panel doors, so even after two coats I still had to go back and do some touch-ups before the next step. Honestly, this part would have gone a lot faster if I had an extra set of hands, but it was always me going solo since B needed to watch Halle. It also meant not accomplishing much during the days while B was off at work. This meant the project stretched on much longer than it would normally take if two people were able to give their full attention to it!

Once all of the doors had two coats on each side, we approached the decorative glaze step. At first, B and I were convinced we needed to do this in order to get a more professional look. So, when I headed out to the garage to attempt this coat I started by putting a bit of the glaze on the back of one of the drawers and seeing how it turned out. Just as the instructions stated, it was subtle... VERY subtle. Actually, so subtle that neither B or I could see a huge difference on our dark cupboard doors. With the amount of time required for this step and the subtle change, we opted to skip the decorative glaze and move right onto the protective top coat.

The doors and cupboards only required one application of the top coat which was nice, but at this stage of the game it's the drying process that takes the most time. You need two hours for each coat to properly dry, but they recommend waiting 72 hours before using your cupboards regularly! The waiting game was long but by the end we had a good rhythm and I was lucky to have B taping off the cupboards since he was a lot more precise than I would be. It all took longer than we anticipated (again, because I did the majority of it on my own during the Christmas season), but it was very much worth all of the extra effort!

Here's the side by side of our kitchen on our second walk through and how it looks now:

Here are my top tips for a successful kitchen transformation with the Cabinet Transformation Kit:

1. Measure! PLEASE Measure! We had one kit to start and after B took all of the measurements (as per the kit instructions), it said we would need two kits. This is important because you need to mix all of your tinted base coat together to ensure a consistent colour on all of your cabinets! We're glad we got the second kit because although we didn't use a lot from it, we did need it! We also have some leftover now that we can use when we put in a seating bench in our dining nook!

2. Make sure you have two people who can devout their full attention to this project! If you can do that and give yourself a few days to do EVERYTHING at once (not broken up like we did), you can have this project done really quickly!

3. Invest in GOOD brushes and make sure you have lint free cloths! These will ensure that your cabinets look their best!

4. Be very careful when applying the topcoat. Make sure you aren't stingy when applying the top coat to the door fronts, but also be careful on the edges of your doors. I missed a few spots where the top coat dripped and collected and we had some bubbled edges we needed to sand down and touch up! Not pretty and very annoying. To go along with that, I found it worked best when I applied the top coat to the backs of the doors first and once those dried, I did the front of the doors and edges of the doors at the same time! At least if it dripped a little, it wasn't on the front (and most visible) part of the doors!

5. BE PATIENT! The project can feel tedious at times, doing the same thing over and over, but it's well worth it in the end.

Yup, it took us much longer than we expected BUT the best part was we never lost of the use of our kitchen! Yeah, the doors were off for a while leaving us with our "behind the cupboard door mess" visible to all of our house guests, but it could've been much worse! We never had to pack anything into boxes or not have use of the sink or stove! We could still cook at home and wash our dishes no problem! We could not thank the kind folks over at The Home Depot enough for giving us the chance to try this kit out - and we hope our experience encourages you to try it out as well! It was nice that this update cost us nothing (thanks to The Home Depot, and a friend who gifted us those nice new pulls), but even if we had paid for the kits and supplies ourselves, it wouldn't have cost us much more than $350!

Have you been making any big changes in your home? Anyone else thinking of trying out the Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformation Kit?

A Quick Kitchen Update

When we moved into our new home, it all seemed really big and light and airy. For the most part, we liked what we saw, but we knew that we would want to make some changes to this place to make it feel like our own and one of the first places we planned to start in, was the kitchen.

Before we even got the keys, we had started to think about what we would change (of course). One of this things I knew right off the bat that I wanted to change was the little light fixture over the sink...

It's not BAD, just not really our style... so it had to go. Lucky for us, we found a solution before we even got the keys. During a regular trip to Home Depot we came across a great light ON clearance for $7.00... and there was no way I was leaving it behind.

So after turning off the electrical, B removed the old light fixture and began the process of getting the new light up. I thought about sharing a tutorial, but there are so many better tutorials for changing out a light fixture online... so I'll just stick to the update.

We opted to just use two of the down rods to get the perfect height. I didn't want it too long (of course), but I didn't want it to be too short and look as awkward as the original light fixture we were replacing.

We both love how it looks, and it's really just the first small step in making this place feel more like us and only for $7 and less than half an hour of our time! I plan on putting the original light fixture up on Craigslist as well, so hopefully it will bring down the cost of this little project even more. 

Have you been making any small upgrades around the house recently? Anything inexpensive and small, but makes a huge difference to you?

Uppin' the Kitchen Ante

Good Morning friends. As I mentioned last Thursday, we have a parade of guests, arriving VERY SOON, so I got my butt in gear, starting mid last week and have been crossing things off my to-do list like a champ. Why yes, I am patting myself on the back right now, but you'll see why in a moment (and for the rest of the week for that matter).


First room first. While creating my to-do list last week, I decided one room that needed some loving was the kitchen...

It was looking better after adding some art and curtains, and refinishing our free bentwood chairs, but it still needed more. I figured it was finally time to give our other kitchen chairs some love. I'd spent quite a bit of time going back and forth on whether I wanted to paint them white, or the same Cornflower Blue that I used on the bentwood chairs. Finally, I figured since we had a ton of the blue left, they were going blue. So last week, I pulled out the paint and got to work slowly getting them all covered. 

It's a small change, that in person really makes a big impact. Before I painted them up, these chairs were looking a little worse for wear. Dirty and chipped and just not very nice. Today, they match and just look so much better than they did before. I love the personality that the blue chairs bring to our otherwise neutral dining space. It's nice that we are able to add some colour, and make it ours without putting any money into the actual home itself. So far, everything we have done to spruce up our dining space will be able to come with us when we leave, and that's exactly what we want to do. 

If you're observant, you may also notice the addition of some shelving. Those are actually two smaller LACK shelves from IKEA that B put up side by side. They used to hang in Halle's room back in Toronto, but the wall space she has here is much larger so these shelves were just too little to use in her room. I'm glad I found somewhere new to put them, and have some plans up my sleeve to hide the seam that is visible down the middle.

Currently the little shelves house a water colour of the Spanish steps, that I bought in Rome back in 2005. It also holds my little cupcake stands that I bought at Scout Market a few months ago. I need to do a bit more shopping of our home to find some other accessories to add, and already have a few in mind, I just need to find them amongst the boxes in our storage room. I'd also be thrilled if we could add two more shelves below these for some additional display space. We already own one, so I just need to snag one more and get it up.

Next on my list for this space? I'd still like to track down another light fixture that we can put here for now, and take with us when we leave. I'm also planning to make a faux Roman shade for the big window. It's such a large empty space, and I think that addition would really help make the space that much more cozy. 

B and I really put our head's down this weekend, especially during Halle's naps and after she went to bed, and accomplished a ton, so be sure to check in tomorrow to see how our Master Bedroom is looking after a little work.

What projects or rooms have you been paying extra attention to? Also, if you missed my post late last week, I'm looking for some guest posters for the month of September to help me out while we have visitors here. I'm hoping to get some people to share their own guest rooms, and/or how they prepare to welcome guests into their home! If you're interested, be sure to shoot me an email - I'd love to hear from you. 

Take A Seat

I know it's been silent for a while around here. We've just spending some time enjoying being together as a family, so I can't apologize for that. Even with lots of family time happening, we managed to finish  the bentwood chairs last week! Just to give you a little refresher, here's how they started out...

I was clearly drawn in by the lines of the chairs and their potential. After painting them a beautiful Cornflower Blue, by Martha Stewart, the fabric hunt began. I originally hoped to use a fabric that I already had on hand, but it turned out that I didn't have enough of any one fabric to cover all four seats. I'll be honest though, I didn't complain too much about having to go fabric shopping. So, two weeks ago now, we piled into the car and headed to the closest Fabricland. I made a couple laps of the home decor section, double and triple checking every single fabric that caught my attention. Finally, after getting the okay from B, I landed on this fabric...

I loved the pattern and the colours, and I knew that it would be mess friendly. After sitting on it for a few days, last week B and I finally got around to recovering those old seats. (Have I mentioned that B is the best? Totally supporting every little project I undertake, and always willing to lend a hand. Yup - THE BEST). Anywho - here's how it all went...

{B set up the compressor and my staple gun and then tested it out quickly before we got going}

{Halle hung out nearby and supervised the whole thing. I think she was telling B what to do here. Seriously, little miss has quite the personality}

{Pretty self explanatory - don't you think?}

{Halle was more than willing to lend a hand when B reattached the seats for me}

I guess that leaves little else to share except for the final product. So let's take one more look at the original chairs...

Followed quickly by a reveal of our final chairs...

I LOVE THEM! I love them in the awful, ugly sunroom, but love them even more in our slowly progressing breakfast nook...

I love that little hint of blue in our kitchen, and I think they will look even better once I get those two end chairs painted up as well. Something I should consider getting started on this week. In the meantime, since not a whole lot has been progressing around here, I do hope to share some more of our adventures with you this coming week.

In the meantime, what's the consensus on our chair transformation? I'd love to hear what you all think....

A Case of the Blues

Last week I shared with you the beautiful chairs that we scored for free...

You all agreed they were a great find, and I wasted absolutely no time getting to work on them. I'm tired of living in a partially put together rental that doesn't feel anything like home. It really lit a fire underneath me, so here's what we did. 

We started by flipping the chairs over and taking them apart.

Even though everything about them seems pretty uniform, we decided to mark each chair and seat, so we could match them up later no problem. I also decided it was best to keep the screws from each chair in separate bags to avoid any problems later (we've learned that even though everything seems like it will match up fine, that's not always the case). 

The next step was cleaning them up... and that was a must. There was quite a lot of grime built up in the chairs crevices, and even some mystery stuff on the bottom of one of the seats.

With the chairs all cleaned up, it was time to start sanding. Of course, with B at work and me watching Halle during the day, my time to work no them was limited. So in between naps, I would sand and last Wednesday, Halle and I headed to Home Depot to pick out some paint. I finally decided on Martha Stewart's Cornflower Blue. It's the perfect cheery blue to brighten up our little breakfast nook. I had it colour matched to Behr's Ultra Paint & Primer in one. It made the whole process a lot easier and gave some great coverage.

{All sanded & ready for paint!}

{LOVE this blue!}

When painting them, I made sure they were completely cleaned, well sanded and then dusted off. Once they were ready I applied the first coat and let them sit over night (the guy at Home Depot told me to wait 8 hours between coats, so this ensured they were well set). Once dry, the second coat went on and they sat for another night. So what do they look like... we'll get to that in a second.

Of course, paint wasn't the only thing that I needed to make a decision about. Those chairs needed to be recovered. Though the fabric would work in some houses, it doesn't really go with our style... plus it was dirty and gross, so it had to be recovered. 

With the project already running us a whole $0 (Chairs were free and we used some store credit we had from Home Depot to buy the paint), I felt like trying to keep it that way. So down to my loads of fabric in the basement to see what I had on hand that would work for the seats. I was a little disappointed to discover that I didn't have enough of either of the neutral fabrics that I had in mind, to cover all four chair seats. This mean, I've hit a bit of a standstill, and I'm not completely sure what to do now. Do I run out and start searching for new fabric? God knows that could be another few months before I find something I really love. My other idea is to use two fabrics, so that two chairs are neutral, and two have some sort of print maybe? I'm not sure if I have enough of my Robert Allen fabric left over to cover it, but if it works it could be an option. Thoughts?

Well, with seat remaining uncovered, I have the chairs in our breakfast nook. Here is how the space is set up now (it's slightly grainy, it's been hard to capture a good shot of it the last two days)...

I decided that the space was large enough to leave the leaf in the table, especially now that we have more chairs. I also removed the rug that was on the floor - it was impractical at the moment with Halle throwing and dropping food off of her highchair constantly. I plan on keeping and painting those two chairs on either end, but I'm not sure what colour I want to paint them. B has suggested a dusty, antique kind of red to keep with the print (I think he just wants a little red, white and blue in our home). I'm not opposed, but I'm not completely convinced either. Regardless, they need a coat of paint as they are a little hurting from the previous owners...

So that's where I am! Some real time updates for you (very real as we've been busy, busy so I didn't even have time to finish up this post yesterday and pre-schedule it). Would love to hear your opinions on my fabric and paint dilemma!