Burlap & Tin

Kitchen Remodel : Shelves and Chalk Paint? CHALK PAINT!

2017-06-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

I found the most delicious stain color a few years ago .

It was a mistint on the clearance table at Lowe's.

A few bucks for a no-name color in quart size and my entire house color scheme changed.

This picture is of the old island in our kitchen.
Once I stained the wood, I was in love.

Contractor Steve created 4 floating shelves and a custom cabinet piece for our new kitchen.

From the beginning I knew I wanted those 5 pieces to be the same color as our old island.

Little did I know how maddening that would be.

The custom pieces are made of maple.

Maple is an extremely hard wood.
Stain does not soak into maple as it does the cedar I used around my old island.

After several trips to the paint store and 3 quarts of wrong-colored-stain later, I had given up.

I did not want anything painted in my kitchen, and I knew now, I was going to have to paint.
Deciding chalk paint was the only way to go, I headed down to the local store which sells Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

I had used chalk paint on a high-use coffee table last year.

There is not one scratch, not one chip, not one peel. NOT ONE.

I knew this would be the perfect medium.

My only hesitancy came with the color.

They all seemed too light.
What I thought would be the easiest part of the remodel, had become the most difficult.

I was sad.

Diving in head first, I started the project.

When I put the first swipe of wax on, I was in love.

My heart soared as I knew this was going to be beautiful.

And perfect.

Oh, so perfect.

Here is what I did.

Equal parts Annie Sloan French Linen and Coco.

I mixed these together and painted 2 coats onto each shelf.

Black Wax

After the paint dries, I used the Annie Sloan wax brush and covered the piece with the black wax.

Dark Wax

Once the black wax dried for 24 hours, I followed with a coat of the dark wax. This color is a strong brown color and gave the perfect touch in making the shelves more greige than grey.

Once I was finished, I was so excited, I may have gotten teary-eyed.

Ok, I did.

I was just so happy.

OH MY GOODNESS you guys - just look at how closely the two colors match!
The piece I am holding in the middle is a stained piece from my old island.
The background piece is the shelf.

The wax truly was the magic touch.

It added the perfect color tones and brought out so much of the character of the shelves.

Here is a look at the before, during and after.

Be still my heart.

Next : the shelves reveal!

Hallway Doors

2017-05-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Slowly and surely the honey-colored oak is disappearing from our home.

WHOO HOO!!!

Our bedroom and hallway doors were in excellent shape despite being targets

for nerf gun competitions and being in the line of fire for a mean game of sock war.

I couldn't see replacing them even though they are plain and boring.

First step was ripping down all the oak trim and replace it with the white molding

we did throughout the rest of the house and doorways.

With the molding complete and the weather getting nicer, I took the doors down and worked outside.

Oh how I love the sunshine! <--- side note

Using a hand sander, I sanded down the doors with a medium grit paper.

After wiping all the dust away they were ready to paint.

Also in fantastic shape are the hinges. I cleaned each set thoroughly.

I pushed the screws into a cardboard box and laid the hinges flat onto a

paper bag I had ripped open.

Using a spray paint for metals in an oil-rubbed bronze finish, I sprayed the hardware.

No more shiney brass!

But what color should I paint the doors?

I adore the look of white molding and white doors; which I get to stare at every day in my front hallway.

(That project I discuss here and here.)

It looks so clean and crisp and open and light.

Adore!

Here is the dilemma I created for myself : I also love the color of my

breakfast bar against my white cabinets and the dark wood floors.

So after much thought, I decided to break out of the box of conformity once again.

I went with what you do not normally see.

And I love it.

Kitchen Remodel : Week 2, 3 and Probably 4

2017-05-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

Progress is forward.

Steady.

But slow.

Behind the scenes, things are moving.

However, that does not always show visually.

My floors are still covered in cardboard.

The cabinets are now all firmly in place.

Design has been finalized on my custom piece and the new shelving.

The counter top people have received my quartz and mapped out my kitchen.

The next step is to cut the quartz.

Until the machine broke and pushed everything out another week.

Expect the bumps.

(This is mantra)

Expect the bumps.

I remind myself of this as I'm washing dishes in the bathtub. Again.

Our contractor is amazing which has been a huge blessing through this process.

While I wish there was much more to report, there just isn't.

So lets just take a few minutes and drool over the picture of my new counter tops shall we?

Be still my heart.

Toast & Heat Marks

2017-04-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

The kitchen remodel has made our dining room table Grand Central.

We do everything here.

Prepping, cleaning, storing and cooking.

It's just part of the process.
Even if it is a little maddening at times.

The remodel has made us masters at creative dinners that produce very little dirty dishes.

Paper plates are my best friends!

Not really, but it sure is nice not having to wash plates.

One clever night, I made breakfast for dinner.

We love breakfast for dinner.

I took out the tabletop skillet, plugged it in to the wall and created magnificent french toast.

Soon a mile-high stack was on a paper plate on my dining room table.

Everyone had their fill.

It was amazing!

It was great!

It was easy!

Then I moved the paper plate that held the uneaten pieces of french toast.

I gasped and felt sick to my stomach.

There it was.

The biggest, uggliest heat stain.

In the shape of french toast.

Heart stopping isn't it?

After searching online for some hints, with shaking hands I tried the following.
AND IT WORKED.

Ready for this easy, peasy 3-step process?

1. I took a white towel from my bathroom and laid it over the spot on the table.

Maybe any color works, I don't know.

I just knew white wouldn't bleed through when I did step 3.

2. I placed my clothes iron on the hottest steam setting it had.

3. With the iron hovering closely over (not on) the towel, I hit the "burst" function on my iron.

I did this a couple times.

IT WAS GONE.

It doesn't make any sense does it?

Here is a picture of the exact same spot.

Hopefully you will never leave hot french toast on a paper plate on your dining room table.

Yet, if you do this trick will help erase the evidence and make it a distant memory.

Kitchen Remodel : Week 1

2017-04-16T08:50:00.001-07:00

We're a week in to the kitchen remodel.

The vision in my head is slowly transferring into reality.
And it's exciting!

After a very brutally cold winter, we packed up the family and headed to Palm Springs for a week of sunshine and pool time. A week away went too fast. Pulling into the drive, we could see pieces of our kitchen neatly tucked into a space in the driveway.

The remodel had begun just as promised!

I immediately went into the house and the kitchen we had known was completely gone.

In it's place we found boxes of cabinets.

And water. Lots of water.

Within 5.7 nano seconds our contractor was in our house fixing the problem.

As I knew he would.

Why? I had done my homework.

(Please read about this crucial step here.)

He took care of us and the problem was solved.

Expect the bumps.

Know what else you can expect?
DUST.

Lord have mercy. There is dust.

We have dark wood floors throughout most of our home.
There ain't no hiding that dust.

Many times I remind myself it's temporary.

Again and again and again.

I've also had to get use to things not being where they normally belong.

Doesn't everyone have an armoire in front of their slider door?

And this, my friends, is Grand Central.

My dining room table is everything but a dining room table.

It's our prep space,

cupboard space,

counter space.

Even as I type, I've secured a tiny little spot of the table while staring at the pancake syrup.

Despite the chaos of not having a kitchen, we are loving the transformation.

Next week, the countertop process begins!

5 Steps to Hiring A Contractor

2017-02-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

Sometimes projects are bigger than we anticipate.

Even the best DIYer knows there are some things best left to professionals.

Where does one even begin to find a contractor?
How do you protect yourself and your home?

These are big and scary questions!

For the past 12 years I have worked full time in an industry tied to construction.
I have seen many things through the years and below I will outline the best way to protect yourself when it comes time to hiring a contractor.

1. Ask Around

Find out from friends and family a contractor they have used in the past.

Don't stop there. Keep asking around until you get a few names.

Be sure to ask them questions about the contractor's quality of work.

Did they stick close to the budget? Or run excessively over?

Did they finish close to the estimated time?
Did they find the contractor easily approachable?

These are just some questions to ask when looking for feedback.

If you don't know of anyone who has used a contractor, don't be afraid to call your local building supply store.
Contractors work closely with the local lumber yards and chances are they can recommend a few contractors for you to call.

2. Do Your Research

Now that you have a list of potential contractors, do some research online before contacting them.
Every state has an agency that oversees construction contractors licensing.
If you do not know the department for your state a simple online search of
"Verify Contractor license for state of xyz" will bring you to the correct agency.
On the website you will be able to search by the name of the company.

Some states allow to search by the contractor's first and last name as well.

Although each state varies on what is reported, most will tell you how long they've had their license, license numbers, previous licenses, who is part of the entity's governing body (may only be the contractor), if they have had any violations or open lawsuits, and much more.

Do you see several previous licenses listed?
Generally, there are 2 reasons for that.

1. A developer will often get a license for each plot they will be developing and is a common business practice.

2. A contractor will change their business name (get a new license) because their previous business went under.
Be cautious of any contractor associated with many previous licenses.
If I came across this situation, I would not hire them.

If you do not see a license listed for a suggested contractor DO NOT USE THEM.

I can not stress this enough.
Do not hire an unlicensed contractor.

3. Contacting Potential Contractors

Once you are armed with some knowledge on different contractors, call each contractor and ask to meet to discuss your project.
Be ready with a budget amount and a good idea of what you want completed.
This will help the contractor put together the best proposal for you.

Don't be afraid to ask questions!
How long will the project take?
When can you get started?
Do you have any references for me to contact?
When can I expect a proposal?

A reputable contractor will be able to answer these questions and have no problem giving you previous clients to contact.
The proposal should be presented to you with a breakdown of costs.
Having more than one proposal allows you to do a side by side comparison.
A dollar discrepancy in bids may be due to a contractor leaving an item off the proposal - accidentally or intentionally. A good contractor will have all items listed and broken down with a cost. I've also seen situations where a contractor will leave items off from their bid to come in with a lower price only to have "unexpected" costs arise during the construction phase.

No one wants surprises and studying the bid ensures all needed work is accounted for and expected.

4. Lien Rights

This is a biggie friends.
A real biggie.
If you get nothing else from this post, please, please, understand this one.

Anytime you hire someone to do work in your home and/or property they are acting on your behalf. When product is ordered and delivered for your project the company supplying the product immediately has lien rights on your property.

What does that mean?

In short, if the product does not get paid for by the contractor the company has a legal right to place a lien on your property and can begin the steps to foreclose on your home - even if you already paid your contractor for the product.

You read that right.

Liens are only removed from the property once the product has been paid. To avoid foreclosure, this leaves the homeowner with no other option but to pay the bill to the supplier even after they have paid the contractor for the very same product.

This is one of the reasons why I wrote this post. I have seen many contractors work themselves into a project, take the clients money and disappear only to show up with a different business name and different string of clients.

Some suppliers are required to send out an Intent To Lien.
This is not a lien and will say so on the paperwork.
An Intent to Lien is a supplying company's way of letting you know they hold lien rights on your property until payment is received on their product.
It looks scary, but it is also a standard business practice and protects you - the homeowner - by keeping you informed.

5. Protecting Yourself and Your Property

A reputable contractor will have no problem showing you the bill from a supplier.
Some contractors will let you pay the supplier directly.
If the contractor prefers to pay the bill (after all, it is their business account) and asks you for a progress payment you have a legal right to write the check to the contractor and the supplying company.
This is called dual paychecks and ensures the product is paid in full.

Anytime you do not pay the bill yourself you may require lien releases from the supplying company showing the contractor has paid the bill on your behalf. This is a standard practice in the construction industry and you should have no problem securing one from any company through your contractor or from the company itself.

Do not issue any more checks until you receive a lien release for the previously paid product.

Final Nuggets of Wisdom

Good contractors are busy. Exceptional contractors are very busy.
When hiring a contractor do not use the one who states they can begin immediately on your project.
There is a reason they can start right away - and in my experience it isn't a good one.

All projects have hiccups and bumps and obstacles.
Expect this. There is no smooth sailing and that's ok.

There you have it. All my ways to help you find the best contractor around.

Keep your eyes on the finished project and enjoy this adventure!

Good luck!

The Un-Do Redo Kitchen

2017-02-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

Hello? Hello?
Thank you for still being here friends.

I wish I could say my family and I have been traveling the world the last couple of years.

Fun things as spending time scouring flea markets in France, sipping Café au lait in Italy, or exploring castles in England.

Reality is life was difficult. Really difficult.

I am feeling more like myself these days and the creative juices are flowing once again.

But first, a confession.

I hired a contractor. GASP!

A proclaimed Do-It-Yourselfer and I hired a contractor. Because I'm smart.
(There will be more on this later as this is a big and very important step).

We took a good long look at our kitchen and decided to gut it and start over.
Are you ready to follow me on this journey?
Do you promise to pat my hand and say "there-there" when I am at my wit's end?
Can you just smile big and nod at me when I start to obsess over the most minute detail?

YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!

A reminder of what our kitchen looked like when we moved in 18 years ago.

Builder Basic. No bells, no whistles, no decorative thought whatsoever.

It's ok, you can yawn. We did.

Wanting light and airy, I went to town with the paint brush, and stain.
This is how our kitchen looks today.
We still love it despite the paint wearing in spots.

What we are both ready for are cabinets without paint, quartz counter tops and new appliances.

We are gutting the heart of our home.

Let the journey begin!

Adding Cabinet Knobs

2014-03-07T15:56:00.000-08:00

I finally did it!
I took a drill to my kitchen cabinets.

The thought of making a mistake on something so visible paralyzed me from doing anything.

So there my cabinets sat; crying out for hardware but I was unable to give them what the needed.

Until winter hit and I found myself stuck in the house - all weekend - for the second weekend in a row.
ANYTHING can happen. And it did.
My cabinets met Mr. Drill.

Taking our kitchen from boring oak to a more modern feel with white,
I opted for a simple brushed nickle knob.

What I used:

Drill

9/16" drill bit

Screwdriver

Pencil
My son's ruler from his backpack

A look at our cabinets before I started.

Looking at the cabinets I decided the best spot for the knob would be

2 mm in from the sides and from the bottom of the cabinet door.

They make great handy - dandy templates that you can use that require no measuring.
Clever!
But I was stuck in the house in the middle of a winter storm and I didn't have one.
Bummer.

Using my son's ruler I marked 2 mm in from the side like this:

Then I marked 2 mm from the bottom of the door like this:

I faced my fears and fired up that drill.

With the door closed I drilled through front the door.
Do not drill from the backside because you would then have to have the door open for this step.

Applying pressure to the door is much easier with door closed.

Look at me using the drill!
Applause, applause, applause.
Ah, shucks - thank you!

Using a screwdriver, I began screwing in the bolts into the backside of the cabinet door.
Continue screwing in the bolts until the bolt head is flush with the door.

The final step is twisting on the knob to the section of the bolt

peaking out on the front of the cabinet door.

That's it!

Why was I so scared?
I have no idea.
Isn't that how it usually works though?

The improved cabinet door - ta da!

I love them!

Next on my list - finding the perfect drawer pulls.

Were You Raised In A Barn?!

2013-07-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full swing at the Fiorucci house and with it is lots of outdoor fun.

Our sliding door receives much use as it is the main entrance into the backyard

and all the neighborhood fun that awaits.
We have more people knocking at our sliding door than we do our front door in the summer months!

Spending the winter laying down new wood floors, I often thought about how to protect them from the summer's sun.

Do I go back to curtains and cover up the big, new and beautiful trim I just put up?

When indecision plagues me like this I don't do a thing.

I have learned if I don't love it as an idea, I won't when it's done.

Then an opportunity came-a-knockin'.

While sitting at my desk at work, a man came in to take care of an order he wanted.
As he leaves he asks me if I have horses.

I must admit, this is the strangest question I've heard at my work.
Telling him no, I asked him why.
Seems he had been working on a horse barn that day and salvaged

a cedar and steel horse stall barn door with it's track and thought if I had horses I might want it.

I may have squealed.

Ok, I did.

I leapt out of my chair and followed him to his truck and bought it on the spot.

For fifty bucks. FIFTY BUCKS.

What a bargain - which totally appealed to my Dutch heritage.

This bad boy is going to be my new "curtains" for my slider.

Pardon the fact the door is laying on it's side.

This is the backside which will be visible in the family room.
The possibilities are endless what I can do with this blank slate.

The rustic look of this door makes me swoon.

My boys run in and out of the slider door several times a day and as with most kids, quite often forget to close the door.

When staring at a wide open slider door, I will admit I often ask my kids

"What? Were you born in a barn?!?!"

Now they will be able to answer, "Well, kinda Mom. And it's your fault."

Until then, this is what I have to get working on.
Cleaning up thirty plus years of barn life.

I can hardly wait until this project is complete!

New Doorways Say HELLO!

2013-06-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

Our doorways said nothing.

Not even hello. Or goodbye.

We wanted them to say something, anything really.

So when changing out the trim in our home, we decided

the doorways also needed a little change.

The doorways in our home were sheet rock only.
No pretty wood.
No pretty molding.
Nothing that spoke of originality.

They were painted, and that was about it.

To bring more character into our house,

we added big molding around the doors.

What we used:

4 - 1x4x7 MDF

2 - 1x4x5 MDF

2 - 1x6x7 MDF

4 - 1x2x5 Primed Pine

Nails

Tools you need:

Miter Saw (or chop saw)

Tape Measure

Pencils - preferably a dozen; you'll use one,

set it down, forget where you put it,

look for another one, use it, set that one down,

forget there is one behind your ear,

forget one near the saw,

forget the one by the door,

...you are starting to get the idea.

First we measured the top of the inside of the doorway.

I then cut a 1x6 to fit the top.

Once the top was nalied in place, I measured

and cut 1x6s for the sides of the door frame.

The outside frame of the door was framed with 1x4.
Each piece was measured even with the top height of the 1x6.
Confusing right?
I circled below what I mean.

The top of the door way was framed by a 1x4 and 2 - 1x2s.
The 1x4 is cut to align with the far side of the

1x4s framing the sides of the doorway.

Each 1x2 is 1 inch longer than the 1x4 on both sides.
The bottom 1x2 is nailed into place,

followed with the 1x4 and capped with the last 1x2.

Each lining up with the other.

Here is a visual to give you an idea of what was done.

My next steps were filling in the nail holes and using caulk to fill in the gaps.

Caulk is a miracle worker and covers a multitude of imperfections.

Caulk will not, however, cover up the imperfection

of dirty clothes you notice your kids are wearing

as you head out the door to go to church.

Caulk can't do that.

The final step is one last coat of paint.

TA DA!

A touch of character to a previously boring doorway!

Seeing them side by side shows what a big difference a little trim can do

to the look of a room.

Wow.

Picture Perfect Old Window

2013-05-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

The first house my husband and I bought when we were first married was 700 square feet of never-been-updated-1950's-pure-bliss.

I'm fibbing about the pure bliss part.
But it was our first house.

The little old man who owned it before us left lots of treasures in the garage, including storm windows for each of the windows on the house.

Shortly after moving in, we replaced all the windows leaving the storm windows in a forgotten corner.

When we moved 5 years later we left a lot of the original treasures and on a whim I told my husband to pack one of the storm windows into the moving van. I thought I could put pretty papers in it and it would make a great picture.

A few short years later, old windows became in high demand on the brocante market.

I kick myself often for not taking more of those beauties.

We moved into our home in 1999, I put pretty papers in each window pane and hung that baby up.

And never looked at it again. ( <--- highly embarrassing)

As the remodel took shape this year and we stripped everything out of our home, I saw the old window for what it had become.

UGLY.

It's ok if you cringed. I do too.

I decided if the hallway was to truly be a Gallery Hallway then why not add more pictures?

The best part? It cost me a $1.48.

I looked through pictures of my boys and found some great personality shots.

I sent them to be printed to Office Max.

Office Max??

A little known fact: Office Max will print your pictures

on Engineering Paper (11x17) for pennies!!

For this project it was perfect. It is not on photo paper,

so it best to use this service for a project like this or one that involves decoupage.

Here is how I turned ugly into personality!

The tools you will need:

1. Pictures printed on paper large enough to fit each frame.

2. A template the size of each window frame.

My frames are 11 1/2 x 10 3/4" and I used one of the papers previously hanging in the window.

3. Painter's Tape

4. Marker

5. Paper Trimmer

Lay the template on the section of picture you want shown in each window frame.

With the marker, mark the photo at all four edges of the template.

Line the marks up with the blade of the paper trimmer and trim.

Important : If your window frame sizes are not square be sure your template is lined up on the paper the correct way.

Once all pictures are trimmed, arrange them how you want them placed in the window.

Be sure the tops of the pictures are placed at the top of your window frame.

Flip each picture over and using the painter's tape, tape each picture into place.

Here you see that one of my pictures was printed vertically making it a smidgen too short on the sides.

No worries.

I taped the picture into place and grabbed some scraps that I had previously trimmed off.
I flipped the scraps over and used the white backsides to frame in the vertical picture.

With everything taped into place, I flipped it over

and hung it back on to the wall.

A reminder of where I started ....

...and what I have now!

It was such an easy and inexpensive project making it super easy
(and guilt free!) to change the pictures out often.

The entire project took less than an hour and cost less than 2 bucks.

My lattes cost more than that.

P.S.
I apologize for the glare on the window glass;

no matter what angle I took the picture I just couldn't

get rid of the closet door trim trying to take center stage of the picture.

Trim can be like that.

Bi-Fold Door Transformation

2013-05-21T19:05:00.002-07:00

The hallway closet transformation is complete!

Here is the blank slate I started with.
Honey colored oak bi-fold doors are no more!

This is what we have now and I LOVE it!

I couldn't resist a fun and unexpected door handle.
Although we added a lot of satin nickel with our makeover,

I thought the oil rubbed bronze finish looks great with dark wood floors.

Updating the doors took a weekend of my time and cost less than $50.

If you want the step by step of how I did this transformation you can find that here.

The entry hall into our home is now bright and light

and no longer feels like a dark tunnel.

Next time you are in the neighborhood, stop by and say hi.

When I open the door to greet you,

this is the view you now see :

It is far from basic and it makes me smile to see

that fun and funky chandelier in our family room.

However, I think it's time to replace that light in the hallway.

"Oh Honey...." <---sung in a sweet and melodic voice.
(I'll let you know if the sweet tone works.)

Bye Bye Blah Bi-Fold Doors

2013-05-13T11:47:00.001-07:00

Our house was as builder-basic as they come.

For a long time I lived with it, even though I didn't like it much.

I always liked the look of trimmed-out doors, but not the price tags that came with it.

Our bi-fold closet doors were blah and boring. See?

With my son needing a project for his shop class, I knew exactly what we could do. It was time to change out the big, blah, boring doors in our hallway. I knew he had never done anything like this before and well, neither have I. A perfect lesson for the both of us.

First I contacted my friend Harold at a local lumber yard.

He let me ask him all kinds of really basic questions and I mean basic.

I determined the look I wanted would require a 1/4" x 1 1/2" trim piece - the kind most commonly used in creating garden lattice.

Second, I drew the doors, took measurements and determined the layout of the doors.

Now fully armed with the knowledge of the measurements, I handed my son a tape measure and had him do exactly the same thing.

After all, this was his school project.

We determined we needed :

8 boards 6½' long

2 boards 4' long

3 boards 3' long

Light grade sand paper

Primer

Paint

Wood Glue

New Door Pulls - a girl has got to have her bling!

First, we sanded the doors.

Then with the doors still hanging, we measured (twice!),

cut and then glued our pieces into place.

Our ever so professional blueprint.

After talking with our local hardware store,

we decided super-duper-don't-get-it-on-your-fingers glue was best.

Whoa Nelly, is that stuff powerful!

The glue worked great and even allowed for a 10 to 15 seconds of adjustment time.

Here is our first piece glued into place.

Each bi-fold is framed with trim pieces reaching from top to bottom.

When placing the outer most trim pieces it is imperative to leave

approximately a 1/4" gap.

This allows the doors to open and fold.

Without the tiny gap, you will not be able to open the doors as the trim will butt up against the door frame.

The good news - although the gaps may look glaring to you,

no one will notice them once the project is completed.

I promise.

Once all the vertical pieces were up the

top and bottom pieces were glued into place,

followed with the middle piece.

Now that you have a top and a middle section on the first bi-fold,

simply divide each section in half to place the final two pieces.

With one bi-fold completely finished, the other three go by

quickly as you no longer have to measure each section

but simply line them up to each other.

Next is the priming and then the painting.

The glue adheres best when wood meets wood,

this is why the priming and painting are not done before.

Here is my work station. It's a piece of cardboard.

It's awesome.

Next week I'll show you the the completed project.

I'm happy to report, my son's project got an "A"!

Breakfast Bar Re-Vamp

2013-04-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

When deciding on the changes I wanted to incorporate into our home,

I spent countless hours flipping through magazines and being inspired on Pinterest.

To narrow our taste to a certain style is nearly impossible ~ it is a modern-meets-contemporary-meets-shabby chic.

The dark floors and white cabinets brought in strong clean lines and I wanted to break that up with a pop of unexpected.

I knew I did not want to use bead board on the breakfast bar as it had been done too often and is too expected.

What to do that is unexpected? Batten & Board.

Batten and board? Batten & board!

And do it in a completely different color.

Here is my blank canvas.

Armed with lots of questions, and not certain of all we needed,

we visited a local lumberyard to try and put the ideas in my head into a reality.

The salesman that helped me was extremely professional yet the look in his eyes

told me loud and clear he thought I was a tad on the crazy side.

I solidified his thinking when I told him I needed the board and batten to be rough-sawn.
Still the professional, he showed me the perfect pieces.
As we left the store, he shook his head and stated,
"I have never sold board and batten for the inside of a home before. I've been in the business a lot of years."
I promised to bring him before and after pictures.

Now for the fun part.

I removed the trim pieces and then went to work on removing the counter braces.
That was a lot of nails!

Although I wanted the rough-sawn look, I lightly sanded the board and batten.
This ensured a rough look with a smooth finish.

Next came the staining.
Walking the aisles of a big box store I stumbled upon the perfect color in their mis-tint section.

The absolute perfect color cost me $2.50.

BARGAIN!
Bargains always make me happy.

This color is the most delicious brown-grey color.
It looks fantastic against the white cabinets and dark flooring.

First I cut and nailed the plywood to the face of the kitchen bar.
Next step was trimming the top, bottom, sides and corners with the 1x2 boards.

From there I needed to figure out how close I wanted the rest of the boards to be to each other.

Once I determined the distance, I used a scrap piece to "cheat" my measuring.
I simply laid the cheat piece against the outside of the first board and the second board would then be set at the outside of my cheat piece.

Hopefully this explains it a little more clearly than I can:

My Cheat Piece saved me a lot of time.
Nail a board down, lay down the Cheat Piece, nail the next board down.

Repeat.

The new counter brackets cost $10 a piece and although

they are a different wood than the board and batten,

held the stain and matched perfectly.

Once it was finished, it transformed the look of the kitchen.

The grey color in the stain continues the contemporary element

all the while the board and batten brings in a hint of a farmhouse feel.

A touch of unexpected.

Which, in essence, is what life is all about isn't it?

Bringing in the board and batten was a simple project which did not cost a lot of money (less than $100!) and it took only a few hours of my time.

An easy, cheap and fun project ~ the best kind of project!

P.S.
As promised I returned to the local lumberyard to show the
salesman my before and after pictures.
The look one his face was priceless.
My guess is next time he won't be so leery of my ideas.
And we all know there will be a next time.

Helloooo Kitchen Cabinets

2013-04-08T11:21:00.002-07:00

Oak, Oak, Oak.
It was time to part ways.
Our builder-basic home said nothing of originality nor did it even whisper a hint of our style.

Armed with a small budget, we tore up old flooring and laid down new floors.

I spent countless hours sanding, priming, painting, cutting and staining the cabinetry.
We are ~~thrilled~~ ecstatic with the results.

Ok, I may be the one who is ecstatic as I am no longer spending every waking moment outside of work with a paint brush in my hand.
And if I'm ecstatic, everyone needs to be too.

Or in the very least, pretend to be.

Here is a reminder where we started.

This isn't so much a before shot as it is a during shot.
The walls and ceiling have been painted.

The oak trim is gone from the floors and windows.
The new floors are down.

The view from our family room.

And here is what we have now.

TA DA!

I love the look of board and batten and incorporated it into the cabinetry.
I think it brings just a hint of farmhouse, don't you?
There will be more on that later.

Just a splash of red.

It is amazing how much brighter and open the kitchen appears.
We often hear "WHOA, it's so much bigger in here!" when family and friends see the space for the first time;
which is exactly the goal in mind.

The hardware on the cabinets are custom, to replace them would have cost us a fortune.

Instead, my husband sanded them down and I spray painted them.
They turned out fantastic.

To add a touch of whimsy, our monogram was incorporated into the design.

Well, there you have our latest redesign.
So much hard work and absolutely worth it in the end!

Over the next couple weeks I will spend time redecorating the kitchen, adding hardware and creating a fun back splash with an idea I have brewing in my head.

I'd love to hear what you think, do you love it as much as we do?
What was a favorite change you've made to your space?

Keeping It Real

2013-03-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

It's easy to stare at pictures of beautiful rooms and swoon over their beauty.

It's easy to look at a design element in someone's home and decide to incorporate it into your own.

It's easy to find inspiration.

It ain't easy livin' in the Land of Inbetween.
You know the place ~ the land you live in while taking what you had and turning it into what you want.

It's scary. And oh is it messy.

In my effort of keeping it real I give you, my friends, the Fiorucci Land of Inbetween.

This was our front porch while we were laying down the new floors.

Not very welcoming is it?

While putting up the new trim, our front living room and dining room was my painting station.

Just want to curl up on that sofa and share a cup of coffee don't you?

The seemingly endless task of painting cabinet doors took over the living room and dining room.

All available counter space was used for stacking drawers to be painted.

There were plenty of days where it was difficult to find space to simply make a sandwich.

As we did all the work ourselves, we lived in a state of disarray for 3 solid months.

There were days it seemed unending.

There were days I thought I would go crazy.

There were days the only sanity I found was sipping a glass of red wine while sitting on the corner of the bathtub because it was the only clean room in the house.

The only way to live in the after picture is traveling through the Land of Inbetween.

Just don't park there.

Up next, our beautiful revamped kitchen!

Projects & Pictures

2013-03-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

The list of renovations we decided on doing wasn't too long of a list.

But it was a lot of work.

Here is the much simplified version of all I had yet to do once the floors were completed.

Next up, framing in the dry-wall only doorways!

The Birth of New Floors!

2013-03-12T04:30:00.000-07:00

After tearing up our old floors we began laying down the new laminate wood flooring.

The first two rows are a tad tricky.

It isn't until the 3rd and 4th rows do the pieces really begin to feel locked into place and stop moving around.

With just a few rows in place, my excitement was a little, um, over-the-top.
I'm lucky my family loves me.

Keeping the sub floor free of debris is important and every few rows, I'd fire up the shop vac and suck up anything I could find.

There may have been a few Nerf bullets inadvertently sucked up.

After starting in the family room, we worked our way into the front entry hall and the coat closet.

The process continues from the front entry hall into the living and dining rooms.

Snap, lock, up, cut, down, snap, lock, up, cut, down. Repeat 7 million times.

Workin' it from the family room into the kitchen.
All those corners and cabinetry made it, shall we say, interesting.

Moment of honesty : It is 11:45 pm on News Year's Eve when my husband took this picture. There is no humanly way possible I could have gotten up the next morning knowing that a tiny section of the house was still left to finish. I was slightly tired and sore from doing the up-down-cut-snap-lock dance moves and my muscles were a tad unhappy with me. (Crossfit ain't got nothin' on me!)
So on News Year's Eve, my family and I are cutting, snapping and locking the final pieces into place.

Hey, I know how to party.

A future project will be painting those oak cabinets white as well as a fun idea I have of bringing a barn look to a very contemporary home.

Stay tuned!

Up & Out with the Old

2013-03-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

The demolition process begins!

During the holiday season, my husband took some time off of work to spend it with our boys. As any good parent would do, we decided the perfect way to celebrate working so hard during the school year was to have the kids tear up the flooring in our home.

They were so excited.

First we had to remove all the trim around the floors and doorways. You can see the standard-1990s-builder-oak-trim in some of the pictures below. Ick.

What appears to be white moulding is really the sheet rock behind the removed trim. For 12 years I longed for the big thick white moulding to frame my floors and doors. Finally, I was seeing this become a reality.

This is the carpet coming up in the living and dining rooms.

To the right is our front entry hall. More oak.

Lucky us.

When our home was built in 1999 the really cool snap & lock floating floors weren't designed yet. These laminate wood planks were stapled into place with the biggest staples ever. Each staple was then stapled along the edge of each plank about an 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart.

My oldest boy thought tearing out those staples was just awesome.
(Insert sarcasm font).

The only way to get each of those ginormous staples out of the sub flooring was to wedge a screwdriver underneath the top of the staple and then whack it with a hammer.

The first 276 times were fun, then...not so much.

With the carpet removed from the family room, the boys still had the bedroom hallway carpet to pull up.

Look at all that oak. OOOO baby.

As soon as I got off of work, I would put on the work clothes and help my Master Demolition Dudes pull up all the carpet staples.
So. Many. Staples.
A long and tedious project, but extremely important to get them out before laying the new floors.

One of our very first home updates came when we covered up the builder basic (read : cheap) linoleum in the kitchen. These were commercial grade laminate tile designed to last 20 years. Or 5, if you have boys.
This was quite the chore as we had to pull up the tile, linoleum and the linoleum sub flooring.

The pain of difficulty was eased when we had to purchase a new power tool.

I love a good do-it-yourself project and very rarely become upset during the in between stages. Before starting any project I can clearly see the end result and it always helps keep me calm during the mayhem. With all that being said, when all the floors were pulled up and our boys were walking around in pajamas with their shoes on because it was unsafe to be barefoot, I felt like the worst mother in the world. I had removed the safe environment from my children.

As the new floors went down, their beauty erased those bad parenting feelings. Whew.

Next time, I will show you our ~~laying down of the new floors~~ dreams coming true.

Element of WOW!

2013-02-04T03:30:00.000-08:00

You know when you find the PERFECT piece of furniture and you just HAVE TO HAVE it? That happened to me when I was pouring over websites looking for the perfect chandelier.

With such straight lines and modern elements we introduced to our home, I tried to convince my husband we could go with a crystal hanging chandelier for our family room, the main room in our home. A perfect touch of feminine, I thought.

That didn't go over so well.

Then I found THE one. I found the perfect light until I saw the not so perfect price tag. $900. Really? For a chandelier?

Determined to find another retailer, I kept looking. Diligence paid off and I found it for less than half the price including delivery! Before I could triple guess myself (which I often do and then regret my indecision later), I bought it. 1 week later it was hanging in my family room. We have nick-named it "The Exploding Light Bulb".

Friends, I give you my Element of Wow, my Pièce de Résistance - my new chandelier.

My biggest, boldest design move I've ever done for myself!

Picking out Paint Colors

2013-01-28T12:20:00.000-08:00

When my husband and I made the decision to spend the time, energy, and money to update our home little did we know how much time and energy it would take us. The projects are taking up most of my time leaving me little time to keep everyone updated. I wish I could, but I can't.

Sometimes I just can't find my Super Woman cape.

The walls and ceilings are painted. The floors are down and as of last night I finished cutting and painting all the baseboards. What a huge feeling of accomplishment that was!

When choosing the colors I kept the main color light to offset the rich dark of the floors. The walls are painted this fabulous color called "Stone" from Maratha Stewart.

What this swatch does not show you is how fantastically grey it is! It is a very warm grey and looks incredible against the floors.

The trim I knew also had to be a warm hue. We chose "Betsy's Linen" by Valspar. This will also be the color I am going to paint our kitchen cabinets.

When chosing colors for your home, it is important to look at all the colors together. I laid many, many paint chips on pieces of the flooring near different windows and doors to help me decide what looks best together.

These two colors look great together and balance each other well. With the kitchen next on my project list I am going to be introducing a grey to the mix in hopes to bring an 'old and weathered' feel to a very modern edge our house has taken.

One of the many fun things that has come out of this remodel is the look of amazement on the face of our children. Suddenly Mom and Dad have a cool side they've never seen before.

Wait until they see the chandelier we bought.

Inspiring Christmas Spaces

2012-12-21T03:00:00.000-08:00

Our home projects are still in full swing and I promise to update everyone on the progress soon. Since the house is in a bit of honey-do chaos, it is not the time for me to decorate for Christmas.

In the meantime, I drool over the pretty pictures I see in the blogs I follow and I look forward to decorating next year!

Here are some fantastic, inspiring and fun Christmas ideas.

I love the colors of nature in this room. The pine cone on display is a great touch of whimsy.

Lighted branches are always fun.

Classy and whimsy are perfectly combined in this wreath.

Evergreens dress up these lighted branches and create a very welcoming front porch.

You should have guessed I would add some burlap to these inspiring Christmas spaces!

Hopefully these spaces inspired you a little bit and now you are ready to go out and do.

Merry Christmas!

Our New Art Gallery

2012-11-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

When I decided to make my husband's photography a more prominent feature in our home, I transformed our main hallway into an art gallery.

To bring a final touch to this space, I named our hallway. After all, doesn't every gallery have a name? I went out on a creative limb and named it....Fiorucci Gallery. My creativity sometimes astounds me.

I found the letters at our local craft store. It didn't matter that they weren't the same color as I knew I would be painting them black anyway.

The letters weren't on sale, and I had to pay full retail for them (those who know me just did a collective "GASP!"). The cost came to $28.00.

I spray painted the letters, using matte black paint, which I had around the house.

Here are the tools needed to hang the letters.

Using the painter's tape, I marked where I wanted the letters to hang on the wall.

Using the level, I made sure the tape was perfectly straight. The perfectly-straight-tape will be my guide to ensuring I will have perfectly-straight-letters.

The letters did not come with a way to hang them on the wall. Rather than use tape on the wall, I drilled a tiny hole in which the head of a brad nail (finishing nail) could fit.

Once the hole was drilled, I placed the head of the brad nail into the hole and pushed it in as far as it would go.

Starting at the far left, I hung the first letter. I wanted the "F" and the "G" to be offset just a smidgen from the other letters. The two larger letters required me to hang a nail and use a hammer.

Second, I placed the last letter to the farthest right. By using brad nails on the back of the smaller letters, I only had to push them into the wall just as you would a tack.

I worked my way toward each end alternating between words to ensure the spacing would come out correctly. The last letter to be hung is the letter "G".

TA DA! The finished project!

A simple idea that gives this space a finished look.

Inspiring Spaces

2012-11-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

It's time for some weekend inspiration!

Below are just a few of my favorite spaces I stumbled upon this week.

I love the simplicity of the black and white.

The faux fur on the chair brings a comfy element against the starkness of the white.

This is a perfect example of combining two spaces.

The yellow on the wall is echoed in the next room with the yellow chair.

The cubed space on the far wall is repeated in how the pictures are hung on the yellow wall.

Not only do I love the color of the cushions, I love how it ties in perfectly with the trim of the house. Gorgeous!

The kitchen island looks like a piece of furniture rather than cabinetry.

This brings an element of uniqueness to this space and is further accentuated with painting it a color completely unexpected.

Hopefully you are inspired by this week's finds and get a creative bug to do something in your home this weekend.

Now, go and do!

The Party Invitation

2012-11-05T03:30:00.000-08:00

My siblings and I celebrated my Mom & Dad's 45 years of marriage and their 70th birthdays by throwing them a big party celebration. One of my responsibilities was to make the invitations. I have the most incredible parents in the world and I knew the invitations had to be just as special as they are. No store bought cards would do.

Their wedding colors were red, white and black; this is what I used as my starting point. After finding some beautiful papers, I went to work.

The tools I used:

I cut each paper to the size I needed for the card. The paper cutter makes it a snap to cut each sheet of paper to the exact size needed. This helps me tremendously in ensuring all cuts are the same. What? Me picky?

Next, place the photo squares (tape) on the back of the papers. The corners that will be at the top and bottom of the card have tape in each corner, and the section of paper in the middle of the card will have only one. It makes a much nicer presentation when the corners are securely fastened and not peeling up when the person receiving the card opens it.

Some would use glue to adhere the papers together, however I found the paper wrinkles as the glue dries. The tape makes a much cleaner presentation.

To separate the two black patterned papers, I wanted to add a pop of red. To give it a different look, I tore an edge along the bottom of the strip rather than have it straight cut. I like that it added something different. I placed tape squares on the outer corners of the red strip.

I just LOVE the texture of the red paper.

To complete the front of the card, I added a strip of white paper with their names on it, a black swirl embellishment and a tiny flower.

We can all use a little whimsy in our lives...

Place a tape square on each corner of the backside. This will help in securely adhering it to the front of the card.

This is how all the pieces came together.

It's always nice to add a little something extra to the wording on the inside. Here, I cut out the wording of the inviation, taped it down onto black paper cut to size and then taped it all to the inside of the card.

Very simple and adds just a small touch of elegance.

The finished project.

One down, only 39 more to go....