Twice Remembered - FAQ

Houses with Red Cabinets Harder to Sell?

2010-04-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have been inspired by your red kitchen cupboards but am still frightened to take such a leap. Currently mine are plain old white. I have a friend who keeps telling me to go for it, yet another that has warned me not to. She has said that it will take at least 3-4 coats of paint and if we decide to sell our home in the next 2 or 3 years no one will want to buy a house with a red kitchen. Do you have any words of encouragement?? -C.

C., I can certainly understand your hesitation with the red. It is a very bold color choice and one of your friends was right in that it does take many, many coats to cover properly. Mine took four, maybe even five on the doors, and that isn't counting the primer coat. So it is quite a time commitment to say the least! Resale could certainly be a consideration as well, but I don't think red cabinets would be quite the deal breaker as some might think. It really depends on the way you look at.

For me personally, I feel that by the time we are finished with our remodel, our home may just be completely out of the norm/unusual compared to other homes on the market in my area. It won't really be the "neutral blank slate" contemporary home that many are searching for. It will have {one of these days!} a very distinct style that folks will either love or hate depending on their personal taste. The person that I want to own the house after us is the person that falls head over heals over it and the red cabinets. The way I see it - and maybe it's an odd romantic approach - is that the red cabinets are like Cinderella's missing glass slipper. When and if we ever sell, our house and red cabinets will fit *just the right person*, and I'm willing to wait for them to come along.

I know I'm just biased, but I feel that if the cabinets are painted red and painted well {and the right shade is picked...a red that isn't too garish}, it will not detract from the beauty of the home. In fact, a red kitchen will be one that buyers will remember while they are out searching for homes. It will stand out in their mind. Incidentally, the other day I was watching one of those 'designed to sell' kinds of shows on HGTV...the ones where professionals come in and spruce up a house to get it ready to sell, you know? Well, in the episode I saw, a huge shelving unit in a wide hallway {or maybe it was the passage way from the mudroom?} was painted. Do you know what color they painted it? Red!

I think red is just one of those colors where the "concept" of it is scary - the idea of actually going through with it in our own homes can be terrifying. And especially so if it is like nothing we have ever done before or like nothing our friends and family have ever done. It may just sound like a foreign concept! But I don't think folks in general get that horrified feeling when they see other kitchens or things painted red. Instead they may feel "I would have never thought to do that but it works! It looks nice! I love it! Pretty! I like it better than I thought I would!" It's only when they consider doing it in their own spaces that they may hesitate or worry if it's the right decision.

I guess in some ways, going red is just a leap of faith. Like I said, there are things to consider like finding the right shade {I love the shade I used - Waverly's Cherry but I still toned it down by wiping on and then wiping off some brown glaze}, wall color, countertop, backsplash, the colors of decorative items and fabrics you plan to use...all these things will either accentuate the red cabinets nicely or make them look like it's all too much. For me, I've decided to stay neutral with very little color elsewhere - white, off-white, and dark brown accents.

One last note about going red with your cabinets: Remember, it is only paint and can be repainted. Try painting one single cabinet if you have one detached from the others. I have a single cabinet on the other side of the sink above the dishwasher and that is where I started. I completely finished that one before moving on to the rest. So if you decide to take the leap, first paint that one cabinet completely and live with it for a while. It won't take you too long to know if you want to go with another color or not. If you love it, you won't hardly be able to wait to paint the rest. If you don't like it, you may feel like "Ugh!" every time you see it and will hardly be able to wait to paint over it!

I hope this gives you a few more things to think about before making your decision. I believe that when it comes to painting our homes, do what is going to make you happy - not what is going to make the future homeowners happy. If you do anything that you feel might be too "out there" when it comes time to resell, remember that it can be reversed if you are up to a little extra work. Don't not paint your cabinets red because you're worried about future buyers. It is your home now, so enjoy it - and if that means having white, red, green, or purple cabinets, then so be it!

-Kim

P.S. Just thinking about resale again...With our own house, we will never, ever get out of it what we've put into it so far, considering our neighborhood and the values of the homes around us. But it's just an example of doing what we love and what makes us happy. :)

Dining Room Lighting

2010-04-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

Hi, I just stumbled upon your blog and have to know where you got the light for your dining room! I've been looking for something similar and I love it. Can you give me a lead? Thanks! -K

Hi K!

I get a lot of questions about that fixture and I hate that I don't have better news, but as far I know, it has been discontinued. I bought it about 5 years ago online and it was from a Kichler House Beautiful collection. I've searched and searched online to try and find it again and it doesn't even come up in search perimeters. I don't remember which lighting site I bought it from either, but each time I get a question about it, I search for it some more. I'm so sorry I don't have better news right now, but I will be sure to readers know if I ever do locate a source!

In the meantime, try using search words such as "drum shade linen pendant bronze" to see if you may be able to find something similar.

Craft Studio Wall Color - Robin's Egg Blue

2009-03-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hi, I happened on to your site and love it! I have been looking everywhere for a robin egg blue paint and have many samples on my wall but not one is the "right" one. I am wondering if you could tell me the name of your robin egg blue? Also the red for the cupboards? Absolulty love them- I am a red fan and boy those cupboards look great? ~J.

Hi J.!

Thank you for visiting my blog and dropping me a note - I love "meeting" my visitors!

I actually mixed the robin's egg blue myself. I had a couple of Martha Stewart shades of green and blue on hand, plus some white and a little black, and I just mixed until I found the shade I was looking for. I painted a sample and had it color matched at Lowes and it was perfect! I'll give you the formula/code that is printed on the top of the can and hopefully they will be able to mix it for you, too. Keep in mind that every paint mixing machine at hardware stores is slightly different - they don't all have the exact calibration, even within the same store. So your color may not be *exactly* what my color is, but really close. Also, if you have paint mixed on one machine and need to go back for more, make sure they use the same machine.

This is what it says at the top of my can:

Manual Dispense
107-17.5
101-13
103-10.5
Valspar Eggshell Base 1

As for the red, I posted just this morning about this very question...feel free to check it out here! If you have any other questions, please let me know and I'll be happy to help!

~Kim

Kitchen Cabinet Color

2009-03-10T06:52:00.001-07:00

Hi Kim,

I stumbled across your site today and love your cabinets! Do you mind telling me what color you used? We are about to redo our 1970's kitchen and I love yours!!!

Thanks so much,
~S.

S., This may be the most asked question I receive in my emailbox:) There is just something about red! The red paint color is from the Waverly line and it's called "Cherry"
in the satin finish. The off white interior and basecoat color (also a satin finish) is
called "Homestead Resort Parlor Taupe". At one time, it was part of the "American Tradition" line of paint but I believe it is now called "Valspar". I bought both these paint colors from Lowes.

Kitchen Curtains

2009-03-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hi Kim

Oh my gosh!!! I love what you did to your kitchen!! I too love reds! I think it is wonderful that you are able to make a room look so lovely and spend so little. I was wondering if you could tell me where you bought the kitchen curtains. They are darling!!

~G.

Hi G.!

Would you believe that the curtains above my kitchen window actually aren't curtains at all! They are actually pillow cases that I found at my local Goodwill. I discovered that they were just the right length for our kitchen sink window and I hung them using curtain rings with clips. New sew!

At one time, the curtains that I had in the dining room were just queen sized sheets hung with ringed clips as well. I've since moved them to my living room and now have linen curtains in the dining room. I purchased the linen curtains on Ebay, new in their packages, a panel at a time until I had four panels. They originally came from West Elm but I only paid a fraction of the cost!

Kitchen Island Paint Process

2009-03-05T09:03:00.000-08:00

First let me say I love your kitchen!! I am a sucker for red anyway! Thats all my accent colors through my house..although mine is tradtional I have always loved the cottage look! My question is. We are putting in a new countertop and building a island. I was wondering how you painted yours..what color you used and how you did the glaze? It was either go black or white glazed..I am leaning toward white..any info would be great!
~P.

Hi there, P.,

Yes, I do love red, too! Always good to hear from another red lover!

I wish I could give you some info on my island but I actually bought it just the way it is and didn't paint it myself. I'm not exactly sure what was done by the furniture crafter, but it looks like a flat, cream color paint was first used and then it looks like the island was glazed with a dark brown glaze. With the excess glaze wiped off, the cream paint takes on an a darker, aged appearance.You may want to try this on some test boards and see what you think.

~Kim

Painted Subfloors

2009-03-04T06:36:00.000-08:00

Hi Kim,

I have been searching thru your blog trying to find out how you prepped your floors to paint them, but couldn’t find it. My husband and I want to do the same in our kitchen, dining room, hallway and bathroom. Did you fill nail holes and seams between the plywood boards?

~J.

Hi J.!

You know, because this was what we thought would be a very temporary floor solution, I did not take the time to fill nail holes and caulk the seams. In hindsight, and because we *still* have our painted subfloor (much longer than we expected), I would advise caulking the seams for a nice, smooth look. I would check with a paint professional at your hardware store and ask what caulk they recommend. As far as the nail holes go, usually the heads of the nails used for subflooring are quite large and unless they are deeply set into the plywood, I don't know if they are really fillable. The nails in my subfloor were pretty much flush with the surface. I just painted right over them and don't even see them.

I've used oil based porch paint for one bedroom in my home (after priming with an oil-based primer), but for the rest of the house, I used latex primer and paint. The oil based porch paint is preferrable in my opinion because it dries much harder and is definitely more durable. I was reluctant to use it in the rest of the house because it does take a while to dry and with kids and pets, there was no way we could stay out of the living room and kitchen for the duration of the drying and curing process, not to mention that there are more fumes with oil based products.

~Kim

Painting Brass Headboard

2009-03-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

Hello there!
I just bought an old ugly brass headboard off of Craigslist
and have dreams of painting it. I searched the
internet & found your " Buh-Bye Brass Headboard - You've Been
De-Blinged" post! Absolutely wonderful!

Anyways, question....do you have to sand it at all before hand? I found
numerous posts that suggested it... but dread the thought. I hope not!

~C.

Hi there C.!

Hmm, hehe, how to give you the bad news....I did sand my headboard. But all you have to do is just scruff it up a little to give the paint something to adhere to. You don't have to sand the brass down to bare metal. Not at all. Just "scrub" it with some sanding paper like you were scrubbing a pot or a bathtub. Then you can clean it off and spray it with canned primer. After the primer is dry (I would wait a day just to make sure it has set up and cured), you can then paint. Spray paint is the easiest and leaves a nice smooth coat though you can certainly brush the paint on. I used a satin finish, I believe.

I hope this helps - let me know how it turns out...I love to see photos!

~Kim

Craft Studio Ceiling Makeover

2009-02-19T05:34:00.000-08:00

Kim,

I stumbled upon your post today of the (craft studio) ceiling makeover and loved your idea for the skylights. I have the exact same situation in my master bedroom right now as our skylights were leaking so we took them out and replaced roof over them and have plywood staring at us now. I would love to implement your idea, could you give specific instructions as to what was done? Did you buy windows that matched the measurements? And did you just paint directly over the plywood? I'd love to know the specifics on how you accomplished it.

Thanks so much,
A.

Good morning, A. It took me a good long while to figure out what in the world we were going to do about the plywood "holes" that were left in my craft room when we removed our old skylights. Yes, I just painted directly on the plywood, priming first. To get the faux sky effect, I used a base coat of "bridal" blue (a very light blue), and then on top of that, I painted on robin's egg blue mixed with a bit of glaze. Lastly, I stippled on the clouds using white paint mixed with glaze, blending it into the blue a bit. It took a few layers of the white glaze.

The next step were the "windows". We didn't buy actual windows, but we made them ourselves. There is no glass. We just lined the perimeter of each square hole with trim pieces (4 total, cut to fit). You can also add another layer of slightly narrower trim right on top of the first layer to create a bit of a recess and to beef up the frame a bit.

Next we added the grid. Only three pieces of trim created the grid - one long piece attached vertically and then two smaller pieces placed horizontally at the center.

We primed and painted all of the trim pieces before nailing them in place because I didn't want to risk getting a lot of white paint on the faux sky. After the trim pieces were nailed in place, we caulked the seams, puttied the holes, and carefully painted a final coat of white.

For us, there was already some moulding around the outside edge of the window (the old skylight) itself, so we just left it and didn't have to add anymore, but you certainly could if you don't already have it.

Here is where we began:

And the result:

Cabinet Moulding

2009-02-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

Where did you get those amazing moldings on your cabinets?! I'm totally inspired!!!

~E.

E., all of the moulding /trim pieces on our cabinets came from either Lowes or Home Depot. It took a bit of trial and error to add them as we had never done carpentry work like this before, but I think it was well worth the effort - much cheaper than replacing the cabinets! I think that if anyone doesn't want to spend thousands of dollars to replace their cabinets but doesn't feel comfortable adding trimwork themselves, they would still save tons of money by hiring a carpenter to do the work. (I think at one point I was wishing we had just hired someone, hehe!)

We started out with plain oak cabinets like this:

We added beadboard to the sides of the cabinets and then various moulding / trim pieces to the top and bottom:

This is what the cabinets looked like after during the priming stage:

And finally painted red:

Brick Paver Backsplash

2009-02-18T06:19:00.000-08:00

Hi,
You'll never believe this, but the reason I came across your site was because I was looking for these exact pavers that you purchased at Lowes. I have had my eye on those for a couple of years to use when we remodled our bathroom. They were exactly what I was looking for and the price was great. Much to my disappointment, I went back to Lowes on Friday and to a different Lowes today only to find out that they no longer carry them. Even asked the sales associate if they had the name of the vender, no record of them left. So, I came home to begin my search on the internet - even checking Lowes web site to see if there might be some remaining trace of origin. I gave up hope and started checking site after site after site, and Lowe and behold I found your site. Can you imagine my surprise? You are my very last shred of hope. Can you tell me the name of the company that makes those pavers, do you remember? If you do, could you please get back to me and let me know. I would really appreciate it. ~T.

T. - I wish I could help you here. After our brick paver backsplash project was completed, I took the unused bricks back to Lowes. I poked around my garage today to see if I could find one of the empty brick boxes, but I must have thrown those out long ago. I haven't been to my local Lowes in a while but the next time I'm there, I'll check and see if maybe they still carry this line of reproduction brick pavers here. If so, I'll let you know what company makes them. If anyone else has any info about these bricks, please feel free to let us know. When I bought mine back in 2007, they were about .53 each.

Kitchen Furniture and Inspiration

2009-02-17T19:02:00.001-08:00

Hi there,

Just discovered your blog today and love, love, love your beautiful kitchen. Where did you get that fantastic island? Where did you find all your beautiful inspiration pictures for your kitchen. You have done an excellent job in creating the feeling that those pictures invoke. Thank you.

M.G

Thanks, M.G!

We bought our kitchen island, dining room table, and a few other furniture pieces at the Nashville Flea Market from Fuzzot Furniture. They make their furniture from old architectural and house parts from 80-140 years old. The tops of my island and dining table were once was flooring! Fuzzot is out of Alabama but travels monthly to various flea markets to sell their creations.

As far as the kitchen inspiration photos (below), if you click on any of the photos, you will either be taken to the source of the photo or a link to the photo will appear.

I find inspiration in general from just about anywhere and everywhere! I love the Cottage Living, Country Living, and Country Home magazines as well as visiting inspirational cottage style blogs. I particularly love the romantic and simple style of some Swedish bloggers such as this one (my favorite!).

~Kim