Progress??

Hello there my sweet friends!

I hope that you are having a great week! Next week is Spring Break for the kiddos so I will be signing off for a bit to spend time with them and hopefully complete some things around the house that I have started.

I told you the other day that I made some changes in my kitchen. I am still playing around with things. There was just something about the my kitchen that just bothered me.

Do you ever get that, you change and rearrange but things don't seem to look like they do in your head?

I think that I finally figured it out though....I think......

Last Saturday I moved our banquette upstairs and brought back the wicker chairs that I picked up at Ikea many moons ago. I really love that style seating but I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic in that area so out it went. I will save what I am going to do with that for a later date. :) I then moved the hutch, brought in a sofa table and just shopped around the house for things.

This is how it originally started out.

Then I went to this.

And now we are here. :)

(my little scale is getting another makeover, that is why she is not in the pic:) )

I am looking for more prints for this wall so it looks pretty bare. I moved the hutch because I wanted to show off my faux plank wall. We worked really hard on it, why cover it up right!

It just feels much more open to me and easier to get around the dining table. I would love to get a rug to go under the table as well so I will add that to my ever-so-long list.

And since I don't ever know what to do with myself when I don't have a paint brush in my hand I also decided that the color of the bottom of the kitchen cabinets were just not giving me the look I was hoping for, so guess what?

YUP!

I am going to re-re-repaint them hopefully over break.

I really love the color but I am so drawn into the neutrals and the gray that I used on my trim (Smooth Stone from Glidden) will be covering the Tranquil Pond.

Whew!

This is long!

Sorry but a girl has a lot to say when she is going to be gone for a week. :)

I will leave you with some more photos of the family room!

I successfully made two pillows, still need to make one more, and arranged my little cozy corner.

The white pillow is from PB that I scored from Christmas gift cards.

I also hung up some photo ledges that I had from Ikea and put up a shadow box that I had purchased many many moons ago that I never found a spot for it but I knew I had to have it.

I really like its new home. :)

This is looking down our hall from our kitchen. You can see our entry way and the new jute rug I picked up from Kolhs for half off! Woo Hoo!

I will also be doing a picture gallery above the side table. I already found beautiful sailboat and sea shell pictures from Michaels.

Love my floors!!

(I am not quite ready for the whole reveal of the Family Room yet so bare with me, not that you are waiting on pins and needles :) )

I replaced the little table with this one that I had in our bedroom because a certain furry child of mine kept eating the fake grass!!

He really looks like he cares doesn't he!

I also wanted to welcome all my new friends and I appreciate you joining in on all my chaos! :)

Thank you so much to everyone for all your support!

I love you gals!

I hope you all have a wonderful week, it actually may take you that long to read this!

I am sure that I will pop my head in and out to see what you up to, but if not, I hope the sun shines on you and if you are traveling have a wonderful and safe trip!

See you in April! :)

HUGS!!!

I've Been Featured!

I was so excited when I got an email from Jenny and Karla over at Envy My Cooking saying that they would like to feature my renewed kitchen on a segment they called Envy My Kitchen, which they post about every Friday!

They have such an amazing blog filled with recipes, decorating tips, redos and renews not only from themselves but they love to feature other creative bloggers!

They also have another feature on Wednesdays called Envy My Find that spotlights great finds and they were renewed!

You have to check out their blog, you will be there for a while just with all the great recipes that they share!!!

Double check that your printer has ink!!

Thank you so much Jenny and Karla!!

A Week of Firsts and Kitchen Feature

This week was a week of firsts at our house. Like so many other households in the nation, it was a first day of school. The girl started 7th grade this year and was feeling the pressure of yet another year of getting older, something that she is not taking well to. But, she faired quite well this week.

She was getting a little irritated with me following her around and snapping pictures. Gotta love the "Mom, please" look!

She made it through another 'first' day of school and even tried out for volleyball, another first. This is the first year that kids can try out for school sports in our area. She was extremely nervous, but we told her that the only thing that she needs to do is do her best.

And that she did...

and made it!!!!!

She was so happy and relieved that that was over! Now on to practices and games and driving here and there. I never knew what my parents went through between my brother and I and all the sports that we played. They must have put thousands and thousands of miles on their cars!!

Thanks mom and dad!

Another first this week was the boy learned to ride his bike without training wheels!!

Oh the look in his face was priceless!

He was so proud of himself, as he should be!

Now he is just showing off!

I am so proud of my kids for trying new things and no matter if they win or lose, pass or fail as long as they try, that is all I ask.

Now on to the feature.

Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia sent me an email asking if she could feature my re-re-redo kitchen! I was SO excited!! She has such a wonderful blog with so many ideas and inspirations and is one of the sweetest bloggers that I have met!

So go check out her blog (and my kitchen:) ), she has been giving great tips on organizing your home.

My favorite is the bag of lost parts!

I think mine is half full already!

Come hang with me next week, I have been working on some small crafty projects for the kitchen and started on Halloween decorating!!

I hope that everyone has a great weekend!!

Kitchen Reveal!!!

When I started the kitchen re-re-redo I thought, along with my hubby, that I was crazy to do this again...and again, but I have to tell you I LOVE my kitchen!!! I love how clean and cozy it looks now. We seem to spend a lot of time in the kitchen so now I feel like I can really relax, unwind and visit with family and friends here.

Here is what it looked like about a month ago (I liked my beachy kitchen but I just needed something a little different)

And now...

I absolutely LOVE the wall (see here how I did it and at Miss Mustard Seed Creations is where I got the inspiration to do it)

I still need to finish the cabinet above the microwave. I am not putting the doors on it again but I would like to put either curtains up or I have been eye balling some barn wood frames that would fit perfectly up there!

I used cheese cloth towels for the curtains here and

here.

I don't sew very well but I can at least sew straight lines! I tacked the lazy suzan curtain up with furniture tacks.

I ended up painting the ladder the same color as the hutch and I like it better than the blue.

I still need to add some soft touches, a couple pillows here and some rugs there, but I am really happy with the way that everything turned out!

I kept a lot of my beachy pieces and displayed them already and some I will transform to fit the new kitchen or find a new home for them somewhere in the house!

I just want to thank all of you for your kind comments and suggestions through my kitchen transformation.

Bloggy friends are the best!!!

Hutch Reveal

Hello all! I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!! I know that I am enjoying the change in weather! The kids start school tomorrow and they are excited and nervous.

This weekend I began to finish up some details in the kitchen. One of those not-so-small details was the hutch.

This is what it looked like before...

and now....

I really love it! It just makes all the white pottery pop out!

The color is call "Wood Smoke".

I had talked about the "Sharky Gray" but that color had more of a purple tint to it.

I sanded it a bit to get that worn feel.

You can see that I painted the hinges, which is probably a no-no but I tell ya, I looked EVERYWHERE for those stinken H-hinges and the only place I found them was on the internet for $20 each......um....painting them was the better option here. But I did get new knobs and pulls for it!

I put my flea market find (the Pet Milk Co box) on top as well as other finds that I "shopped" for around the house.

The kitchen is almost finished!!!! I can't wait to show you some other details that I have added and after I get everything cleaned up and get the kids out of the house so I can take pictures without all their things scattered all over, I will reveal my new kitchen!!

OH and my reward for all my hard work.....

a nice fire and hobo pies!!!!!!

mmmmmmmmmm......apple!!!!!

I am linking up to the parties on my side bar!

Drop Cloth Slip Cover

So the other day I was paging through Pottery Barn and saw this..

a drop cloth slip cover.

I thought to myself, well why not!!??

So, I headed to Lowe's and purchased this..

to cover this...

from a year of this..

The Pottery Barn slip cover was about $100 plus shipping for the size that I needed. The Lowe's drop cloth was $30 for about the same size.

Bonus!!

It was really easy to do, I just tucked a little here and snipped a little there. No sewing what-so-ever!!!

It is heavy enough to cover the blue but still soft enough to sit and eat or relax on and I can wash it!!

I am very pleased with the way it turned out!

I just need to fill it with some pillows now!

(sorry about the pictures, my lighting in the kitchen is still under discussion. I mentioned recessed lighting to the hubby and he said "where?", not sure what that meant other than I think he is trying to avoid the situation. I am also hoping to get down to Ikea this fall and look for a new light for the over the kitchen table as well....as well as some other goodies!)

Hope everyone is having a great week!

I am looking forward to a little break in the weather this weekend, it will be about 70 during the day and down to the 50's at night.....fire pit!!!!

Finished Wall

Yesterday I was lucky enough that I didn't have to go into work (yeah), so I grabbed my daughter and we started painting the hardboard planks that I put up on Saturday!

We primed it with about two coats of Kilz.

Then I finished up with the Behr's paint-in-primer "Crisp Linen White"! Even though it had primer it in it still took about two coats and some touch ups here and there. It is a nice paint but you still need primer especially if you are painting white over dark wood.

I think that I am going to paint the hutch the color that is on the door, it is a little less purple than the "Sharky Gray", and it reminds me of the color of driftwood, but who knows, I seem to change my mind a lot!

Anyway, I am REALLY happy how it turned out!! It really gives my kitchen that cozy cottage look that I was hoping for!

Please excuse the mess, it seems that I make little piles by sorting through big piles to make myself think that I am cleaning up!

Busy Weekend

This weekend was very busy and tiring..... but productive!! While I went to work on Saturday morning (icky), my hubby was nice enough to go get the hardboard from Lowes.

We cut 3 sheets down to 4" wide stripes that were 4' in length (Lowes was nice enough to cut the 4' x 8' pieces into 4' x 4' which made it ALOT easier to handle when cutting)

Note to self - probably shouldn't weat flip flops while cutting large peices on the table saw. It was VERY messy!!!

Anyway, we got them cut down and hubby helped me put the first few up and off I went....

Before....

During......

AFTER!!!!!

Well, sort of, I still have to paint it.

I have to tell you that it took me a little over 6 hours to put all this up and I was so exhausted I couldn't even lift my arms up anymore (thank God for the nail gun though!)

It was about 7:30 when we finished up. I cleaned up, got supper.....

mmmmmm, Honey Combs!!!

Later, got me some vino, sat on the couch and watched 'The Backup Plan' with the hubby!

Way cute movie by the way.

Sunday morning we got up and went to the flea market with some friends. I loved it! It was a little overwhelming at first but quickly made myself comfortable and even starting bargaining!

Ok, I bargained for one thing and it was only $2 less than what they were asking, but hey!

I was really excited when I found this self right at the start! I have been wanting one of these to go above the bed. Nothing really special about it, which is what I liked, very simple.

I also found this great little Pet Milk Co. box and this large metal can that will look great in the kitchen!!!

All in all I thought that I did pretty good at the flea market and may have to go back next month now that I know what to expect.

This week I need to paint the new wall, finish up with the cabinets, start to repaint my hutch and then start on all the decorating details!!

That is my favorite part!!