Kitchen Update and A Christmas Tradition

I woke up yesterday with a pep in my step. A smile on my face. A song in my heart.

It's true.

My new granite countertops were coming and by the end of the day, my kitchen would be one step closer to done. Not just done, but done in time for Christmas.

I just knew I'd be baking up some Christmas goodies while the children played at my feet and my husband merrily did the dishes. The timer would buzz and I'd pull warm sugar cookies from the oven and let them cool on those gorgeous counters.

A girl can dream, okay?

<<Check out how we redid the cabinets here and here.>>

Halfway through installation, however, the installers cracked one of the slabs.

Sigh. So we're back to waiting. A little longer.

I dont know... the dried Gorilla Glue backsplash might just work... and the plywood countertops... am I sensing a trend?

Someone call up "House Beautiful."

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But no matter what kind of Ca–Ra-Zy state our home may be in...

(Yeah.)

making Christmastime special this year--and every year-- is very important to my husband and me.

One of my favorite traditions is letting my oldest son color a wooden ornament from the craft store.

Then I jot down a few of his "favorites" on the back.

Instead of hanging them on the tree--where they sort of get lost--

I wanted to showcase them in the front entryway where they serve as a visual reminder of what's really important.

We are very blessed to have two healthy boys who are growing and learning and changing quite quickly.

The kitchen can wait.



Linked: Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime

Change Table: Before and After

In the midst of redoing cabinets (we're adding crown molding right now and I can't wait to show you all the new pictures), unpacking boxes, etcetera, etcetera, I really wanted to finish up the baby's room.

Once we get all of the crown molding up and finish accessorizing, I'll post a REAL after picture.

But in the meantime, here is a little project I did over the weekend.

Before

After

We're all about the child labor around here.

Actually, he lost interest after 47 seconds. Rats!

So I finished the sanding myself, then added a couple of coats of paint.

See this for the the pom-pom baby mobile tutorial.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

I linked to:

Vintage Revivals

Kitchen Cabinets Makeover--Part 2

Click here to read Part 1 in this epic series.... 
at least it feels that way around here.

After buying our fixer-upper and discovering that new cabinets were not in the budget, we decided to make do with what we have and spruce the old girls up a bit.

Bead board covereth a multitude of sins, my child.

Using paintable/stainable wood filler, my hubby filled the gaps.



He was very proud of himself.

And he should be, it was a lot of work.

He laid out the doors and drawers and primed, then painted.

It took about three coats and he sanded them in between each.

In the meantime, he primed and painted the cabinets inside.

Then he added the bead board to the sides and the backs using Gorilla Glue and clamps first,



and then tacking them in place last.

After the paint was very dry on the doors and drawers, he used steel wool to remove any imperfections in the paint--this gave it a really sleek look.

Then he added a final, light coat of paint.

The updated doors made all the difference--the kitchen is looking so much brighter and newer.

We still have a lot of work ahead of us, though.



But we're getting there.

And I'm loving how much better they look.

Kitchen Cabinets Makeover--Part 1

Click here for Part 2 of the Kitchen Cabinets Makeover

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The kitchen cabinets in our new-to-us house used to look like this...

complete with mildew and rotting shelves. Fabulous.

And they were so elegant in a cheaply-constructed, 1982 sort of way.

Don't you think?

This house is getting an overall makeover, and after new appliances, lighting, floors, countertops and backsplash, buying new cabinets (right now, anyway) just was not in the budget.

(Retextured ceilings and new appliances--check. Yay!)

First of all, I scrubbed those puppies down using a mixture of 4 parts water, 1 part bleach and a few squirts of liquid detergent.

Then, I removed the existing hardware.

Next, my husband and his dad took down the doors and drawers.

Some of the doors needed to be repaired with wood glue and they will be replacing the shelves that had rotted and were gross beyond repair.

My father-in-law found this amazing stuff, called Krud Kutter (at Sherwin Williams).

They sponged it on the cabinets so they wouldn't have to sand them first.

This product allows you to paint right over it.

While they were working hard, the neighbor's chickens marched through the driveway and started pecking around the house like they owned the place. 

That was a first for this former city girl.

Cabinets. Right!

I guess I was a little distracted.

Part 2 is coming up soon, but here's a little sneaky peeky of what we have planned.

Click here for Part 2