Sunday, February 20, 2011

Kitchen facelift!

So awhile back Brian and I decided the kitchen needed some love.  We are by no means able to do an entire kitchen reno, considering the costs are so high and we are tackling an entire house, not just a kitchen. I will post a picture of what the kitchen looked like when we bought the house, but for now check out it's most current state.

We took all the cabinet doors down, sanded them, bought new hardware (for a dollar each at Ocean State Job Lot-they are at least $4 at Home Depot or Lowes), painted them, then cut out a section of cabinets to make room for a refrigerator, removed the soffet from above the cabinets, then hung them back up.  Oh, we also ripped up four floors that were there before and tiled a new one and painted the backsplash to save money from having to retile.  We also knocked down the wall from between the kitchen and the laundry room to go from a galley kitchen to an eat in.  And...painted the walls.  Whew!  Yeah, we did a lot.  The first picture shown is what it looked liked after we painted the cabinets.  Excuse the mess, you know how reno can be.  Also, excuse the box o'wine.  It legitimately was left by a friend.  So let me cut to the chase...I never loved the brown paint.  In fact, I never really liked it.  Brian loves dark colors and I love light airy colors.  Well, about six months has passed and I'm still not diggin' the kitchen.  I don't like to cook in the first place so I really need to make this room feel like a place that I want to be in.  And with that idea, the kitchen was about to redone AGAIN!

More pics to follow...for now I'll let you in on a little secret...
We are:
  • repainting cabinets a lighter color
  • applying picture frame molding to all cabinet doors
  • replacing the cabinet faces on the metal cabinets (yeah, half our cabinets are metal)
  • ordering new countertops
  • repainting backsplash, possibly applying some tile tattoos
  • finally adding curtains
  • trying to find a stainless stove and dishwasher for practically free (I realize this may be quite difficult)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

This is no deal...this here is a STEAL!

I was surfing craigslist (yeah, I surf the net a lot) and found the wildest video posted about furniture.  It was a video, shot by a young guy, who was walking around a warehouse shooting footage of all the cheap furniture he had for sale.  He would walk by a dresser and say "five bucks," walk by a lamp and say "free."  It was incredible.  I was so excited I could barely get through the rest of the work day.  I wrote down a list of all the things I wanted to buy and went prepared with cash!  I was hoping there would still be some inventory because the post was from February 7th.  There was one item I wanted more than any others-it was a red dresser, vintage looking, and I actually clapped at my desk when I saw it. 

So anyway (anticipation building?) I rush to the door, practically run inside, start scanning items and lo and behold,















there she is...my RED VINTAGE dresser!  Now, now, I know red doesn't exactly go with my whole motif, but a little love is going to go a long way when I spruce this up so it coordinates with what I already have.

Amazingly, this dresser was...
Yup, only fifteen smackers!

And although most of the other goodies were gone, I did manage to snag this...

For only five clams dollars!  I'm thinking, paint job, and rocker for nursery someday la la la la-ong long down the road.  Did I mention LONG down the road?  Long!

Well, I feel like a lucky duck today let me tell ya.  To stumble upon this gem when I wasn't even looking is like hitting a picker's lottery.  Not to mention, this warehouse was five minutes from home.  And as a side note, the dresser wouldn't fit in Brian's car, but the man working there saw us struggling and offered to drop it off for free in his minivan!  I promised him that I would 'pay it forward' and he seemed pleased by that response.  Overall, this has been an A+ of a day!  Hopefully some progress pics soon.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Oh Martha girl, you got it going on!

While scrolling some of my fave blogs I stumbled upon the most perfect and easy idea ever! It was an idea brought to us by Martha Stewart, probably something she cooked up (pun intended) in her free time awhile back. Anyway, here is Martha's version...Martha, you are soooo cool!
Here is another version I found courtesy of http://glass-jars-and-sparkle-water.blogspot.com/
And so I thought...HEY, I can do this!  Let me "Martha-it-up."  Right now I only have three jars...
I printed a bunch of really purdy bird prints off the internet (free)! 
And voila! Here is my version.  I need to eat a lot more pickles, roasted red peppers, olives (yuck) so I can accumulate more jars!

Very easy project and quick too!  I've gotta say, I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out :)


Etsy is the Besty!

So, really quick I wanna throw a shout out to Etsy.com. Quite possibly the most amazing online store ever!!!

Here are a few items that I think are totally worth checking out...

Hand-crafted jeans, shorts, purses etc. Somewhat hippie-esque.

Really wild, unique pillows.

Recipe boxes taken to a whole new level.
http://www.etsy.com/people/GiftsAndTalents?ref=ls_profile

Whimsical jewelry.
http://www.etsy.com/people/TickleMePinkBoutique?ref=ls_profile

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Southern Savings!

I have spent the last four (supposed to be five) days in Louisiana. I went for a baptism but managed to sneak in some serious shopping. Holy options! There were so many stores and many bargain stores that I had never even heard of.

Get this...I found some stuff for my Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville porch on THE CHEAP, I mean it, really really cheap. I'm talking 20 cents for a small sign that says "Sun, Sand, Surf" with a delicious beverage on it, 40 cents for a larger sign that says "Lost in Paradise," 2 dollars for a picture frame and 3 dollars for a toucan wall art, hanging hook thingy. Yup, all that goodness for my enclosed back porch for a total of...$5.60!!! The name of the store is Burkes Outlet (maybe you've heard of it).

At another store I found a lantern/candle holder in brown, but I've already taken the liberty of painting it white and antiquing it. I swear I took a before pic, but it magically disappeared. So this is the lantern painted, it's missing the glass cylinder and the candle (use your imagination).

I also found a ginormous pillow at Kohl's that was originally $80 on sale for $13.85 (that was challenging to fit in the suitcase!)

My true loves of my purchases is my bird tray and teapot. The bird tray was $6.99 and the tea pot with two silver teacups was $5.99. In loooovvve with the bird tray-I'm telling ya! It was green and I already used some left over paint from my walls and painted the tray blue.
Oh, and candle sticks! I bought candle sticks that are going to be painted white (as soon as I figure out how and when).
Oh, and non-house related...I bought six bathing suits and the most expensive one...only $1.88. They aren't cheap-o brands either, they are Nike, Body Glove, Hurley, etc. Woot, Woot!