Happenings Around Patches

Have I ever told you the name of our house? His name is Patches. Mostly because I like the song. And Patches has random, patches of collections. (Ahh, see what I did there?)

I've really gotten into a blue theme. I blame Momma. She has a blue kitchen and every time I go home, I try to figure out how to smuggle some of her everyday dishes and sugar jars home. It made me thinking I wanted a blue kitchen...

Turns out I didn't. After one coat, I decided I would just stick to the blue in my countertops and not completely Smurf out my kitchen.

Any suggestions on a color? I am thinking of living on the wild side and going with white. Risk taker I tell ya.

Speaking of suggestions, any ideas on what we should do with this beauty?

Ugh. I can't just rip her out either. The previous owner did some "interesting" wiring that would be major $$$ to take out. So like most things, I plan on putting lipstick on it.

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I have asked Brooks to build something like the hood around it. The likely hood of it happening? Eh. So maybe the suggestions should be someone who could build it for me.

Something that is getting ripped out are these bad boys...

 

(Sorry for the eek lighting)

And they are getting replace with these!!

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We ordered these a while back, but they are back-ordered until August. One last update. Aren't my hydrangeas gorgeous?

I use the word "my" very loosely, as these were clearly planted by the previous owner. Apparently, much better at gardening than electrical work.

My New Kitchen

True love doesn't buy you fancy jewelry for Christmas. True love has your pink cabinets repainted and hardware installed (so that your seven month pregnant self isn't tackling it....like I did here.)

So the before...

Apologies for the grainy images, but believe me, you're not missing much. These were the pictures on MLS. These are also the reason I waited so long before seeing this house. The cabinets may look "oak" or "pine", but they were pink.

After!!!!!!

New light fixtures are hopefully in the near future.... And don't be jealous of our fancy recycling/trash cans. I would have taken down our sippy cup dryer, but I wanted to keep it real. And yeah, I added a TV in here because I am much more likely to cook if I don't have to listen to Super Why in the Family Room.

If I wasn't knocked up for the second time in less than two years, we might spring for new counter tops and back splash, but...

What I do love? My oven (complete with child-proof knobs.) One day I am going to be a master chef with this bad boy. For now, it looks pretty!

Brooks hates clutter and knick knacks. DOES HE KNOW WHO I AM? I think every corner needs a little friend to call it home. However, in the kitchen I try to keep it a minimum. So sad.

And yes, that dishwasher is older than me. I am not kidding.

Like my editing? The dining room/living room hasn't quite recovered from Christmas. The black chalkboard door leads down to the basement. I like to steal others' works from Pinterest and try to recreate them here. And isn't this the cutest kitchen cart? My mom bought it for me, and I thought I would use it in Harvard Baby Dos nursery, but it is perfect in the kitchen. And little Woody Man loves to take everything off of it. ::Sigh::

Thank you sweet Husband for my pretty new kitchen! 

SMEG: Fridge Love

The fridge. It is the one thing in my house that is new, practical, and not broken. So let's replace it, right?

No, it is not going to happen since my existing refrigerator is new, practical, and not broken, but I am obsessed with SMEG Fridges. Yes, everyone wants a fancy Viking fridge, but SMEG's give love to the tiny closet kitchens (like mine!)

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Aren't they so cute!?

Buy one for me here!

Happy Friday!

Evolution of a Kitchen

This was my kitchen on April 7, 2009- Closing Day.

Now you know why I cried for a week after we bought our house. I hated everything about our kitchen. The wallpaper, the appliances, the cabinets (especially that mysterious hole in the upper right-hand corner), the multiple dog treats we found when we pulled the appliances back. I literally just didn't go back into the kitchen until May...

In case you didn't see that wallpaper.

This was my kitchen in January 2010.

Everybody has big dreams for their kitchen. Usually this dreams come with a big price tag... which Husband and I were without. So we did what we could. We bought now appliances (on major sale), gave it a back-splash, and painted it with oops paint- dark grey (kitchens should be ominous places in my book.) Oh, and thanks to Husband's aunt, we added hardware that she had previously had in her kitchen (we love a reject.) And I liked it...for a while.

Fast forward to Summer 2011. I decided that I don't like the paint color, and changed it to a color called celery bunch. Sorry, I have no pictures of the kitchen during that phase...

And then, last Tuesday. I knew I should wait, but I just had this fear that it would NEVER get done. So I just went to Home Depot, bought Behr's Paint and Primer in One (color: Graceful Grey) and sandpaper and got to work. Here were my steps:

1.) Remove cabinet doors. Luckily, we have internal hinges, so that made the process easier.

2.) Sand it down. I didn't use our sander, just did it manually with 120 grain sandpaper.

3.) Get to painting. I didn't prime the cabinets- just gave them two coats.

Husband got on board on decided that we should update the hardware and finally replace the blinds that came with the house. 

And the finished project...

Husband actually installed these a while back, but I love them. Since our kitchen is so small, it can easily become dark (especially when I had it painted dark grey.) These lights were from Ikea, and were really easy to install.

And a BIG thank you to my parents for donating their old kitchen table to us. We love it. Also, you see that green wall? Hopefully a door will be there soon... we are on our third contractor...

To Be Continued!!

True Life: You Called Too Late

Ring Ring

Me: Oh hey Mom!

Mom: Hi Lindsey. Saw your blog. I think it is not a good idea to paint your kitchen cabinets before Jammer comes.

Me: Whoops.

(Taken as I hung up the phone.)

I couldn't help it. Before I knew what was going on, I had removed the doors and was sanding away. I was able to finish all the lower cabinets yesterday. I told you my kitchen was small! The rest of this week I plan on tackling the upper cabinet doors. (Don't worry, I won't be on a ladder doing the upper cabinet bases. I am going to make Husband do that.... and I won't judge his painting.)

This picture shows that the cabinets were. And this is my final (major) project.

Painted Cabinets

Let me begin by expressing how much I LOVE when it is raining outside and my Jack Russell acts like she just drank ten 5-Hour Energies. It is going to be a long morning inside.

In all my nesting, I have fallen in love with painted cabinets. It began when Mom redid her kitchen. Then, I started seeing beautiful painted cabinets all over Pinterest (including DIY ones.) I told Husband I would wait until after Jammer comes, but...

I want them now.

Love that grey color- would go well with my walls

Do you have any experience with painting cabinets? We have a tiny kitchen. Literally- four cabinets on the bottom, five on top.

(All images courtesy of Pinterest)