White Cabinets 1.0

So almost two years ago, we painted some of our kitchen cabinets in order to brighten the space and see if white cabinets were something that we would want to invest in sometime in the future when we would redo the whole kitchen.  (Spoiler alert: we loved them and invested in new white cabinets before we ever expected to.)

But this post is about the first round of white cabinets that we painted ourselves.  I won't go into all the details of each step because it's kind of monotonous to read, but there was a lot of prep work involved.  I'm not sure when we started the project, but we finished it by July 4, 2013, because I wanted it done well before I was going to have Ensley.  I'm guessing it took us a couple of weeks to finish.

Here is a picture from the listing of the house before we purchased it:

First, we removed all the hardware and doors from the frames.

 

Then we filled all the holes and gaps with wood filler and let that dry completely. 

We sanded and sanded and sanded some more.  First we used a large grit, then a fine grit sandpaper for extra smoothness.  I wanted to see as little of the grain as possible when they were finished.

After sanding, we used a liquid deglosser to get rid of any dust, dirt, or sheen that the sander didn't get.

Finally, it came time to prime them.  We did two thin coats of primer, followed by three thin coats of paint.

We had a little helper that just wanted to do all the "peenting" by himself.  I would let him roll the one ahead of me, then follow him and paint it for real.  

This is after the two coats of primer and before the painting began.  I didn't take any pictures after painting because I figured I could just photograph them when they were up on the frames.  

 

We caulked in the range hood and the edges of the wall cabinets for a more seamless look since any and all gaps are visible with white paint.

I was really pleased with how they turned out.  The grain was only barely visible at an angle and they made the room feel bigger and brighter.  I also enjoyed the tuxedo look (white tops, black bottoms) for the time that we had them.  I can't believe we did this almost two years ago because it seems like just recently, but we lived with them for about a year and had no complaints.  (We also were able to sell all the cabinets within just a few hours of listing them online when we redid the whole kitchen.  Bonus!)  

Blog posts of actual current kitchen coming soon.

Purple, Plum, or Aubergine?

This year has been the year of home projects.  I am documenting everyday life a little differently this year via this method so that's why not much of it (or any) has been put on the blog.  I still want to document the updates and changes to the house here, though, because I don't want to take up all the pages of my Project Life book with photos of demolition and paint and such.  Sure, some of those pictures will be in the scrapbook, but most of them, along with the written process, will be documented here so I can give it the length it requires.

So a looooong time ago, I saw a picture of a master bedroom that the owners painted and redecorated and I fell in love with it.  It sat on one of my Pinterest boards for years.  Then when we bought this house, I knew I wanted to at least try to mimic the look and see if it was something I could live with long-term.  Turns out, I love it.  We still have big plans for the closet area (demolition, anybody?) and I can't wait to get a new dresser, but in the meantime, we're loving the new look.  The process was pretty simple: prep and paint the room :)  Here are some photos of the work:

We had an old headboard but I didn't like it at all and didn't really feel like restaining it so we lived without a headboard for a while until we finally found something we liked.  It'll show up in the pictures below.

We got a new bedspread!  It's a faux fur herringbone and only cost $50.  We had the sage plaid one since we got married so I was hankering for some new bedding.  Also, we lived with the paint samples on the walls for at least a week.  That's the best method for me to pick a color.  Doing so allows me to see the colors in the morning and evening, with the lights on and off, etc.  It's worked every time so far.

We did throw a grey swatch on the wall just to make sure we wanted to try the purple.  I like the grey so maybe if/when we move later on we'll paint it a more neutral color to aid in selling.  Until then, viva la plum!

I purchased and hacked some curtains from Target.  They were the solid grey color, but I added the black stripe to lengthen them since we hung the rods at ceiling height instead of window height.  I still have pictures to hang and other such things to finish the space.  I'll post new photos when it's all completed, but until then, it's fun to have something so unique.

2014 Goals

My goals last year were a little lofty, although, in my defense, I made them before knowing about my pregnancy.  Anyway, this year is about bringing it back to the basics that I sometimes forget in my haste to do everything else on my to-do list.  My goal list is simple, mostly to allow myself a guilt-free experience and to give myself time to do what matters most.  I highly value taking care of my body, both physically, spiritually, and mentally.  These goals should help me take better care of myself, which in turn will allow me to take better care of my family.  Praying, studying scriptures, and exercising will take care of the physical and spiritual parts.  The other three goals are for my mental/emotional health.  

This talk by President Uchtdorf perfectly sums up my purpose in choosing my goals.  One of his quotes explains my thoughts especially well:

"We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy.  Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things."

This year, I hope to create a better me.  Physically, spiritually, mentally. 

Emerson's Room

Emerson's room has been done for a while, but because of issues with our dinosaur of a camera, I haven't gotten around to documenting it yet.  But Christmas brought us a new camera, so we are set to go now.

I kept Emerson's room the same tan color and went for a tan/grey theme to keep it boyish yet sophisticated.

The abstract house painting is one from a favorite artist (Dusti Bonge) whose work I was introduced to in Biloxi.  When we moved, I had all our frames on the floor to be hung on walls and Emerson would sit himself down in front of this one and just look at it.  I thought it would be fun to put in his room since he was attracted to it.  The smirk photo was from a photo shoot where he refused to smile the entire time.  This was the last photo in the shoot and the closest we got to a smile.  We plan on having a picture of the temple in each of our children's rooms, so this little one in a bright blue frame was perfect for Emerson's room.

These are silhouettes of Emerson's favorite characters.  I found the pictures online, then edited them to a silhouette status before just printing and framing.  Super easy and super fun for him.

This is the only part of his room that isn't finished yet.  We plan on DIYing a growth chart for the children to use over the years but haven't gotten around to it yet.  Both the growth chart and his busy board will be hung in this wall space to complete the room.

We installed ceiling fans in both Emerson's and Ensley's rooms.  It got really hot during the summer months so we figured we would want fans in there for future use.

Emerson loves spending time in his room except for when it's time to sleep.  Transitioning into the bed from the crib has been trickier than we anticipated, but we're getting there.  For the most part, his room is a happy place where we have fun crashing (wrestling), reading stories, and doing puzzles.

Best of 2013