House Update: Kitchen

Okay so I have showed you the new bathroom and dining room, but let me tell you, the kitchen, by far, has been the biggest improvement. At first we thought we might like the pea-green color, I mean our old bathroom was a greyish green version of it. But no, it's not true, and I hated it. Whenever I would wash dishes, instead of happily gazing out the window at our beautiful tree-lined backyard, I would just grumble angry thoughts to myself about how much I despised the color and make a mental list of all the thing I would change. It was quite a negative process, and I am so happy that we have fixed a huge part of it! As always, the before and after shorts:

BEFORE








As with our dining room, we had a few unexpected issues along the way, like multiple coats of primer, the tedious job of painting brick, and incorrect colors. The time with the color, though, it was mostly my fault. I envisioned super soft mint green walls, so chose Valspar Belle Grove Sorbet. Almost immediately after putting it on the walls, though, I knew it was on the extreme end of super soft and would not provide the contrast to the white brick/crown molding/white ceiling that I wanted. I stomped my feet and pouted, succumbing to this barely-noticeable green color...until my ever-patient and loving husband reminded me that we can easily choose a different color. Isn't he wise? (: We ventured back to Lowes, and after scouring over all of the super soft mint green colors they had to offer, we settled on Valspar Pillow Mint, which sounded just delectable. And it is. I love our new kitchen! We painted the wall of the stove Valspar Du Jour white (that looks pinkish on my screen?), because we plan to put some white tile backsplash behind the counters.

AFTER:










Other things on the to-do list for this room include:
- removing that awful blue hanging light over the sink
- installing a pot rack to the left of the stove
- attaching a magnetic knife holder to the wall (place to be determined)
- hanging a shelf to the breakfast nook area to place our iHome, along with cookbooks
- attaching plant-hanging hooks to breakfast nook wall
- creating a chalk board for the wall

House Update: Dining Room

We've been busy little bees and the past few months have just flown by!  After tackling the downstairs bathroom on very little sleep, our next painting project was the dining room.  If you remember from our introductory photos the dining room was a very bold reddish orange (more on the red side than the photos show):



While my in-laws declared they love the color (and I did too at one point -- my bedroom at the age of 16 was a very similar color), I've realized that my personality as-of-late has been leaning toward the "colder" colors: blues, greys, whites. This, of course, has started many-a-hot debate in our household, as my husband still enjoys yellows and browns. Anyway, I digress.  One Saturday afternoon a little over a month ago, J. primed (three coats!) and started painting our red dining room a deep blue color. Naturally, not much comes easy to us, and after several runs to Lowes (a certain paint-mixer incorrectly mixed our lovely Valspar Belle Grove Victory Blue in the wrong base which produced a peachy orange, resemblant of our new bathroom color), along with arm aches, stained clothing, and much complaining, we have our new dining room color:



Isn't it wonderful? Please ignore the strange shadows on the walls; rest assured that we do, indeed, have even paint strokes (after two or three coats...).  Aside from the paint, we also purchased a new craftsman dining room table from World Market (and we love it!).  Our families will be in town for Thanksgiving and I'm excited to serve the meal on a proper piece of wood.  You might also notice that the electrical outlet covers are no longer the garish gold plates of yesteryear; I used a textured brass-hammered spray paint (that I purchased last December in hopes of recovering some old ornaments..with no luck).  We both like the look so much that I will probably spray paint the rest of the covers from the hallway and bathroom with the same color.  And today I removed those lampshades off of the chandelier. I have a few ideas for it, but this was my first step toward a more stylistically-pleasing piece.  What do you think?  We still have a curtain to hang on that window -- just haven't had the time yet -- so I will be sure to update with that.  We've been scouring the internet for possible and appropriate prints for our dining room (again, my husband and I can't come to an agreement on what is appropriate...), but we haven't found anything yet to suit us. And lastly, on our long list of "wants"/projects is a breakfast hutch for the corner, where we can store our mix-matched plates that we have from our wedding!

House Update: Bathroom 1

Last week after working a night shift I drove to Lowe's and stared blankly at a wall of color, unable to focus on even the names of each one. Giving up, but in need of supplies, I drove to Target..and that is where I got my second wind. I fell in love with a shower curtain and mentally came up with something that would be sure to please [my husband]. I raced back to Lowe's, found the paint color, purchased primer, brushes and rollers, and somehow made it home. But that's not the miracle.

The miracle is I was able to stay awake until 4pm, taping off the room, priming, allowing it to dry, and painting our first floor bathroom "Peach Frenzy." I hung our new curtain, cleaned the counters, lit some candles and called it a day. I texted sneaky photos to friends and my husband found me two hours later drooling on our new mattress.

You see, I painted the entire room without even consulting him. Daring, I must admit. I knew he would love it (okay that's a lie, I totally freaked out after it was all said and done with, but friends told me it would be okay and he would love it). Do you know why?

BEFORE


MID


AFTER


Yes, that is right.. Gator colors! The Peach Frenzy isn't as orange in natural light (seen in these photos with tungsten; it was getting later out when I finally snapped photos), and I love staring at the color when I am sitting on the toilet. (TMI?)

We are purchasing these prints:





from Society 6 by the artist Abby Diamond.


Shower Curtain
Paint



What do you think?