Kitchen Reveal!

Whoa you guys. These last few months have been madness. Lydia started school and had a pretty serious surgery in August. Then we went out of town for a week in September, plus just all kinds of fall fun. I am excited though because the weather here has FINALLY started to feel like fall. So. Happy. Bring on all the fall weather!!!!

Okay, so remember once upon a time I was giving my kitchen a face-lift? Well, it's finally almost finished. It has been mostly finished for a couple months, but I just couldn't make up my mind about a couple things. I will explain all of that, but let's just get on with the reveal since that's just more fun.


Here is where we started:

These are the listing photos from when we bought the house. This is what it looked like the day we first laid eyes on it. Notice the tiny sink with builder faucet, fluorescent light fixtures on the ceiling and over the sink, and scalloped trim over the window. Just typical builder grade finishes.

We got it here:

We did a few things, then left it that way for a few years. It was fine, but all the orange cabinets were just not doing it for me. I dreamed of a white kitchen with beadboard backsplash for a long time. So here we go.....

I also took some in the evening, which is my favorite time of day in the kitchen. I wish my camera could do justice to how lovely it is when the sun is setting over the pines in the backyard and my kitchen is full of a warm glow. It almost makes kitchen chores enjoyable :) 

Love. Love it you guys. I wish you could all come over for some coffee and a muffin, and you could see how lovely it is in person. Let me know if you have any questions about what we did and I will try to answer them. 

One more time; 

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

So thrilled with the new look! Tell me what you think!!

Happy Monday!

Making an Ugly Refrigerator Work for Me

So, this is about how I created a big problem for myself.

 It starts with us moving into our house without a refrigerator. It ends with having a refrigerator I can finally live with 3 years later and only $9.00. Here it goes.


When we first moved into our house we just needed to get a refrigerator in here immediately. We moved from an apartment and the previous owners took their fridge, so we had to find a solution better than the cooler sitting in the kitchen with all of our food in a heap inside. Yeah. Also we didn't have money to buy a fancy new one. We were overwhelmed, tired and just needed somebody who could bring us a fridge on Labor Day, of all days. So we found a cheap (I thought temporary... ha) used refrigerator that the guy could deliver straight to our house. It was a big black side by side fridge. Not my favorite, but whatever. It was temporary until we could save and get one we actually thought about and bought with some purpose........ Ha.


So fast forward 2 years and I was sick of the big black hole in my kitchen. I busted out some primer and latex paint (dumb. Don't do this.) and I just willy nilly started painting the fridge. I didn't even bother pulling it away from the wall. I just wanted to see if it would work. This is a sign of a lunatic. If you find yourself doing this, ask some questions. Mostly ask yourself what you think you're doing and if you can live with a peeling, half painted fridge for a year. Probably not, right?

...... What in the world. I lived with it like this for a long time. I mean. Too long. I can't believe I let anybody see it like this, but over the time it looked like this, I don't even know how many people saw it. Like, everyone. And now all of you guys. Haha oh my. Yeah, don't be like me. 

My main problem was I didn't know how to fix it. I could strip it, but I didn't want to do that in the house with those chemicals. I mean, I was pregnant last year people. Okay, also I was pregnant and had other things to worry about. The big issue was the handles. Everything else seemed to take paint okay, but I tried to paint the handles which was the worst. idea. ever. The paint all chipped and rubbed off and looked atrocious. As you can see in pictures I voluntarily put out there. My word.

Finally I solved the problem and took care of it.

I got out the primer, primed everything twice, then used the same paint I have been using on the cabinets; Sherwin Williams Pro Classic paint. It's enamel based, so it dries much harder than a latex. It still wouldn't solve the problem of the handles, so I decided to wrap them with rope to cover the portions we would handle the most, where the paint tends to rub off.

I found some pretty rope at Michael's. I bought 2 for $9.00. Which, you know, is about $991 less than a new fridge. So Phil is happy. :) 

(Sorry for some of these pictures; I used my phone because well... It was right there and I was being lazy.)

I just used a hot glue gun to secure it as I wrapped it around. 

I started the glue and rope in the back so you wouldn't see where it begins.

After gluing it to the back and securing it, I started gluing on the front because it was easier and there was less danger of burning myself. You don't see the glue at all, so it works fine.

I used my glue gun on high heat, which I almost never do after a glue blob to the leg incident, but I wanted to be sure this would be super securely bonded to the handle. The only problem is I had to hold the rope down a little longer while the glue cooled each time I did a row. I also made sure I was pulling the rope really tight each time, so the rows would be close together and you wouldn't see the chipping handles in the gaps or anything.

I also made sure to finish it off in the back too, so you wouldn't see the end of the rope in the front. I left the tape on the ends of the rope too. You could remove them, but I figured they would be helpful in preventing fraying.

The other problem I ran into was that pulling the rope through rubbed some paint off in places:

So I just patched those really quickly, and it was done! Easy! And it only took 3 years to get this done..... :)

Don't worry. Those cabinets will get done... some time... :)

SO much better, right?! 

Before and After:

 

I mean. I don't even know what to say about that before anymore haha. I am a mess. But at least we have a lovely-looking fridge where a hideous monster used to be! I really like the white, and the added texture of the rope is super cute in here! Success!

Hope you have a Happy Monday! We are getting over a stomach bug, but as soon as everything is back to normal, those cabinets are going to get owned. :) 

*I am not affiliated with Michael's in any way. Or Sherwin Williams. This post was sponsored by Phil and his refusal to buy me a new fridge while this one still keeps things cold. ;) 

Quick Tip Thursday

Quick Tip Thursday isn't a thing; I just thought it sounded cool. I don't know that I have enough tips to keep that going for very long lol. However, there is an annoying problem I have had with my mattress since we bought it and I finally have a solution.

I am talking about this:

I mean. No. I like my mattress, but I do not want to look at it nor do I want to sleep directly on it. We have a pillow top mattress, and at first it was difficult to find sheets that fit. Now they make them a little wider for that issue, but because of that extra several inches, our sheet is always popping off. I mean, I used to fix it every day. Then if I got up during the night I would fix it again. Then I gave up. Then one of us would end up with the fitted sheet bunching up under our pillow, so I decided something needed to be done about this.

Then my sister told me about these handy little guys:

Adjustable Bed Sheet Suspenders

I mean, maybe I have been living under a rock for an age, but I had NO IDEA anything this marvelous existed. I mean, I am finicky about my sheets, so the irritation of my sheet popping off would keep me awake with frustration and annoyance. No. Mama needs her sleep, people. These things are amazing.

They have little teeth that grip the sheet to keep them secure:

And the link above comes with 4, so you can attach them to each corner of the bed.

I just pull the mattress out a bit and clip each side of the suspender to the sheet, making sure it's very tightly pulled.

I pulled it out from under the mattress so you can see about how far apart the clips need to be.

Then I adjust it to the tightest setting.

Then pull the sheet down really tight over the bed!

Ahhhh, that is what I love to see! That baby isn't moving anywhere!

So. Much. Better.

Really. I mean, this?:

Or this?:

I think the answer is clear here. Is anybody else weird about their sheets like me? Plus I mean, it's a rare day the bed gets made, so the fitted sheet cannot be all wrinkly and sloppy. No. We have been using these for about 7 months now and honestly, as long as they are clipped on well (make sure to get those teeth all the way on the sheet!) we have zero problems with our sheets popping off. Yes! Success! I wish I had known about these 8 years ago when we bought this mattress! It's the little things, people ;)

Have a great Thursday!!

*I have no affiliation with Amazon or the company that makes this product. I just provided a link for the convenience. I just really love these!!!