The Big Kitchen Reveal

I'm sorry if I teased you with a sneak peek of our little kitchen and then slacked off with posting some more pictures.  The good news is that today is your lucky day!  We had an open house with a small group of family and friends on the Fourth of July and I finally got the kitchen/dining room looking presentable and somewhat decorated.  So, that means there are some pictures to share with you!

First up, let's not forget where we've been:

A kitchen in this bad of shape left little to be desired.

And paneling so ugly, it had to be removed.  Heck, this entire wall needed to go.

The tiny dining room seemed so dark and cramped.  That paneling wall is what's on the other side of the fridge photo above.

And carpeting in the kitchen?  Very bad.  This whole space was very bad.  The only answer was to completely gut and start over.

So, we got to work.  On demolition day (back in August of 2009) we started the transformation.

Goodbye paneling wall!  That's my dad getting down to business. Notice how bad the floor was under the carpeting.  We found a layer of tile under the carpet, which was applied directly on top of our hardwood with some type of tar glue.

The cabinets all came down, along with all the paneling.  (Chris' mom got in on the demolition action.)  Nice hole in the ceiling, huh?  Turns out, the previous owner had some plumbing problems in the upstairs bathroom and whoever she contracted to fix it just hammered a hole in the ceiling to access the pipes.  She patched it herself by placing cardboard from a pizza box in the hole and covering it with what we believed to be spray foam.  That was a fun discovery.  

And then, with the wall down and the paneling gone, we got to work chiseling the tile off the hardwood.  

Over the next several months, our kitchen received new drywall on both the walls and the ceiling.

My father-in-law installed a bulkhead.

And then he started to install our cabinets and counter tops.

The floor in the kitchen was tiled and Chris and I sanded and refinished the hardwood in the dining area (and everywhere else in the house!)

And I got busy painting the cabinets, which were purchased on eBay.  Thanks to Edie at Life in Grace, I was inspired by how great painted cabinets can look!

Things started to fall into place after we painted the rooms, installed subway tile and had appliances delivered.

Thanks for hanging with me!  Sorry to drag this on, but I thought you might appreciate the next series of pictures more if you saw what all was done to get it looking this way.

So, here goes!  Our ugly little kitchen was transformed into a bright, beautiful space.  We still have some more to do, but for now, I am in love!

Being that Chris & I are both tall, having a refrigerator with a bottom freezer made a lot of sense.  We love it! Having our food at eye level is super convenient.  

The subway tile turned out great!  I was a little worried about white tile with white cabinets, but I'm so happy we went this route.

Here's a close-up of the tile job.  My father-in-law did a great job.

With the wall removed between the kitchen and dining room, the space is much more open and bright.  I'm a huge fan of the poppy and aqua color combination made popular by Martha Stewart.  I really like how the white kitchen really makes the little red and blue accents pop.

I love my little "baking center."  The shelf was purchased at Cracker Barrel, of all places.  I bought it when we stopped for breakfast on our way to Cleveland to get the eBay cabinets because I loved the color.  I'm still debating what to hang on the wall on either side of the shelf.  I may try and pick up some red-handled antique kitchen utensils. 

I hang my measuring spoons and baking utensils from the hooks on the sides.  My flower sifter is on the top and the mason jars, given to me by my mother, hold our flour, oatmeal and powdered sugar. Cupcake liners and cookie cutters are stashed in the drawer.  I keep sprinkles in the jars next to the sugar tin, which was a Hobby Lobby clearance steal at $1.80!

The cupcake print was purchased on sale at Joann's.  It came in that frame and I only paid $7.99.  I love how the colors coordinate with other decor elements in the room.

Our built-in shelf, which was a window at one point long before we owned the house, still needs a little decorative assistance.  For now, it displays my serving dishes and a few plants given to me by my sister out our open house.

Those baskets are great for hiding the little stuff I don't use very often, like our gravy boat, sugar & creamer set and some candles.

On the opposite side, I have a small shelf and a mirror made from an old window.  You can kind of see our dishwasher (black part of the peninsula counter).  I was part of the eBay kitchen and we made an offer on it while we were there removing the cabinets.  I'm so happy we have a dishwasher!  (Who wouldn't be, right?) It seems to blend in well because it's black, but one day I hope to replace it with a stainless model to match the rest of the appliances.  For now, it works and doesn't look too bad.  That's good enough for me!

The mirror was purchased at Goodwill for $5.  I bought the shelf at a yard sale for $2 and painted it.  It's the perfect size for this space and gives us some much needed storage for glassware and a couple serving pieces. This wall still needs some more decorations.

Just for the fun of it, here is the shelf before I painted it.  Paint is like a magic wand.

Here's a good shot of our light fixture, with the lights out for a better look.  It was purchased at Lowe's and installed by me.  Electric work is a little scary, but you can do it!  Just be sure to kill the circuit breaker!  The artwork in the dining area (can I call it a dining room?) is also from Joann's.

And here are our floors!  A tremendous amount of hard work was put into these, but it was worth the effort!  I'm still amazed by how good the wood looks.  I was so discouraged when we saw the tile beneath the carpet.  My dad told me the sander would make it better.  He was right!  The kitchen tile is ceramic and we chose it in a slate color to coordinate with the counters.

My kitchen makes me so happy!  Lots of cakes and cupcakes will be made here!  

We moved into our house in April.  I told you I was a big slacker with posting pictures!  Although, hanging stuff on the walls was one of the things we didn't do until last week, after deciding to host the open house.   I think that after patching so many holes, we were a little hammer shy when it came to putting any new nails in the walls.  It's amazing how hanging a framed print or some curtains can really dress up a space and make it look more finished.

Things we still have to do in this space include:

• Find a corner hutch for the dining area
• Add some more decorative elements for the walls and shelves
• Finish sewing the curtains for both windows.  I bought some aqua-ish blue fabric, but ran out of time before the open house.
• Purchase new stools and dining chairs.  The current stools were picked up by Chris' mom at a rummage sale and the dining table and chairs came from my parents' neighbors.  Er, umm...from my parents' neighbors' junk pile on neighborhood clean-up day.  Yeah, that's how we roll!

And, here's a little breakdown on some of the details:

• Cabinets - purchased on eBay (I won the auction by 3 cents!) and painted with Ace Hardware's Cabinet and Trim paint in Contemporary White.  (This paint is amazing!  Our cabinets have a smooth, brushstroke-free finish.)
• Appliances - All from Sears.  The fridge is LG and the stove and microwave are Frigidaire Gallery.
• Paint - Walls are "Linen" and trim/shelves are "String of Pearls".  Both are by Valspar from Lowe's
• Subway tile back splash and ceramic floor tile - Home Depot
• Light fixtures - Lowe's

Thanks for checking out this extremely long and picture-heavy post!  I'm super proud of all the hard work we did and of how we were able to complete the whole project on a limited budget.  Our only splurge was the stainless appliances, and I think they were worth it!  Of course, we would never have been able to do all of this alone.  Our parents, especially Chris' dad, were amazing in helping with everything!

I'm planning on doing some posts very soon on my little vegetable garden and also on the buffet of mini desserts I put together for the open house.  So, stay tuned for yummy treats! And, of course, I'll have to get around to taking some photos of the rest of the house.  

Favorites

We've been busy settling into the house and tackling the remaining improvement projects.  While I'm jumping right into the housekeeping and homemaking, there are ten products that I absolutely love and want to share with all of you.

1. The Shark 2-in-1 Cordless Stick Vac and Handheld Vacuum Cleaner.  We have hardwood or tile floors throughout the house and have low-pile area and accent rugs here and there.  Since we don't have pets or kids, we didn't really see the need for a big, cumbersome vacuum cleaner.  I wanted something lightweight, cordless and capable of sucking the dirt off our our floors and the Shark 2-in-1 works perfectly.

I like how I can vacuum the whole house on one charge and how it is great for quick pick-ups here and there.  I also like the conversion to a hand-held vacuum.  It's not the easiest conversion, but it works fine and does it's job.  For the money, this vacuum is so much better than the old broom and dust pan.


2. Gold Canyon Candles.  A few years ago, my mom, sisters and  I went to a candle party where I reluctantly purchased two small candles due to the guilt one gets from attending a home candle party.  I was skeptical, but when I received them I was surprised by how clean they burned and how great they smelled.  I like them so much that I was hesitant to burn them more for fear of using them completely before I could order more.  That same year, I held a candle party of my own right before Christmas and earned about $250 in free products.  (It was the demonstrator's best party to date.)  Fast forward and now one of my sisters is a demonstrator and my family has turned into candle snobs.  If it's not Gold Canyon, we aren't buying or burning it.  They are a better product and better value than Yankee and PartyLite and they come in a wide variety of delicious scents.

My most recent purchase was Grass.  This candle is spring in a jar.  It smells so good and so much like a fresh-mowed lawn. Love it!

The company also sells great candle holders and care products.  Their wick trimmer is a must for any candle lover---seriously, go buy one!


3.  Gold Canyon's Homeology Cleaning Products.  After professing my love for their candles, how could I not profess my love for their line of plant-based cleaning products.  My favorite is the floor cleaner because it smells amazing and it makes our hardwood floors look so shiny.  I just spray it directly on the floor and then use a Swiffer with a dry cloth to "mop."

The all purpose and glass cleaner also have nice fragrances and work wonders.  I just purchased the all natural cleanser (it is similar to Comet, but smells way better and is plant based.)  The products are a little on the pricey side compared to other cleaning products, but they last a long time and are green.  Purchase from my sister's site here.

4. Martha Stewart Collection 6-Piece Multi-Colored Melamine Bowl Set.  Who ever though mixing bowls could be so fun?  I received these as a wedding shower gift, but they came from Macy's.  I love the colors, the sizes and how easy they are to clean.  These bowls make my kitchen happy.

5. Potato Peeler.  I don't know the proper name or brand for this, but I got it as a shower gift from a cousin who works at the Kitchen Collection.  I'm not a huge fan of peeling potatoes, but doing the deed with this little guy made it more enjoyable.  I mean, how can you not smile a little when you use this little guy to peel the spuds?  I even received a matching potato brush--too cute!

6. Hamilton Beach Smiley Mixing Spoons.  Again, got these as a shower gift and they came from the Kitchen Collection.  They are literally my happy spoons. (and I refer to them as such.)  They are fun, colorful and I like them.  That's enough for me!

7. Scroll Banana Hanger.  I purchased this functional and decorative item at Kohl's.  The Mr. really wanted one and this one looked pretty, so I bought it.  It keeps our bananas fresh and yellow longer. It also helps to keep the bananas in view so we eat them.  We can put a big bunch of bananas on this thing and they'll stay good for about a week.  Setting them on the counter could never give us the same result.

8.  Bounty Quilted Napkins.  The Mr. is a paper towel waster.  This is a tough habit to break him of because he uses paper towels for everything.  I found that buying cheaper paper towels just meant that he would used more than one at a time.  I've decided that, despite the price, Bounty paper towels are necessary.  While shopping in the paper goods aisle at Giant Eagle the other day, I found Bounty Quilted Napkins on sale, so I picked up two packages.

These napkins are basically folded paper towels, but they are cheaper per sheet and effective enough for a paper-towel-loving husband to use for little spills without wasting the paper towels.  I'm still working on getting him to use dish towels to clean up water splashes and to dry plates and pans, but until then, the napkins are an economical stepping stone.


9. Plain Jane White Dinner Plates.  I don't remember what brand ours our (they were a wedding gift) but they are just your basic rimmed white plates. They are classic and will never go out of style.  I love how colorful and appetizing our food looks when we use them and it's an added bonus that they go with everything.  I'm looking forward to how they'll adapt to different holiday decor ideas.  They provide a clean canvas for tablescapes and dining room decorations.  I love them!

10.  Fire King Jadite Mixing Bowl.  I purchased my mixing bowl at a flea market last summer and it is, by far, my most favorite thing in my kitchen.  I have always loved Jadite, but never bought any before.  When I saw this bowl, I new it had to be mine.  Thus, the collection began.  One day, I will have cupboards filled with Jadite plates and bowls and will serve dinner on them daily.  I would love to have a display of unique kitchen serverware and containers made of Jadite.  So far, Etsy and ebay have been my go-to places to search for great additions for my collection.  This bowl is my favorite piece so far and I love that I can use it for everyday mixing and serving.  (The Mr. likes to use it as a popcorn bowl.)

So, now that you've seen my list, what are some of your favorite things to use around the house?


Full disclosure:  I have not been compensated in any way to review or promote the products mentioned above.

Shopping for appliances

We needed a refrigerator.  We also needed a microwave/rangehood combo.  We really didn't need a new range.  We have an older one that was my parents', but (there's always a "but") because I love to bake, I wanted a decent range.  We weighed the options and decided to just buy everything new.  These are items we will use just about every day, so it's worth it to have new, functional appliances in our kitchen.

Sears was having a great sale on all appliances for Presidents' Day Weekend, so we went to check it out.  When we got there, they didn't have the fridge with bottom-mount freezer that caught our eye online in stock at the store.  We browsed the rest of the display models, but nothing quite sparked interest.  We headed over to the ranges and saw a few nice ones in our price range.  At this point, we were discussing which color to get.  We already have a used dishwasher in black and our cabinets will be painted white.  We weren't too sure about white appliances and white cabinets, so we ruled that out.  The bottom line on choosing between black or stainless was the price.  Going with black would have saved us a few hundred dollars.

Notice how I used "would have"?  :-)  We splurged a little and went with stainless!  Yay!  I love the look of it and I think it will look great in our tiny kitchen.  Black would have looked OK, too, but we made our decision because over the life of the appliances, spending a few hundred dollars isn't really a big deal and they will look so much nicer!

So, do you want to see what we picked out?

Kitchen Appliances on Polyvore.com

The refrigerator is by LG and range and microhood are Frigidaire Gallery.  All should be delivered shortly!

I don't think our black dishwasher will look too bad with the stainless.  It's old and, if it craps out on us, we can get a new one in a stainless finish.  I'm also looking into swapping out the front panel of the dishwasher with a stainless one or experimenting with some stainless-look appliance paint.

I'm just really happy to have appliances purchased!  The kitchen is coming together!  

Adding some color

We were at Home Depot when we decided it's time to buy paint for our upstairs.  We gathered some paint chips and picked our colors, which all happened to be Glidden paint.  We were really happy with how our walls turned out.

When we needed to pick out colors for our downstairs, we were already needing to go to Lowe's for something else. All of our paint choices ended up being Lowe's colors, or colors available in the Valspar Signature premium paint.  We were a little hesitant to spend an extra $5-$10 per gallon, but so far, the paint has been working beautifully.  In some cases, we were able to get by with using only one coat, which will save us money in the long run.  We kind of prefer the Valspar to the Glidden now, although the Glidden did seem to spread better and go farther.

Picking colors for downstairs was probably easier than upstairs.  With shared walls and an desire for more neutral colors, we picked "Linen" for our kitchen/dining room walls.

Top color is Linen by Eddie Bauer and the bottom color is String of Pearls, a Lowe's Creative Ideas for Colors shade.

String of Pearls is the color we are painting all of the trim in the downstairs.  This color will also be carried up the stairway through the baseboard trim and the hand rail.

For the living room, we picked Colonial Beige.

This is a Waverly signature color. Again, String of Pearls trim color on the bottom.

It's a little darker than Linen, which is perfect because we wanted a noticeable, but not overwhelming contrast between the two colors.  The colors have to coordinate well because the living and dining rooms share a wall.  We decided to use Linen on that wall so it would be an accent color in the living room.

For the addition entranceway and the walls in the stairway, we wanted a neutral and coordinating color.  Waverly's Natural seemed to be a perfect fit.

It's weird how the colors look so identical/monotone online, but the paint chips and actual paint colors look so much different!

For the bedroom in the addition, which will most likely serve more as a living room, we picked a greyish-blue from Lowe's Creative Ideas for Color line.  It's called Hot Springs and it is fabulous!

It's looking a little green on my computer screen, however.

So, with our colors picked and some of them even up on the walls already, We have to start thinking about our decor plans for these rooms.  I am so excited over how much like a home this place is shaping up to be!

I always only seem to have my iPhone on me when it's picture time, so I apologize for these.  Here are a few shots I took of the Colonial Beige on our living room walls.  It looks different in every one, thanks to poor camera quality and weird lighting.  The color actually looks more greenish as the daylight goes away.  I really like the color next to the String of Pearls trim!  

It looks 8,721,624 times better in person.  Trust me.  :-)

And it looks 9,563,521 times better than the orange and dark grey-blue that were on the walls when we bought the place.  (How could it not?!?)  Yay for progress!

2010!

2009 went by way too fast!  Between planning the wedding, getting married, buying the house and spending every weekend since (and most week nights!) working to make it livable, we were so busy that the year couldn't have done anything but fly by.

So, welcome to 2010 here at Creativity and Domesticity!  This year is sure to bring lots of craft and kitchen projects, as well as plenty of home decorating.  And a new year means a new (sort of) look for the blog.  I know it's only a new header, but it's nice to have something that's a little less generic at the top to jazz up the whole look of this baby.

Now that it's a new year, and after a Christmas holiday vacation from work (but not a vacation from working on the house, of course), I'm ready to jump right into 2010 and make it a memorable one for the husband and I.  We will have our house move-in ready soon!  After some significant set-backs with the supports and floors in our addition that had a huge impact on us not being able to have an address change before Christmas, we have made quite a bit of progress in painting the downstairs and getting the floors ready for refinishing.  Also, our kitchen cabinets have been installed, the counter top is ordered and the tile floor is going in this week!  Yay for kitchen progress!

I've taken some pictures, but still have a few more to take so I can share our progress with you.  In the mean time, I want to show you a picture I came across for cool vintage kitchen storage:

Source

I've quickly become obsessed with this!  I love it!  I can see the bins filled with flour, sugars, chocolate chips, cupcake liners and other fun baking supplies.  And the pull-out spice jars?  Don't you think they are just perfect for sprinkles?