Kitchen Reveal

The day has finally arrived. The last update I did on the kitchen progress was in March. Yikes! If you missed it, you can find it here. If you want a recap of our kitchen plans, they can be found here. The counter top installation here and our kitchen picks/sources here. Now that you are all caught up, lets get on with it. 

The day we moved in:

After some bright red paint:

How it looks today:

It is my favorite room in the whole house! I don't like to cook but I have found myself making more of an effort just so I can spend time in here. I love how bright, clean and airy it feels. It's a small kitchen, but it feels so much larger. We ended up hiring out for the tile installation and I'm happy we did. He did a better job than we ever could. Eventually we want to upgrade our fridge and dishwasher to match the stove and microwave. 

It feels incredible to see your plans transform your home. It makes the blood, sweat and tears all worth it. It has taken us five long years to turn this house into our sanctuary. Next up, we will be preparing our house for the crazy storms that are supposed to hit the West coast this winter. That means rain gutters and hopefully a new patio cover. Ill leave you with another before & after shot, so you don't have to scroll back up.  

Have a wonderful day
Amber

Hanging By A Wire

We desperately needed a new media center. This little black one just wasn't cutting it. It was too small and having the wires exposed looked tacky to me. It was also in the way of our fireplace key valve. Every time we moved the TV, the cord concealer would rip away from the wall. It was time to hire someone to do a proper wire concealment behind the wall and get something that hid our game console, router and cable box.

I called a recommended Installation Company. 1.5 hours later the wires were in the wall and we were left with a few patches. I really wish I had done this sooner!

After looking online and failing to find a media center with the measurements needed, I decided to design and build my own. Here is what I came up with.

I was inspired by this media stand/sideboard from Target. So I purchased my lumber and got to work. I had Home Depot cut the wood to size and I took it home to stain. 

I started with Miniwax Pre-Stain wood conditioner. After that dried I mixed Miniwax Early American 230 & Dark Walnut 2716 and applied it according to the directions. I let it dry 2 days and then assembled the outside.

Next, I added the hardware I needed to attach the legs. 

Then came the shelves and doors which I failed to take a picture of. (Sorry) My awesome father came to my rescue with his router to get the holes cut out. Once it was complete I was left with this creation...

Shhh don't tell anyone but the door on the right was put on upside down. Haha

The black basket below stores what is left of our DVD collection. The basket on the lower shelf houses X-Box accessories. 

Art books, a round basket full of small LP's, candles and a vintage pineapple live on the first shelf. 

This map of Mexico is special to us because it's where we spent our honeymoon. The yellow box contains the coasters (that never get used). Our favorite photo booth picture and incense holder sit on more art books. 

I found this electric meter lamp at a yard sale. I know what you're thinking "I should have left it at the yard sale!" but for whatever reason I gave it a new Edison bulb and fell in love with it.

Funny back story....Have you heard of Lindsey from the blog called Better After? She has a yearly "ugly lamp" contest that is pretty entertaining. Guess what lamp showed up in her contest? Yep, a similar one to mine. Check it out, its #4.

So there you have it. No more wires exposed and I got the perfect, customized media center with a little bit of "elbow grease" as my dad says. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Table Fit For A Dog

As you probably know, I share my house with two large dogs. They each had their own elevated metal food bowel stand, but Koda's stand was always coming apart while he was eating. The food and water would come crashing down making a huge mess. I got sick of cleaning it up and watching my dog eat in fear with anticipation that the thing would collapse.  

So I decided to make one myself (which always means my dad gets dragged into it). Two stands take up more room and there was no reason to have two water bowels. I wanted one water bowel in the middle and two holes on each end for their food bowels. 

 I purchased four 12" wooded table leg from HD and used some MDF board I had laying around. My father used his router for the bowel openings and even added some finger holes to make getting the bowels in and out easier. I added some 1.5" molding around the sides and sprayed it with Rust-oleum Ultra Cover in Sun Yellow. The last step was applying Famowooda Glaze Coat to make the whole thing waterproof. 

 I love it and my dogs... could probably care less. All they care about is what is in those bowels. I plan on adding a new layer of epoxy every now and again to keep it in good condition. 

Have a great day!
Amber 

Outside Spring Time Spruce Up

Our new convection range was scheduled to be delivered last Saturday. I received a delivery ETA of 3:30AM-5:30PM. Yep, you read that correct. A 14 hour window! After I was done laughing I decided to take full advantage of being held captive at my home and I made plans for some spring planting to take place. Things had been looking pretty sad around here. After some new flowers, shrubs and mulch, I would say its looking much better!

I also purchased a decorative trellis to go on either side of our house. I wanted to balance out the flower bed by the front door. It always looks so empty until the lantana fills out every spring. 

We replaced the lights on our home last year and I have yet to share them. These have replaced the old white ones we used to have flanking the garage. 

And in case you forgot what the old ones looked like. 

The one by the front door was replaced as well. We went from this builder grade light...

To this...much better!

I made this H door hanger out of old wood, ribbon and a collection of buttons.  

One last comparison for fun! What our house looked like when we purchased it..

What it looks like now...

Have a wonderful day!

Amber