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

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 

Recipe box & thrift store scores

Hi guys! Are you sick of me changing my blog header and background design yet? I'm SICK of it but I cant make up my mind. 

I was able to brave the 500 degree weather and swing by my favorite thrift store yesterday. As organized as I am, I am ashamed to admit that my recipe storage consisted of a wooden box with folded papers crammed inside. No alphabetizing or order to it what-so-ever! Its probably because I don't like to cook, so its not my first priority but the disorder was making the task even more unbearable for me. Then I found this address card box.

I thought it might help me keep my sanity in the kitchen but it was hard on the eyes.

So in flew DUCK Fabric to save the day. This stuff is pretty cool! I picked mine up at Walmart by the decorative duct tape. It was an easy project I could do INSIDE my air conditioned home. If it cant be done inside, its not getting done until summer is over. 

Its easy to use. Peel away the back liner and apply evenly. I used an exacto knife to cut around the label plate. That was more difficult as it doesn't cut clean and leaves strings, but I managed. 

I would like to eventually get everything sorted by lunch, dinner, breakfast, Drinks and written on new recipe cards so the names are easier to see but its a huge improvement.

I found a few other items at the thrift store. Like this copper foil art of a mountain lion. I will probably refinish or paint the wooden background. 

Then there is this milk glass bowel I had to leave with. 

I also dug this painting. I think it will look awesome in a new frame. 

And last, I picked up two new bottles for my bottle collection. I love the yellow leaning one!

That's it for me. Have a wonderful day!!

Amber

DIY Jewelry Holder

As I wait for my nieces summer vacation visit, I thought I would stay busy and focus on making her room more enjoyable for her stay. She has a cute jewelry box, but her necklaces are always getting tangled. I decided to make a necklace holder for her. I wanted to DIY it and use what I had around the house.

I found some scrap molding I used to frame out my bathroom mirror. I only had a few hooks on hand. Not enough for this project so I kept looking. Then I found these wooden pieces I used for my door wreath project. Perfect!

I used wood glue to attach the wood pieces and sprayed the whole thing white. I also sprayed the screws so they would blend better. Then I got my favorite gold Sharpie paint pen out and went to town. I wanted a geometric design. It started out as some kind of cool arrow design but then evolved into feathers/leaves in the end. Not what I tried for but it fits the woodland theme.

It gets the job done!

So that's the latest addition in that room. I'm sure she will love the easy access and it evens out the purse hanging on the deer hook.

I hope everyone has a fun weekend!

Stay Humble
Amber

Make the Art you want

Have you ever been on a art search for a special piece, to go in a particular spot in your home only to never find it? I have. There have been times that I searched for months. I got sick of looking and decided to take matters into my own hands. Literally!

There are five rooms in my house that I have made art for. I am hear to tell you that you don't need to be an artist to do it. If you have something in mind or see something that inspires you- make it! If you flunked art class then make something abstract. It will look like you did it all on purpose. Haha! There are no rules to creating art. That's what makes it so wonderful!

I made this for my guest/nieces bedroom. If you know how to use scissors then you can make this. I cut the pieces out of printed scrap book paper and Mod Podged it onto a canvas that I had painted white. It was that simple.

 
These guys live in my dinning room. One is a black and white painting on canvas of some shapes and the other is string art. (I was inspired by Jesse at Nine Red. He makes the most amazing string art. His Etsy shop is worth looking at!)

This is my version of  Natasha Wescoat- June Tree. I loved this tapestry but didn't have $209.99 for it. So I tried to recreate it with the colors I have in my bedroom. It doesn't even come close to her amazing skill but it works for the room.

This fish art is in my office. I painted it when I found the wooden fish (in yesterdays post) at a thrift store. I used it to make the stencil and then painted away.

 

Last is the large painting I did in my living room. It is a large wall that needed something big. I found a large printed canvas at Ross on clearance. It wasn't a print I liked but the size was amazing for the price. So I took it home and primed over the print to create a blank canvas. I have allot of black, white and greys in this room so I wanted to bring in color. I made this stencil (which you have already seen on the side table I'm selling.) I added some rainbow stripes and called it a day. (Sorry for the horrible photo. I was in a hurry and had to use one from my phone.)

 

 

Maybe this weekend you can make some art for your house? I would love to see it! Even if you are not an artist it will be a special piece that no body else has in the world. That alone makes it a priceless treasure. Have a art filled weekend!

 

Stay Humble
Amber