Look At Me. I COMPROMISED!

I did. For reals. Well, in theory, technically, but I did and I feel pretty darn good about myself.

I know this might be a thing that other married people do all the time, but I don't, or haven't very well in the past. I'm actually kind of a closet decorating sociopath.

No really. I know you think I'm this sweet wonderful person who is bubbly and perky and cheery. Turns out if you actually have to share a house with me that all goes out the figurative window. I have a habit of only asking my husband's opinion when I think I'll like it and then ignoring it if I don't OR I just don't ask because I know we won't agree and I do what I want. Then I just act like I had no idea he would hate it.

What?!? You don't think we should paint the new dining chairs I found at a garage sale and bought without consulting you yellow?!? You're not a fan of aqua chevron?!? Did you not see this pin?

Because we both know those chairs are AMAZING!!! No, you don't want happy rainbow colored chairs?!? Why not?

For reals (is this my phrase of the day or something?). 

I even have myself convince sometimes that I'm not being conniving.But I'm turning over a new leaf. I'm actually going to act like my husband is a person who I love and whose opinions matter. I know, this should be a given, but it hasn't been in the past and I need to rectify it. Thank you for putting up with my crazy for so long, Babe. Lesser men would have bailed out by now. :)

We had a big talk about this a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty sure he thought it was probably all talk just like it has been every time before when I said I was going to take his opinions into consideration before doing things to the house without asking. Something must have made him think I actually meant it this time because yesterday he sent a link to this AirStone Veneer stuff.

It was pretty, but since we hadn't talked about putting stone veneer on anything lately I wasn't really sure why. When I asked where he wanted to put it he told me in the kitchen.

My previous mental response would have been, "Say what?!? Once again, I don't think you've been following my Kitchen board on Pinterest very well recently because we are clearly planning on white subway tile."

Instead, I started searching for images where people had actually used it in kitchens. And guess what? People actually have and it actually looks good. 

I sent him this one because the comment really cracked me up.

True story. I want something a little lighter than this and I'm still partial to the subway tile natural stone versions like this one

Traditional Kitchen by Wilmington General Contractors Dewson Construction Company

but, I'm considering it a major victory in the fight to work together on decorating.

Planning a Kitchen Remodel Using the 3D Model Warehouse in SketchUp

One of my house goals for 2013 is to figure out how to makeover our kitchen on a shoestring budget. Like we're talking it was in the 10 year plan and now it's in the 1 year plan and we need to pay for daycare shoestring.

In case you weren't around then, when we moved in the kitchen looked like this.

At some point I lost it and painted the whole thing white.

That made me happy enough for a while. I mean we didn't exactly have the money for a full on makeover and at least it wasn't dark and dirty looking. Then last spring when we started the dishwasher and smoke came out so we replaced it.

Then a couple of months later I noticed Norie's milk was going bad faster than it should and there was condensation and mildew on the seal of the fridge. We replaced it with this beauty we also found as an open item and saved like 50 percent off the retail cost.

It's gorgeous and awesome, but while it isn't that noticeable in the picture, it's way bigger than the fridge that was meant to be in that spot. Like six full inches wider. Like it sticks out six inches past the end of the cabinet above it and covers the frame of the door.

At the same time there are six inches worth of spacers in the bottom cabinets. As in the fridge would actually fit with the bottom cabinets if the spacers weren't there). It wouldn't fit with the top cabinets.

In short, the cabinets don't make sense and need to be moved around to sort the whole thing out. Ever since we moved into the house I got the feeling that they were mis-measured or installed in the wrong places and whoever installed them was just too lazy to fix it. They clearly weren't super professional given the wonky nature of their installation. Someone should have invested in some shims and clamps. I would really hate to plan my whole remodel around an appliance configuration and sort out electrical and plumbing and move the cabinets all around and then realize after it was all done that I hated where the fridge was. It would be a major bummer.

All of this is back story to explain why I needed to use SketchUp to figure it out. Need might be a strong term, but I have some major appliance placement decisions to make and I NEED to actually see it to know for sure which way makes the most sense.

I started by drawing up the whole thing most of it as is. I got a little bored and stopped once I finished all the parts I knew I would keep.

Here's what I'm thinking.

It's not done, but hopefully you get the idea. What do you think?

Flea Market Polka Dot Rainbow Farmhouse Style

I had a rather important realization this weekend.

I can like a style without it being my style.

Some background is probably in order so you can understand why this is such an ephiphany.

I've been working of figuring out what I want to do with our kitchen for a while since before we bought the house. I've google searched and pinned and I just can't make any decisions. I think I've made them and then I change my mind. And then I change it back.

This weekend I finally realized the problem.

I pin kitchens like this (by the way Di, I think this might meet the criteria for Georgia Plantation Meets Kansas Farmhouse)

                                                                       Source: georgianadesign.tumblr.com via Amber on Pinterest

and this

                                                                                         Source: instyle.com via Amber on Pinterest

and this

                                                                                            Source: bhg.com via Amber on Pinterest

but what makes my heart smile is things like this

Source: Real Simple, www.realsimple.com

and this

                                                                                             Source: etsy.com via Amber on Pinterest

The reason I keep feeling meh about kitchen ideas is that they are beautiful kitchens for someone who is not me. I had this idea that I was elegant and timeless, but in reality I'm just way more fun than that (not unlike my realization about my blog name).

I tried to come up with a way to describe what I actually style is and "Flea Market Polka Dot Rainbow Farmhouse Style" was the most suscint thing I could come up with.

So I googled "polka dot kitchen" and found a ton of hideously over the top stuff, and this one lovely image

                                                                                                    Source: flickr.com via Amber on Pinterest

It's not quite what I'm going for, but it's a hell of a lot closer to matching who I am than my previous attempts. We'll stick with it for now.

25 Things: Day 2

I did it. Again.

I know. You're shocked. Two whole days in a row is more consistency from me than you've come to expect.

Before I get to my accomplishment there are two other super awesome things I want to mention that happened yesterday.

First, our glorious new shiny refrigerator was delivered.

Isn't she pretty? Austin got her for roughly half of the MSRP and I am thrilled. It's a little big for the space, but that's about to change. I'm even more excited about that, but that project deserves its own post and really isn't going to get done in the hour between Norie and I going to sleep.

I also made Beer and Bacon Mac & Cheese for dinner. It had Halcyon in it. It was GOOD.

I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I can't. It was The Beeroness. If you like craft beer and cooking you should go subscribe to her RSS feed right now. It's amazing. She has about a million recipes I want to try and she obviously blogs during the day based on the quality of her photos. Don't get me started about fall lighting and blog photography when you have a full time job.

Short version: it sucks.

Slightly longer version: it sucks more when you don't feel like you have the time to import the pictures from your real camera and quickly snap some shots with your phone.

I promise I'll replace these pictures some weekend when I can take them during the day. Well, at least the ones of things I haven't eaten.

That brings me to my 25 Things plan.

I didn't have a ton of time so instead of using the prioritization I did the thing I thought I could finish the fastest and without making too much noise. I started this page months ago and only had a couple of bits to stick down and the month label to create. 

In case you are counting and wondering why my October page is about finding out I was pregnant if Norie was born in May, I found out I was pregnant about 6 weeks after conception (a.k.a. when I was 8 weeks pregnant). There is a page for September too since I was pregnant for the whole month even though I didn't know it yet. No wonder I felt so icky at the Great American Beer Festival. By the time we found out about her she was the size of a strawberry. We were trying so it was a major relief to find out I didn't just have some freaky weird endocrine problem. The blog posts around that whole situation would have been hilarious if I had been ready to tell people.

On a photographic note, if your infant has attempted to use the corner of your phone with the camera as a chew toy the images get blurry. Lesson learned; clean the lens.

Day 2 of my 25 Things plan: check.

1. Buy a bracket and rehang the blinds in the bedroom
2. Plant the mum by friend Nancy gave me
3. Write something on my DIY Chalkboard
4. Finish my fall mantel
5. Take Norie's four month pictures before she's five months old
6. Finish the wedding plate wall art
7. Make some bunting for my office
8. Build a pallet bar/wall art to cover up the attic fan switch
9. Make a DIY ribbon chandelier for Norie's room
10. Do something with the shutters my aunt got me last year
11. Put the label plates back on the enormous drawer thing and label the drawers
12. Finish the wall art I started for the Song print I got for donating to Love Without Boundaries
13. Finish my desk
14. Finish the table scape for Campbell Family Thanksgiving 2012
15. Hang the awesome owl latch hook my sister gave me at Norie's baby shower
16. Clean up the porch
17. Finish the October page in my pregnancy scrapbook (yes, that would be last October)
18. Fix the leg on the coffee table and finish repainting it
19. Sell the coffee and end tables
20. Make a coffee table
21. Create a gift wrapping/gift wrap organizing space
22. Start working on fun holiday decorations
23. Finish the other Dream Dollhouse from last year's Make Two Challenge
24. Make some DIY cake stands from wedding plates and candlesticks.
25. Make map mats for vacation photos

DIY Chalk Paint Trial 2: Kitchen Cabinets

My mom and I were so pleased with the results we got with the DIY Chalk Paint Dresser Makeover that we took on another project that afternoon and finished it the very next day. We used the same 2/3 paint, 1/3 plaster of Paris mix in a different blue I found at my HHW facility to paint the bottom cabinets in the kitchen. I've been considering it for a while. Pretty much ever since March when I had my mom paint the dining room Parchment White. I was on a bit of a white spree and it didn't take long before I wanted to bring some more color back in. After the paint dried we distressed them a bit and I'm really happy with the results.

Why did I wait so long to post about it?

The cabinets are in the kitchen...beauty shots of the kitchen require that you actually clean the kitchen.

I almost got it done on the 4th, but didn't quite make it. Since I've been back at work I've opted for baby time in the evening over cleaning and photography time and it just hasn't gotten done. 

As many of you already know my kitchen has been a source of frustration challenge since we moved into our house. It's not super big, but it has a decent amount of counter and storage space. When we moved it it was at least workable. Hideous, but workable.

At some point I just couldn't handle the darkness and that awful wallpaper border anymore. I lost it and peeled down the border. The bare plywood I found under it sort of forced the issue of doing some spackling and painting the kitchen. I ran out of paint and left the backsplash primed, but not painted. And then I got ambitious and got a couple of coats of paint on the mismatched cabinets.

I never actually finished painting them. I kind of got exhausted and put the knobs back on. It's been that way since last April (as in April 2011, not 2012) Are you sensing a pattern developing yet? I can't seem to finish anything in this kitchen. 

When I first decided to paint the cabinets I did some google image searching (it was before Pinterest) trying to pick a color. I landed on white because I already had the paint when I hit desperation mode. That, and I was in love with Kelsey Grammer's kitchen.

InStyle.com

I still am actually and when I can actually afford to redo the kitchen for reals I'll probably go back all white. Right now that isn't happening though. Our budget for kitchen updates is around $5 and without the blue tile backsplash the white cabinets are a little blah. I've been thinking of ways to faux the backsplash, but I think to get it the way I want would just take way more time and energy than I want to devote to it at this point.

And that's where the other kitchen I'm in love with comes in.

Better Homes and Gardens

No backsplash and I already owned a pale grey blue. As soon as we started with the chalk paint on the dresser I knew what I wanted to do next Thank God my mother is almost as nuts as I am and went for it.

Yes, there are definitely plans for beadboard wallpaper to faux beadboard the cabinets in the works. And Mom, please don't hate me, but I think I want to streamline the look when I paint the walls.

It's not finished...

and I've been holding out on posting about it for weeks.

I've been showing anyone who will stand still long enough for me to crack out my phone the pictures though.

Literally. Anyone.

The woman who owns a flea market I frequent has seen them.

You should feel slighted.

So here goes.

For reference, the kitchen looked like this when we moved in.

 

It felt dark and dirty, and even though tulips were my absolute favorite flower at one point, I was NOT feeling that wallpaper border. 

I tried to hold out for as long as a could. I knew it was a bit of a project and I'm working on not starting too many of those. 

One day I just could take it anymore and starting prying off the trim and peeling the border down.

I don't think Austin was pleased.

I was. Even with half peeled paper it looked better than before.

In the process I found out why they put up that border in the first place. That wall board stuff with the pattern on it that covers the bottom 8 feet of wall is only 8 feet long. 

We have 9 foot ceilings.

They didn't want a horizontal seam around the top of the room and opted for a layer of plywood finished in wallpaper and a piece of trim over the seam. Not such a bad idea really. 

Unless, of course, you hate that border and the pattern on the wall board and want to tear your eyes out every time you look at it.

Then it's a bit of an issue. 

It means you have to correct the difference between the surface levels of the two spaces and attempt to blend them together in addition to dremeling out the plastic seam cover things and spackling the entire surface of the kitchen to eliminate the wallboard's linen fabric texture. It only took two entire weekends to get it ready to prime and paint. The next week I primed and put a coat of paint over everything, including the cupboards.

Since then I've given the cupboards another coat of paint, gotten new drawer pulls and handles, and spray painted all the hinges with oil rubbed bronze paint to match. I'd take you a picture, but I'd have to wash the dishes from dinner first and the hubs is already in bed. I tend to bang things around and make a lot of noise. It will just have to wait.

You can think of this post as a teaser.

We do lunch. It's our thing.

I have lunch with my sister. We live about 7 hours apart, but we make a point of calling each other when we take a break from whatever we're doing for lunch.

The other day we had a little talk about her kitchen. She and her husband have been thinking about changing it since they moved in and it's about that time. They've been thinking over several options from replacing all the cabinetry and moving things all around to refacing them and everything in between. She was very excited about the refacing place she had found since they also custom make cabinets if you want to add some and can make new drawers to replace the busted ones which aren't a standard size anymore and are the main reason they were thinking about replacing the cabinets in the first place.

I've been thinking a lot about kitchen remodels since we're closing on the house Nov. 5. If you haven't noticed, I'm obsessed with cooking and an attractive kitchen is key to my happiness. No seriously. It influences my mood in ways I don't think other people really get. I need to cook in a pretty space. Need. Trust me.

I suggested she paint them white since a ton of the woodwork in her house in already white and her husband is near obsessed with making sure the house is bright and well lit. Sometimes it scares me how much he has in common with my dad. I also really like the look of white kitchen cabinets. We decided that we're painting her cabinets ASAP. Since we're both a little busy that's after Thanksgiving.

I sent her this email to seal the deal.

The before and after photos from the lettered cottage.
http://www.theletteredcottage.net/2009/09/presto-chango.html

The kitchen remodel with white painting of cabinets
http://www.whisperwoodcottage.com/2009/12/whisperwood-cottage-kitchenthe-during.html

and the beadboard wallpaper how to for the cabinet sides.
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/beadboard-wallpaper-project/

I especially love the beadboard wallpaper on the ends. It just makes the whole thing seem more finished. I'll keep you posted with pictures when it happens.