Kitchen Remodel Part 2

Part 2

I was hoping to have the kitchen done by now, but it is taking way longer than I thought. 

We really don't have much time to work on it after work during the week. 

I was gone for an extended weekend and it was just Ryan at home.

 He had other things going on and couldn't dedicate the whole 

weekend to working on the kitchen

I was secretly hoping he would surprise me and have it done when I got home......  

 :(

We, well I, decided that the original paint color was not dark enough. We went to Lowe's, and then Home Depot to find the color I wanted, since Lowe's didn't have anything I  liked.

I found the perfect color, Beluga, by Behr.

It's DARK, but not black. And it has slight hints of brown.

Exactly what I wanted!

I have been thinking about it for a while, and while looking at them at the store, 

I decided I hated staining, and hand painting

 takes forever, and decided to buy a paint sprayer. 

I think it will come in handy for other projects too!

We got a medium grade one. Not too cheap, not too expensive.

And it was on sale!

AND I had a coupon! 

We tried it for the first time tonight, and it's AMAZING.

It goes by so much faster than staining, or painting by hand,

 and it covers well that we only need 1 coat!

 (some spots require two)

We tested the cabinet doors first, and I am glad we did.

After seeing how the paint sprayer works, and how it can make a little mess, we are going to put in more effort to make sure EVERYTHING is covered in the kitchen so clean up 

won't be too bad after the cabinets are sprayed. 

My new goal is to have the cabinets done by Saturday, so I can spend Sunday 

putting everything back in the kitchen.

This week I am hoping we can finishing taping and covering the kitchen cabinets

 and surfaces that we do not want to paint by Friday, 

(which we are almost done!)

and then spray them and the doors and drawers Saturday,

 to give them overnight to dry. 

Sunday will involve minor touch ups and clean up, then I will have a 

FINISHED AND PRETTY KITCHEN :)

Look for updates again soon!

3 Year Anniversary

Happy 3 year anniversary to Ryan and I.

I can't believe it has already been three years!

We have had our ups and downs, but always come out of it better than ever!

I love all our inside jokes and weird quirks :)

Thanks for always being there for me and loving me no matter what!

Here's to another amazing year!

Love you :) 

Always and forever :)

Let's home we get some free time soon to relax and celebrate!

Kitchen Remodel Part 1

Kitchen Remodel Part 1:

The first step to re-doing the kitchen was getting rid of the HIDEOUS formica countertops. Not only were they ugly, they were stained and chipped from whatever disgusting person lived in this house before me and NEVER cleaned.

We have run into several disgusting places they look like they haven't been cleaned since the house was built in 1993....Maybe that's why I got a good deal on it?!?

To start from the beginning, I originally wanted to get NEW cabinets,
but apparently I have expensive taste

 (who would of thought?)

 and my "dream" kitchen, including new 

granite countertops, would have been almost $15,000!

 So obviously that was a no.

Then I looked into have the cabinets refinished and they were not

 much cheaper than getting new ones!!

After that, I decided I was going to tough it out and live with the ugliness that is my kitchen while I save up some more money...
:(

That last for about a week...

I found a place online using the magic of Google, and came across this
 place that charged $29 a square foot for granite!
SCORE!
The original place cost $47.50 a square foot. 

I was so excited! 

They came and measured and we even got to pick out our own slab! 

I had to make sure we got the perfect piece with no imperfections!

I don't want to get TOO into it, but unfortunately we did not have the best experience with this company and Ryan MAY have written a complaint into the BBB.....

We did get the countertops done (before the complaint) and they look great! 

Our complaint is with the workers and management, 

not the actual product!

I love how they make the kitchen look so much nicer and clean!

Next was cabinets!

We planned on staining the cabinets (since getting new ones was out of the question with just getting the granite installed...) and we did a test run to see how it would turn out.

We stained Ryan's old desk, and it turned out great! We thought that this process was easy and the kitchen would be a piece of cake!

WRONG!

I don't think our kitchen cabinets are 100% real wood. We sanded and put on two layers of stain and it just didn't look right. It wasn't settling into the grains right and had a tacky feel to it, even when drying for several hours.

they look good from far away, but up close it has streaks
and just doesn't look complete

Honestly at this point I was over it. haha
Not really...

I came up with the brilliant idea to paint the cabinets the color we wanted.
Obviously paint would cover the surface!

We hopped on over to Lowe's and picked out the color we wanted. We got a dark, dark, dark brown (but not black!) color. We also bought "bonding primer" which is used as a primer from cabinets.

That night, we worked on taking off all the cabinets, and drawers, priming, and taping off where we don't want to paint.

Here is what we have done so far...

We have to do one coat of primer, and three coats of paint to get the desired color I want.
And I am not too sure it's dark enough as the pretty, perfect kitchen in my head :(

Again, I like the color from far away, but up close in the light, it looks like a milky chocolate brown,
I want it to be a DARK chocolate brown....

ha

Stupid me thought this would only be a weekend project, but its turning out to be a week-long project and possibly (probably) more if I decide I don't like the color...

Stay tuned....

Dining Room

Here are some pictures of the Dining Room as of now. We haven't been too focused 

on finishing this room since we aren't in this room too much.

I still want to make curtains (once I find a fabric I like) and

 get rid of the HIDEOUS plastic blinds.

(and have blinds that actually cover the window so stalkers can't creep on me)

I also want to find another wall art/picture to fill up some empty space.

LOVE my table!
Best part is that it was free!
Thanks Myra! :)

This light fixture came with the house.
I eventually want to replace it but
for now it works :)

Need to get wine to fill my wine rack and
finish organizing the glasses
We are also going to stain this cabinet to match
the darker wood of the table

Let me know what you guys think!? 

Bedroom update!

Some updates I have been working on in the Master bedroom......

Fabric for master bedroom windows
from Fabric.com

making my measurements!
(Which weren't too accurate...)

followed this tutorial

http://www.viewalongtheway.com/2012/06/tutorial-how-to-sew-lined-back-tab-curtains-drapes-curtain-panels-whatever/

Need more fabric, but almost done!

i have light/ sheer-ish (but not see through) panels behind the ones I made so that when I have it opened as pictured you still can't see right through and you still have some privacy

Dresser/TV Stand 

My side

Ryan's side

decided to get a "fancy" light
switch for our room :)

Still have some little details left, but I am SO happy with how it has turned out!

Definitely my favorite room in the house :)