kitchen cabinet progress..half way there!

I have been painting like crazy! Once you start something as overwhelming as painting your kitchen cabinets, you just want to get everything back to normal. I have felt like quitting, but I'm now seeing the progress and how much I LOVE the color that I "mixed" together and I am getting really excited. I was a little hesitant about mixing paint for such a big job, but I wanted to have just a very light, somewhat warm gray. My walls are Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter and the color I mixed is almost a perfect match, which was the look I was going for. You may be thinking why didn't I just use the revere pewter on my cabinets? (I will explain below)  I came across this picture that gave me a little inspiration for my kitchen. In this kitchen, all the walls and cabinets are painted in Revere Pewter with a contrasting island, similar to what I am doing.

Southern Living

Southern Living

Now for the reason why I choose to use the chalk paint, mostly because thought of sanding, priming, then most likely, 3 coats of oil paint did not appeal to me at all! I have done it before and it holds up well but it's very laborious, and this way I am able to lightly distress the cabinets and get the look and finish I want. So I did a little experimenting with ASCP and came up with this below.

Paris Gray is on the left and Old Ochre is on the right (I had first tried Old White, which is the base color you see but it just wasn't what I really wanted) the color at the top is the two mixed together which gives you a color almost the exact shade of revere pewter, I couldn't have been more excited and as I said, I love it!!

I will hopefully get finished by next week. I still have to finish the backs of the cabinets and give everything a second coat, then distress them just a bit and then wax- a little overwhelmed!! I will post the final pictures when it is all put back together, then show you the tiles and lights that will finish everything off, I can't wait.

Here's a small sneak peek at one section that is almost done- I love how it matches my chevron rug and blends so well with the granite! If you want to see the post I did on the redesign of our kitchen at our last house, you can see it here.

I have this post linked to a few linky parties, you can check them out here, French Country Cottage, Miss Mustard Seed and The Shabby Nest

And the winner is....

I picked the soapstone, but now I have opened up a can of worms!! It's a good thing that it is our anniversary  today where there will be lots of love going around, otherwise I might be in the dog house, I will explain. But back to the winner... the soapstone.

 I was really torn, almost up until I was picking out the exact spot where it was going to be cut, but now that it is in I am so glad. It is really beautiful. The marble was to white and it was too similar to the movement of the river white granite. The quartz was too plain, although the overall background color was good. But the soapstone seemed to be a nice contrast that pulls out the gray tones, plus having an older home the soapstone will "age" over time and will take on a "worn" look, creating a nice patina, which is appropriate for an older house. Also, one neat thing was we found out was that this piece of soapstone was a remnant from the home of a globally-known company's founder/CEO. Funny though, he used the soapstone in a room for his dogs, so if it was good enough for them, then good enough for our kitchen!

 Then comes the worms, now I am going to have to paint my built- in and all my cabinets! And maybe repainting the island, which was just painted with ASCP in graphite. That is a big can I opened up, but my husband does agree that it need to all "come together" somehow. (don't look at my mess, I had to move things around when the guys came out to install and we just started school) I just painted my walls revere pewter, which is a Ben. Moore color,  I did a spot on the cabinet to see how it would look there as well.

And of course I didn't stop there, I painted a cabinet drawer with ASCP, in old white, then realized I really need to go with more of a light khaki gray. 

So needless to say, I will be going to the paint store tomorrow to get some paint to start this now very large project! (I secretly wanted to paint my cabinets anyhow, just didn't think it was going to be so soon). So stayed tuned for my follow up on my now very large project!



Linked up to today on: French Country Cottage
Miss Mustard Seed and The Shabby Nest

Final decision for DIY island, three different options

I'm so excited to share my DIY buffet, turned island, step by step. I bought this great buffet before we moved into our house, knowing that I wanted to turn it into an island for our kitchen. Now it is just waiting for the final touch, the top, like the icing on the cake! I have been hemming and hawing over what to use because, not only will this get a lot of use, I also want it to have a little wow factor. So, of course I have been wanting to put a beautiful piece of marble on it. During my search, I have talked to many suppliers and every single one of them said, "why would you want to put marble in your kitchen - it's not practical" etc. etc., but open any magazine and there you will find beautiful kitchens with clean, classic marble counter tops from one end to the next. In my process to find a counter top that I think will match best, with the existing river white granite, I have narrowed it down to three finalists. I have picked my winner, but curious to see what your opinion is on what would look best. But before I show you those, here are the pictures of the transformation.

The back was unfinished, as a buffet would be, so my husband added board and batten elements to mimic some of the detail in our old, built-in kitchen cabinet and our paneling in our foyer. 

He framed it out so it now looks finished. The front of it was already painted in ASCP, with Graphite and then had the dark wax applied over top. Lucky for me I just happened to have both of those so I matched up the back with the front.

I think it turned out really well - it looks like it was meant to be an island! But now for the top- here are my three final choices. As I said I know which one I have decided on, what do you think?

First candidate: carrara marble, I know the cons related to maintenance and care totally outweigh the pros, but it is so beautiful!! But I have to say it has a much whiter background than the existing river white granite that is in the rest of the kitchen. 

Second candidate: organic white Caesar stone. Very uniform, durable and the color does match with the granite better.

Third candidate: Soap stone, again more maintenance and it does wear and patina but in an older home it would be appropriate. I do like the way the gray tones blend with the paint and pulls out the gray tones in the granite.

Ok, what do you think? I will reveal the winner over the weekend and tell you what I had decided to go with, they are dong the install for it next week. Happy Labor Day weekend!

check out  other Feathered Nest Friday ideas over at French Country Cottage
also, Frugal Fridays at the Shabby Nest
and Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday

my foyer in a new light {pun totally intended}

My light is finally up! We had to improvise just a little, but at least it is up. We realized that when we started to hang the light that it hung down too low and my husband would hit his head on it every time he walked down the steps. The wires for the light are centered in the foyer but we decided to center a hook in the area of the floor space so it is in line with the doors and centered over the rug. By doing that we had to swing the chain over to the hook, not what I had originally planned but it still works. We have old wiring, which is on our "to do" list to have redone at some point, so to go through the effort to have the junction box moved right now doesn't make too much sense.{although it may be one of those things that just stays the way it is and never gets moved!}

Along with hanging the light, we also added a collection of different pictures, mirrors and antique elements up the staircase which visually changed everything {plus I was so happy to get them off the floor where they were all stacked up!}

These are just a couple of watercolors that I had done years ago and put in frames, I needed some smaller things to fill in  the space below the larger picture above.

I mixed in the different shapes and textures, like this old grate, and yes a picture of Hudson. The weather vanes where kinda neat too, they were broken so I thought they would make better use hanging on the wall. I would still like to find just a couple more things to hang, maybe some smaller round pieces.

Whatever you do, have fun and be creative. It's great to mix in different sizes, textures and elements to create an area of interest.

repurposed pool stick holder

This has been one of my most favorite repurposed treasures, mostly because if has sentimental value to it, plus it is totally functional. This is an old pool stick holder that belonged to my grandfather, he used to love pool. He would build pool tables in his spare time, and could beat you blind folded!

I was lucky enough to "inherit it" and after having it for awhile I thought why not use it for a coat rack?  I painted it black and got some great hooks from Anthropologie that I put in at the top. We even put a couple in lower for the kids so they could hang up their back  packs and jackets.

My coat rack has become quite a conversational piece, most people don't realize what it is at first glance, until they notice the holes at the bottom where the pool sticks would go.
 It reminds me of my grandfather every time I walk by it and brings back such fond memories!

I've posted this over at French Country Cottage's linky party, at Liz Marie  and  Jennifer Rizzo, with a lot of other creative people.

fleur de lis

I have been carrying around this huge piece of wood for years - one of those rare architectural finds I was so happy to come across. Years ago I found it at this great antique store, which was filled to the brim with stuff. I had dig through everything just to see what was what. The piece came out of an old barn that was being torn down. It is heavy and it must weigh at least 50lbs, but I somehow convinced my very loving husband to hang it up for me over the weekend. He did it very securely so it would not fall on any one's head and kill them! Not a very easy task.

When I got it, it was just a very dark wood color and I thought it would look great painted so the fleur de lis pattern would stand out better. So I painted it teal and haven't touched it up since. You may recognize it, I've used it on my blog and on other images over the last few years as a kind of logo. It is amazing to see the pictures and how different it looks when you see it on a wall and not just cropped down as an "image".

We hung it  in our sitting room that is just off of our kitchen. We have an old window in the kitchen that looks out into the room and it has made such a difference seeing it out there now hung up. Because it is such a great size, it makes a big presence in the room. I love old architectural pieces, they are really a great find that have such a great history behind them.

making a bold first impression

This Old House

I have been debating what color to paint my front door- it is the first thing people notice when they come to your house, like a first impression and should make a statement. And of course some say that the color you paint your front door has some kind of meaning behind it. Can't we just slap on some paint that looks good without having it mean something? Now I really feel pressured!
Black is said to be powerful, blue is related to abundance, green is said to have balance, purple evokes energy, and red is supposedly welcoming. Whatever color one picks it should also look good with the rest of your house no matter what meaning it has.

Right now my front door is painted black and is in desperate need of a new paint job. I have been staring at doors when I have been walking and driving around trying to see what colors grace the front doors of my neighbors. I have noticed a few lately that have been pumpkin orange - love that.

This Old House

The orange looks great with the gray shingles but I don't think so much with my red brick home, so I have been thinking either a blue or green,.I would love to go bright and add a burst of green, like in the picture below.

This Old House

 But I think I am still stuck on blue. This has always been one of my favorite front doors

via House of Turquoise via Hiya Papaya

I love the Wythe Blue color that was painted on this front door above, but I had wanted to go just a little brighter. I came across this color a couple times, St. Lucia Teal.

via Turquoise Shed

So I decided to just go for it. As you can see, my door seems hidden and dark. It is a really pretty front door and it needs to be shown off.

These were my final choices, Wythe Blue, St. Lucia Teal and Stratton Blue- all Benjamin Moore. I realized after I had picked the St. Lucia Teal that it must have been meant to be. Those of you who saw my earlier post on my new light that will be going in my foyer, it is almost the exact color as St. Lucia Teal.

 Anyhow, this is my new door which I love- and you will see how nice it looks with my light sitting on the floor.

As for the light, yes, it is still not hung up. You know the saying measure twice, cut once? (in my case hang once) Well we had a minor problem when we went to go hang it and realized that it needs to be moved over so you don't hit your head on it when you walk down the steps- lesson learned.

When the light is hung up it will be a nice transition from the bright color of the teal door to have the color flow inside and there are also touches of the color in the rug in the foyer as well. The door now stands out and looks fun and bright when you see it from outside. With front doors they aren't a huge commitment to paint so why not try a bright bold color for fun.

HGTV

Repurposed candle holders

I am so excited about my new lights! Not sure if I should call them upcycling or repurposed? But anyway, I wanted to find something different to put up in my foyer and kitchen and really didn't see much that I liked, or if I did it cost a small fortune. I had seen one in Ballard Designs that I really liked but with everything that we have to do around here in our new "old" house I did not want to spend the money on it. Instead I used the light for my inspiration as I searched around from shop to shop. Below is the light from Ballard Designs, it is their greenhouse light, love it, but didn't love the price.

Ballard Designs

Then I found this in a great shop called, Cottage Home, near where I live. It was actually a candle holder that I thought would look great hanging in my foyer instead. (again, upcycling or repurposed?) 

So, I haven't gotten it up yet but couldn't wait to share how it looks.  I have a great lighting guy who took off the bottom part, which I now can still use to put candles in, and wired the top part for me. I am waiting on a medium sized version to put up at the top of the stairs in my landing so they match. It's a great size, about 20" tall and 12" across the bottom, hard to tell from the picture.

I am employing my father to come hang it up for me over the weekend- can't wait to have it up! I will post a picture when it's done.

I also wanted to find lights for my kitchen to replace the very "colonial" looking, punched tin light that is existing.  I found two of these beautiful candle holders at another local shop named Kaly, and will hopefully have the two of them hung as pendants in the kitchen, over our island (not as easy to hang in an old house with only one existing wire).  

I also have the two metal bases that came with these to use for candle holders as well, so I think all said and done- totally worth the investment of doing all three. And truthfully, I spent a third of the cost on my foyer light then the cost of the greenhouse chandelier from Ballard's. It's great to find unique pieces that inspire you to use for one of a kind pieces.

For other great ideas, go to Jennifer Rizzo's blog to see what creative ideas are on her Friday linky party, I've linked up with this post. Also on, Feathered Nest Friday, on French Country Cottage

Favorite new thing.....chevron rug

I have been promising to post some  pictures of our new house for a long time, we have been here 6 weeks today and I have managed to paint a couple of rooms and have a few projects in the works. But I have to say so far this has been my most favorite thing that I have gotten for the house. 

My chevron rugs from Ballard Designs. A while back I did a post on my obsession on chevron and now I am loving my chevron runners. I got 2 that are either side of my island that you see in the picture. That was another one of my finds recently that I got at a consignment shop. It is actually an old buffet that we are going to use as our island and have a piece of marble put on top. To my surprise it was painted with ASCP in Graphite, the same color that I am hoping to paint the old built- in cabinet you see in the background.

The rugs are indoor/outdoor which make them a bit more durable and they are actually pretty soft on the feet. I love the gray and sand color and it matches great with the soft graphite paint color. I am hoping to get this great fabric that has grays, yellows and whites, for my windows to go with the paint and rug. I know this wasn't so fantastic but I will post more. 

Coming up, I will post my next favorite find, which was this great candle holder that I am actually having turned into my foyer light, I will post a picture of the final product but this is what it looked like before I gave it to my lighting guy - can't wait for the final product and have it hanging up!

favorite finds

A few years ago my husband was asked if he wanted this old work bench. Someone he knew through his job didn't feel like moving with it, and I am glad he said yes. But it wasn't until just 2 years ago that we decided that it would look great set up as a really cool table. It was just sitting in our basement collecting dust. I had just seen one like it in Pottery Barn for over $2,000, then another one at Terrain for over $3,000, then I was really glad he got it! It really is so fun- I had it in my dining room for awhile until I got my buffet piece that I painted and posted a little while back, and then moved it and put the work table in my family room. It's a great conversational piece.
 Here is our table, we left the back part of it off, we sanded it and used paste wax on it, it had a much darker finish on it before
.

The one I saw at Terrain for over $3,000 was a couple of years ago but I saw this one that they have there now just yesterday.

Feels good when you know you made a good decision about something and wow am I happy! I actually even like mine better. Couldn't find a picture of the one from Pottery Barn but I felt good just seeing this!