Pinterest Project: DIY Wall Coffee Mug Rack... How things are never as easy as they seem and why I should have listened to my father the first time

So ya ya it's been a while blah blah blah... let's just pretend I've been actively posting the last year and a half... it will be a lot easier than trying to explain the reason for my blog absence other than I have none except life... it happens... lets move on.

So feeling the need for a project last weekend, since the Hubs was working under deadline, I started perusing everyones favorite time-suck Pinterest. and stumbled upon this (and can I tell you how I loathe pins that link to NOTHING.)



Seemed easy enough right... it's a piece of wood and some hooks... how hard could it be... (said me everytime something turns out harder than expected, it's like a curse... you'd think I'd learn by now.) So not really knowing much about lumber I enlisted the help of my dear ole Dad to make the trip to Home Depot with me. After taking some measurements regarding size, counting my sizable mug collection (23) and scoping Home Depot out online to get an idea about supplies we headed off...

Some Proper Before and Afters...

 So it has been a long time coming, granted I took a few breaks in-between but I can with much pleasure say the cabinets are done!! and man do they look good. it's like a whole different kitchen. I still need to paint the baseboards to match but that is minor in the whole scheme of things and that will have to wait until after Turkey Day. But now... the long awaited (if only for my benefit) before and afters!!

messy picture I know but hey... we do live in this kitchen... but doesn't the brass just seem to glow like creepy eyes... yuck!

and the sleek after...

Never mind my Pie baking "goods" peeking out in the corner... I'm prepping for the "big"day :) here are some more beauts!

See the baseboards are screaming to be finished but hey... I got pies to bake and turkey to eat... so they will have to wait... but I can't even begin to describe the transformation. I wish I could bring everyone through my kitchen to see them in person cause my camera sucks and the pictures do not do them justice. All in all the project cost about $100 not counting "materials" like paint brushes etc. The Paint kit was around $70 and I'm happy to say that 1 kit did my entire kitchen, including the back of the bar and the half bath that's off the kitchen. I should have just barely enough to do the baseboards. I was extremely pleased as to how far it went. The knobs are pretty plain brushed nickel and I could have probably got them cheaper (just ask my mom) but I have no patience and didn't want to wait so to Home Depot I went and found a set of 25 for about $30 or so ( I don't exactly remember) after finishing the kitchen I have 4 knobs left which is more then enough for when I refinish the upstairs bath. I couldn't be happier with the results, and given the ease (albeit monotony) of the project I would recommend it to anyone who hates their cabinets... And now that this is finished it's on to one of the many other projects I've got floating around in my head... most likely up is the roman shade for the kitchen window... but first. PIES :)  

Color Combo Crush- Grey & Yellow

This by no means is a new combo, it's been around for a bit now but I've always liked it, just never felt it had a place in my old apartment. I'm thinking subconsciously this is why I wanted to paint the kitchen yellow. The intent in the kitchen was never to go with this scheme. The cabinets are (well almost all of them) deep brown and the nick-nacks on the shelves are various colors, so no one color combo was screaming out to me until one day a week or so ago I was perusing fabric online (as I often do) and be still my heart I came across this beauty...

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I'm a sucker for a good geometric print, they are visually interesting but maintain some masculinity, and in this grey it spoke to me. Saying "hang me over your kitchen window, make a roman shade out of me, you know you want to" and well... I did. Also it happened to be on sale at 50% off I was able to get 2 yards for the price of one and at regularly $30/yard it was a steal. (it's currently 40% off at JoAnn's) Well today was like Christmas came early and I got my roll of fabric. At 54'' wide and 2 yards I have more then enough to  roll around in it like it's money  make my desired roman shade and then some. Other prints I'm in love with and thinking of using to make pillows for the kitchen table chairs a window covering of some kind for the half-bath

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so I really could go on and on with fabric swatches but I'll spare you my obsession.  But not with out leaving you with some glorious pictures of my new arrival.

next to the wall, seriously I need a better camera the pictures don't do it much justice. It's so yummy together. 

I plan to make a roman shade much like described here, now I've just got to finish the rest of the cabinets so I can move on to this project.

 

We Don't Need No Stink'n Cabinet...

One of the first things we did in the kitchen aside from painting was to take down the lone cabinet to the right of our sink. Upon first glance there was nothing wrong with said cabinet but upon further inspection we deemed it useless, or I did any way... with the positioning of the cabinet, and the fact that the doors didn't swing open wide, me and my short little frame and less then impressive arm span, I couldn't reach anything inside. I don't have any real good "before" pictures (no surprise there) but here is one from when we were painting where you can see where it was... 

see empty space next to window

Removing the cabinet seemed to open up the space which I liked, but clearly something would need to go up in it's place. The F-Hub lobbied for mounting a flat screen on the wall there... where I could see the appeal, I figured that with the 63 inch in the next room we really didn't need another 15 feet away. I have always been a fan of open shelving. thus enters my favorite store (IKEA) and my newest favorite find there...

The Fabian Wall Shelf. with a $6.99 price tag it beat out all the other shelf options I was looking at. Now it seems simple enough but since the wood is unfinished it opens up a world of options. Since I am in the midst of refinishing all the cabinets in the kitchen I just threw those in the mix and used the same paint on the shelves though I was tempted to be a little more adventurous and go for a splash of color but thought I'd play it safe with the kitchen. The installation is also very easy just be sure to use drywall screws/anchors or anything heavier then a pillow is gonna rip a regular screw out of the wall... and no I didn't learn this the hard way... I am all about drywall screws... I've just about mastered the technique. So anyhoo... after a few minutes with a drill, screwdriver and a level I had this....

Now I know I am awful when it comes to taking pictures along the way... but here they are in all their glory. The downside for some with the concept of open shelving is the need to make it pretty... since everyone can see it... you can't exactly store your Tupperware on them. But for me I can make it functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. I've got enough decorative items to make it interesting but I've also got my extra set of dishes, extra glasses, some of my serving platters and some personalized mugs to keep it functional. I do plan on moving the wicker baskets and hanging wine glass racks... but of all the screws I have... none that are small enough, so that will have to wait.  

The Vases and monogrammed mugs are from Anthropologie and most the dishes are from Ikea, everything else are just trinkets and odds and ends I had on hand. All in all I am very happy with the results. Now if only the rest the cabinets would paint themselves. 

UPDATE: I am almost done with all the lower cabinets and the bar. I should have that part of the project completed by Wednesday (fingers crossed) and then will move on to the uppers this weekend... hoping to wrap it all up by the end of next week and move on to the next project!

Let There be Light

... and a decent one at that. So revisiting the kitchen... I'm not very good at taking before pictures if you haven't noticed but from this picture from this post you can sort of see our spaceship of a light fixture over the table.

I also was not a fan of that. After given the opportunity to change it out I jumped and the chance and while on an outing to my favorite Swedish furniture store picked up this dandy.

We had Clint's parents over for dinner the other night and had them help us instal it. The process seemed easy enough but having never really dealt with electrical stuff thought it would be best left to some one who had a little experience. After a few moments with a screw driver, some wire cutters and a flashlight we had this

I think its perfect. Fits the space just as I had envisioned

would have closed the door but the animals were too busy staring at sheep

and looks good with the yellow wall...

Next up in the kitchen... refinishing the cabinets with this

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My mom just used it on her cabinets and they look great. Ours right now are the yellow-ey oak with horrible brass knobs. we picked up the dark kit (the light kit is shown above) and had it tinted dark brown (chocolate to be exact) This could get interesting... wish me luck (when I get around to it... though this project is creeping up the list)

The Kitchen...

made me so angry every time I went in. I figured since I would be in this space the most it needed to be a place that was soothing and conducive to culinary crafting. Which is why this... would ... not ... do.

never mind the mess... but this is what we started with

I am not a red accent wall kind of person. Some people are and it looks great in their homes, but I am not. The only thing it represented was my anger for it. and to add to it the half bath off the kitchen was painted to match. Anger, Anger, Anger. I'm a firm believer that colors can change your mood. and this red would not do. so... we painted. First the bathroom, we used the existing tan left over from the other 3 walls in the kitchen

no one looks good with a red background

primed and painted... and so much better!

We then moved on to the kitchen now I think the F-Hub took a risk letting me insist on the paint color... cause I'm pretty sure most men wouldn't be down with yellow, well officially it's called Tahini by one Ms. Martha Stewart herself, but this is what we did... and bless his heart he actually did most the painting since I was still technically living in Salt Lake.

we also took down a cabinet over the bar... but here is the final color

There is a lot left to do, we have plans to refinish the cabinets, change out the hardware, hang some shelves where the cupboard was, new counter tops and a tile backspash, and change out the light over the table so it is, as much is... a work in progress. but I love how the color turned out its much more inviting and warm and a place I don't mind being in. I can't wait to update on its progress.