Our Kitchen Makeover

I'm so excited to share these pictures!  Our kitchen makeover has been one of the biggest transformations in the house- it's amazing what a little paint (or gallons and gallons!) can do to a room!  After painting the cabinets, trim, and walls, the kitchen felt twice as big as it did before, and it feels so much brighter and happier.  Here are the before and afters!

I'm smitten with this new pendant light I found at the Ballard Outlet for a steal!  I originally bought a pretty vintage bulb for it, but it gave off a very yellow light so I instead used a cool-toned Edison bulb. I'm actually glad I switched because this bulb sprays the light on the ceiling in the prettiest way!

Eventually we will update the dishwasher and oven to stainless steel, but as long as these keep working, we're in no hurry!

I found this solid wood dining set on Craigslist for a great deal and refinished it before we moved in.

My favorite, and most-used, part of the kitchen: the coffee bar.  I can't go a day without my morning coffee! 

Not everything is styled perfectly!  Here's a glimpse of real life:  Pepper's container of syringes for his twice daily insulin shots :)  The cubbies are perfect for sorting mail and receipts, and the counter mainly serves as the fur babies' treat area, while also keeping our magazines and coupons organized.  I found the stool at HomeGoods and recovered the top for a fun pop of color!

The final painting job in the kitchen was this copper strip in the backsplash.  Originally, I had planned to pry it out and replace it with something a little more subtle.  But I decided to try painting it first, since that would be way cheaper and easier!  The perfect color ended up being one I already had from painting our fireplace (pictures and tutorial coming soon!).  This color really brought out the browns in our countertop and tied everything together beautifully.

I wanted to get hidden hinges but unfortunately for our style of cabinet door (3/8" inset partial wrap) they don't currently make any.  Also, it is INSANE how many kinds of doors / hinges there are.  I learned way more than I ever cared to about cabinet doors and hinges!

Another part of our kitchen that I'm grateful for everyday is the hall tree.  It's the perfect spot to keep our jackets, shoes, and my purse organized and looking good.

Additional Info:

Cabinet paint:  Cabinet Coat (Home Depot online)

Cabinet hardware:  Target

Wall color:  Sherwin Williams Glimmer

Easy Bench Makeover

Hi y'all! I've been a little MIA around here, but now I'm back home after a nice long trip to Atlanta. I have several posts lined up, but here's a quick project I did while in Atlanta! My parents have had this bench in the upstairs hall for as long as I can remember...probably as long as I've been alive! The fabric was so outdated and just ugly, so I convinced them to let me do a quick and cheap makeover. 

It was so easy. We ripped off the old fabric and foam, covered the whole board in thicker foam, wrapped it in pretty new fabric, and stapled it on the bottom! It took about 15 minutes and now they have a beautiful, modern bench!

We replaced the picture of our old house with sunburst mirrors from Target. Much better!

Posts to come: an office makeover, a closet makeover, and scenes from our lives lately!

No Sew Window Seat Cushion

Another DIY for y'all today! I've been cranking out the projects around the house, so this won't be the last you see on here! 

We have a beautiful bay window seat in our bedroom, and I wanted to make a cushion for it and spend as little as possible. And I didn't want to use my sewing machine, since that always results in a meltdown. So I came up with a very quick and budget-friendly solution that can be used again when we inevitably move!

First, measure your window seat! 

I bought my foam (2" thick) at Joann's. That stuff is expensive! Tip: download the Joann's Fabric app and there is, just about always, a 50% off coupon. I had them cut it to 66" (length) by 23" (width/depth) and then I finished the rest of the cutting at home.

Since I have a bay window, the dimensions were a little more complicated. First, I measured the little sides (the red in the picture above) and marked accordingly on each side on the foam. 

I marked the half way point at the top of the foam (33"), and used that mark as the center of the length of the back of the cushion (I feel like I'm speaking gibberish right now...I hope this is making sense!) The turquoise line (pictured above) is 27", so half of that is 13.5". Using your measuring tape, place 13.5 on the mark that you made for 33" (the middle of the whole cushion). Then mark at each end of the measuring tape. 

That would be Pep's foot up there :)

Using a straight edge, connect the marks on each side! Apparently I need to invest in a yard stick, as the only straight edge I could find was our dining room mirror :)

Measure the lines you just made to make sure it's accurate (the black lines above= 17.5") Then, cut! An electric knife is the best tool to use for this, but I couldn't find mine so I just used kitchen shears, and they worked surprisingly well! 

Now it's time to make it pretty! I chose to not sew for a few reasons. 1) I hate it. 2) It takes me about 12x longer than it should, and 3) I wanted to be able to use this cushion again for our next house, and there's a good chance the dimensions will be completely different. So I ordered a bit of extra fabric, wrapped it like a gift, and safety-pinned it onto the bottom! This way, it's super easy to take on and off and throw in the wash. Plus, if we move and have a bigger window seat, I can just add extra foam and re-use the fabric! 

Please pretend that you don't see my filthy carpet. Today's vacuuming day, I promise! :)

I absolutely love how it turned out!

And so do the cats...they are up here every time I walk in the room!

A few pretty pillows complete the look.

This is now one of my favorite little spots in the house! 

DIY Custom Canisters

I've been a busy little crafter lately. The silver lining of moving so much is that it gives me an excuse to update a few things here and there, and I'm just about done! Here's an easy DIY that I did over the weekend.

I love the canisters we've used for the past few years, but they finally started to crack on us.

I found these adorable canisters at Target but wasn't too crazy about the colors (specifically the mustard yellow one!) Then I remembered that you can paint just about anything now, so with a little Googling and a trip to Michael's, I discovered FolkArt glass paint. So cheap ($2.50 a bottle!) and so easy. (Martha Stewart also has glass paint but doesn't have as many colors as FolkArt.)

Simply paint your glass or ceramic object and let it air dry for 1 hour. Then, place your items into a cool oven and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Allow them to completely cool in the oven before removing them. Now you have a beautiful, dishwasher-safe canister! (I threw in my spoon rest, too!)

I used my chalk pen to label them, which gives you a peek into our healthy, well-balanced diet :)

Happy Monday, y'all!