Hanging Up

We've finally have blinds! Yay. We knew we would buy nice wooden blinds eventually, but since we still have to replace all the windows in the house, we decided buying expensive blinds first wouldn't be the best choice for us. We know we are widening a few of them so they wouldn't be the same size.

But, we needed something up for privacy and to let the light in since the curtains darken the rooms and I can't stand it. I like light! A lot!

So, Adam had a great idea, while at Home Depo he noticed temporary blinds on sale for .10 cents.

(Temporary blinds are the blinds the store gives you to put up while you wait for your order of custom blinds to come in. They are a vinyl- like material and they stick to your wall, like a sticker.)
He bought a bunch of them. One or two for each window.
Temp blinds look very nice (compared to sheets :-D) and they filter light beautifully. Best cheap idea yet. We love them and I'm so happy Adam bought them. It really helped our house feel more complete. We were both getting sick of the multitude of curtains. I think curtains should be for beauty and a little function, but not the only thing on the window. It gets to be too much. We felt like we were living in a cave enshrouded with fabric. If we wanted to open a window we had to dig through layers of fabric.

It is very simple to install temporary blinds. You just measure your window, then measure your blinds and cut off any remaining length:

Then you stick-em to the wall.

After we installed the blinds in the kitchen we both stepped back and found that it didn't look right.

I had the idea that perhaps they should be hung higher up- like to the ceiling- and it worked! The blinds looked much better.

Then the next thing on our list was to hang the Target frames that I saved up for, but never found the time to hang. I fell in love with these simple white frames and I knew just where I wanted them.
We taped the paper backing to the wall first for placement (to make sure it was where we wanted them before we put holes in the wall):

Then after we hung the frames, I filled them with artwork from school. I still have to recieve another piece of artwork from school to fill the bottom frame in the picture below, so in this picture it is just the cardboard back to the fram showing:

After learning that it might be awhile before I get my artwork back (it is on display in the hallways at school) I decided to put something pretty in its place. I then cut a piece of fabric to fit inside the frame and hung it up:

I actually LOVE it! I just might have to hang it up else where when I have my artwork back.

In this picture below I have switched the bottom and top frames, so the fabric is on the top:

I really love this wallpaper from Anthropologie, but I can only take small doses of so much color, so I'm thinking about hanging some of the wallpaper here behind the shelves (once we get around to adding them..so far we only have one shelf up!) for a pop of color. You can see a sample of it here on the wall behind the cookbooks:

AND we finally hung up the diningroom mirror. Although it isn't as big as I had hoped it would be, I'll find some way to fill in around it. Maybe I'll hang two giant black frames on either side of the gilded mirror? We'll see...

The Miracle Of Paint

I had a semi-ok day today and as I drove home I thought about all the things I still had to do at home. A little disheartening, but when I pulled into my drive way and walked up to our door I noticed something was different. My kitchen WAS WHITE!

Adam had the day off today and apparently he spent it painting our kitchen. He is my hero! I sooo hate to paint. I love picking out colors and I love painting furniture, but painting a WHOLE ROOM is my least favorite thing to do. I'm a slow painter and it takes forever. After spending the whole summer painting the whole basement and the upstairs rooms you could say I'm all pooped outta painting.

Buuutt, Now I can cross that task off my list!! Hallelujah!

THIS is what my face looked like when I first saw what Adam had been up to:

Yeah, I was pretty excited.

I'll show you the before and after pictures 'cause you know that's what you really came to see, but keep in mind we're still not really finished. These aren't really 'afters' yet. We need to buy hardware, finish paint, blinds and curtains, shelves, benches, and a table. Um, I think that's it? I'm sure we'll find more along the way.

Our kitchen BEFORE I left for work today:

Our kitchen AFTER I came home today:

It's amazing what paint can do to transform a room. The kitchen feels so much bigger now and it feels like a crisp new kitchen. I love it.

I hope this inspires me to keep painting, I still have a lot more on that list to do...

Wish me luck and I wish you some inspiration to get things done in your life that you're dreading too. Good luck to you all.

Love Britt    :-)

Kitchen Cabinets

We have taken down the old cabinets and we are planning on sanding and painting them white. We will save the sink, dishwasher, and the stove is perfectly good. We tryed to keep the budget cheap and salvage as much as we could, but the farther in you get the more you see needs replacing. We will have to purchace new laminate counters since the originals were rotted out.
We ripped up the old damaged parket floors (and had to scrape it smooth and level) and replaced the plywood sub floor in the front entrance, so there will be a smooth surface to lay our tile. It was a great debate on our tile choice, everyone had an opinion. Of course, isn't that how all families are? Well, mine is filled with Irish tempers and vocal opinions. It keeps life interesting.
Here are a few photos of our journey to the bare kitchen we have now.