It's the Little Things...

I'm gonna be honest now and tell you that I'm really out of things to share about my kitchen, so this post will be a stretch. Progress is at a standstill because we were working on show stuff all fall and then Christmas stuff, so we came to a grinding halt about the end of September. My dear hubs is in the middle of an awesome project that I'm hoping he will finish within the next week or two so I can share that with you. I also hope to get to civilization next week and pick up some more Alabaster paint to finish one section of trim at the ceiling and a couple of pieces of furniture. Until then, I'll be flying by the seat of my pants (something not that foreign to me:-).

When you move all your junk from two houses into one and still have stuff in storage units and boxes and every possible place you can stuff it, you learn things. The first thing you learn is that if you need something, you probably won't be able to find it. Ever. Okay, so maybe not ever, but it will feel like ever. In those times, you learn (this is number 2:-) to think of all the good things that have happened to you. Like maybe the fact that you're getting to start from the ground up on a new adventure with the hubs and neither of you have killed the other after pretty much spending 24/7 together for almost a year. Or the fact that you even had choices when the old job ax fell...many, many people don't. And there are (Yes, I know I started a sentence with AND. If that bothers you too badly, look at the one before, it started with OR:-) always the wonderful things you find when moving (instead of lose, I mean temporarily misplace in a safe spot.) take, for example, this curtain...

I found the set from which this came as I was packing up the house we lived in for 12 years almost to the day. Perfect fit for now. I love this curtain; it's the short version of the long ones we used in our old living area. The short ones were going to become pillows, but never did. I am glad because now I can use it in the kitchen to add color...and, if you know me, you know I like pops of color:-) 

Another thing you learn, is to mix it up. (Probably because you can't find the things you used to use together, but that's ok.) I have the striped curtain in the only big window. Obviously, that size wouldn't fit a shorter window, and changing the matching one isn't an option because I'll possibly need it for another spot. To solve the problem I turned to aprons. Yep! Those things that most people wear to keep from ruining their clothes when they cook. Those. In our ETX (that stands for East Texas in my lingo) rental, I used aprons to cover the two windows in our kitchen.  It fit with the vintage decor of the house. I decided to carry that over in my kitchen here (at least for now). Just a warning, the aprons don't "match" the striped curtain. I'm not really that kinda person. I use what I like, and meld it all together. So if things that don't "match" really upset you, you might want to close your eyes and stop reading now...

You also learn to make do with the things you can find until you find the things you're looking for (wow! Isn't that a great sentence ending with a preposition!). I've been cooking with salt, pepper, red pepper, and garlic until now. However, we found the other spices, that I THOUGHT were somewhere on the farm, in one of the storage units. Phew! Now I can expand my repertoire. 

I could go on all day about things learned through all of this...however, it would take all day and I don't want to bore you to death, so I won't (I hear that collective sigh of relief!). I will, however, leave you with a pic of one of my favorite aprons. Just because "it's the little things"...

Cheers! 

LaDonna

Blessings...

So I’m writing this blog post by firelight…just like Abraham Lincoln. Okay, maybe it’s really a candle, and Abraham Lincoln didn’t have a computer, so it's not really like him. However, I really am like him in that there is no electricity right now. None. There is a half-baked Stouffer’s lasagna in the oven and some really tasty, probably-going-to-be-ruined-by-morning-if-the-electricity-doesn’t-come-back-on cheesy Texas toast in the freezer. Sigh. First world problems, eh?!

That said, I am not unaware of the destruction wrought in North Texas yesterday or in Tennessee a couple of days ago. Nor am I blind to the many REAL struggles happening around the world. A little ruined lasagna and cheesy Texas toast isn’t really something to get worked up about. Neither is the Molasses-in-January pace with which our house is being “fixed up” (or the very spotty posting on this blog, for that matter). I’ve been trying to be more aware of my blessings the past year or so because there are many. Yes, there have been and will continue to be struggles, but when I sit and think about it, blessings of all shapes and sizes really outweigh those. 

One of those blessings was being able to take a cabinet we found at the flea market in Warrenton one year and turn it into something great for our kitchen. When we acquired the cabinet, it was pink…not a pretty pink, though, almost a salmon-y pink.  Here are some pictures I snapped of it pre-workover.

Front, pre-workover...

Inside, pre-workover...

I had an epiphany as I worked with my open shelving cabinets, and decided to use the technique I used for the back of the shelving for this cabinet.  I painted it with Waverly’s Lagoon chalk paint (sorry, folks, Annie Sloan is outside the budget!), and then took to the shelves with my awesome contact paper...yeah, you know the stuff:-) 

Contact paper and foam board...project essentials...

Before I go any further, I must give a MAJOR shout-out to my industrious husband for his part in making this cabinet sturdier (more sturdy? OH MY GOODNESS, sometimes the former English teacher in me is impossible to find!) than it was. He took out ALL the shelves, the top and the bottom of the cabinet, cut new ones that are thicker, and put it all back together.

SO back to the contact paper…I covered the top of each shelf and the top of the cabinet with contact paper since it so wonderfully matches the Lagoon color I used to paint. I then used foam board and contact paper to make inserts for each of the panels on the door. The top one is covered with chalkboard vinyl (BEST stuff since sliced bread! I used my 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby and purchased it.) so that I can write a Bible verse or a quote on it, and that bottom two are covered with the same contact paper I used on my cabinets. I also created an insert for the top panel on the INside of the door from foam board and chalkboard contact paper. This is where I can keep a running list of what I need to purchase from the grocery store. I am pleased with how the project turned out, and it is serving us well as additional pantry space.

Outside...

Inside...ran out of paint on the bottom panels...

In place beside the pantry...

Stay tuned to see what happens next at the Gatlin house…

Cheers,

LaDonna

Of Pinterest and Walmart...

WoW! It is has way too long since I last posted. Time completely got away from me.

It's been such a wild and crazy fall with shows, making jewelry, pickin' with the hubs, and visiting with family, that I had to stop and think about where I left off!

We were talking about the Alabaster paint I used for the cabinets and I promised the next post would be about my upper cabinets. Well, here goes...

As stated before (I think:-), when we moved in, we decided to just put lipstick on a pig for now, thus the basic improvements we are making in the the kitchen now. I want to live with it for awhile to decide exactly what I want to do with it. I already know I'm not one for granite counter tops and stuff like that; I'm a pretty simple person when it comes to fixtures (well, except for that Aga cooker I dream about having...but that's for when my ship comes in--Ha!). 

The cabinets currently in place were built in the 80s (much to my dismay the originals are gone.) and have many eccentricities. Then when they leveled our house, the top ones shifted and now have gaps that weren't there before. I'm fairly certain they will eventually come out, but for now, we are using what we have. 

Since we are working with what we've got, we (well, I:-) decided it was the perfect time to try something I've always wanted to try...open shelving. The fact that the hubs wasn't having a very easy time putting all the doors back on with the new hardware I chose, made it easier. In my defense, it looked just like the old stuff, it just didn't fit like it. Anyway, I spared him the frustration of putting the top doors only...he only had to fight with the bottom ones. 

Cabinets with no doors...

To help me dress up the top cabinets, I looked to Pinterest. I found a variety of ideas, but finally narrowed it down to this one. I didn't follow her instructions exactly, but I took her basic idea and implemented it.  She used fabric and foam board; I used contact paper (yes, contact paper! But not the stuff from the 80s and 90s!!) and foam board.

So here is what I used...

Supplies...

1.  foam board
2.  contact paper
3.  scissors
4.  utility knife (not pictured)
5.  yard stick (not pictured)
6.  patience (yeah. not pictured either)

Not gonna lie, I was a little short on #6, but I managed to persevere over the course of two days. I have trouble with the old "measure twice, cut once" practice...let's just leave it at that.
 
Moving on...

She covered foam board with fabric and it looked fabulous. I didn't have fabric nor the desire to traipse around looking for some, so I was ecstatic when I accidentally found some contact paper at the local Walmart.
It was the exact color I needed with a design I really like...problem solved. Plus, I figured it would be easier to work with than a hot glue gun and fabric (eh, maybe not). Anyhoo, I cut the foam board to the size I needed for the back of my top cabinets. I then cut the contact paper to fit with a slight edge to wrap around to the back. Lastly, I placed the covered foam board into the back of the cabinets. 

Almost finished...

I liked how it was coming along. At times it took some finagling, but I got it to work. The blue works perfectly and the pattern adds dimension, so I am happy with it.
 

Left side...

Right side...

So the pics are terrible, but I never claimed to be a photographer. For some reason, I never can get the right light to take decent pics in the kitchen.

I'm learning there are pros and cons about open shelving. Sometimes I love it; sometimes I hate it. My final decision has yet to be made...

Cheers,
LaDonna