June 2, 2015

Kitchen Transition

A couple of months ago I revealed our kitchen remodel.  

I LOVE white kitchens!  If you have a white kitchen, I LOVE your kitchen.  

I had thought long and hard before I decided how to redo our kitchen.  I considered a more French looking kitchen but I have always loved white kitchens so much, that I went that direction.

But when I posted pictures of our dining room a while back, I was unhappy that it looked like I had kitchen cabinets in my dining room - which I do.

And then the more I looked at it, the more I realized that I would have really liked a more French Country, rustic kitchen.

*sigh*  and then my husband sighs *sigh*

And then watches me paint again for days.

Well, anyway, I painted my lower cabinets in my dining room brown.  And then my son in law came over and pointed out that the lower cabinets were brown, the counter top was beige and the upper cabinets were white.  And it didn't look right.  (I still love him even though I might have pinched him. I'm too tired to remember.)

So I started antiquing our upper cabinets.  It's a subtle difference but the upper cabinets in the kitchen in the above picture are antiqued and the upper cabinet/china cabinet in the dining room is not.

I used an antiquing wax and painted it on with a brush, starting in the indented corners.  I then rubbed it off with a soft cloth, like an old t-shirt.  I then lightly sanded the whole thing, taking down the shine.

Warning:  if you are a do-it-yourselfer like I am, this technique will cause every flaw in your paint job to be "antiqued."  I found small mistakes I didn't know were there and had to sand them out. Also, it's a good ideas to lightly sand your doors before you start.  Even though I wiped them down, I found little drips that I couldn't see until the wax showed them up.  I used a sponge sander.

We'd still like to get a new stainless stove and put in a tile back splash.

I really like the white antiqued cabinets but I'm not sure about the brown.  I'm thinking chalk paint beige?  I'm going to finish the antiquing before I make a decision.

Our house was already in an uproar because for the last 2-3 weeks I had been pulling stuff out of the attic, the store room, the closets, the corners, the cupboards, the pantry - ruthlessly searching anywhere a tchotchke could hide.

All the tchotches were put in a pile along with extra furniture, rugs, curtains, lamps, dishes, etc, etc, etc to face the burning question - "Do we really need this?"

Then my husband joined the frenzy and began to purge the garage. When we were done, we had an impressive amount of ... stuff.

Friday morning, before the world was awake, it was all arranged "very attractively"on our driveway and notices went out on the internet that there were treasures to be had.
My daughter showed up early with my sweet grandchildren who sold lemonade - "We have plain or regular!"  and we were in business.

I had a lot of fun meeting people "who live just down the street" or "around the corner" and watching them haul away our stuff .  Our driveway emptied as our cash box filled up.

I brushed away tears as a sweet grandmother with her grandson in tow bought the bike that my son rode all the way from Big Rapids to Mackinac City in a three day marathon with 80 other kids.  A man that looked homeless bought a cheap electric guitar telling me that his uncle collects guitars.  We sold the dog crate that used to protect our sweet dog, who is now deceased.

I was blessed when an elderly couple bought a bunch of stuff and asked me, "Are you a decorator?! Everything is so beautiful!"  I told her that I liked to think so.

I hugged friends I hadn't seen in a while and had fun conversations catching up. I loved it when they bought things that I love, but are no longer my style, knowing that their homes would have something special of mine.

I gave stuff away to children and acquaintances.  I'm not a hard sell.  I ran up and down the driveway helping people load their cars.

Around one o'clock the threat of rain increased and things began to get blown over. My husband and son hurried to take everything that was left into the house or garage.
A Stroll Thru Life
I hobbled into the house, exhausted and happy.  I ate a hearty amount of food, rubbed my sore feet with essential oils, and passed out on the couch.  I slept off and on for 15 hours!  lol

I still have some stuff to decide what to do with.  But my house feels great!

In the next few weeks, we'll move my son downstairs, paint two bedrooms and get reorganized. Oh! And did I mention I'm painting the kitchen?

Hope you're having a great start to your summer!

love and blessings~


"Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy."  Proverbs 31:9I'm joining these parties:Savvy Southern StyleCommon GroundImparting GraceA Stroll Thru LifePosed perfectionStone GableDwellingsFrench Country Cottage

8 comments:

  1. OH what a week; end you have had! I tried the garage sale thing once... Almost everything we put out sold. It was a good day, but I did not have fun :/
    My Mr tried again a few years ago, again, almost all we put out sold, but I barely popped out to check.
    I luv the antiques cabinets. We will be redoing our kitchen sometime this year as well. Right now we ate working on then back garden.
    Looking forward to seeing your updates...

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    1. Hey Gee! Yes! Garage sales are a lot of work and I still have things to get rid of. It will probably be last one for another couple of years. :) I'm happy to hear you're getting to redo your kitchen! I know how excited I was when we finally did that.
      love and blessings for a joyful summer!

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  2. Love the antiqued cabinets, adds some style. About the base cabinets.....would you consider a color, such as a French blue, sage green or even pale yellow, and antique them also?? Something that won't compete with your beautiful floors and table top. Good luck!!!

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    1. Thank you! I think all those suggestions sound beautiful and I've considered some. I want to paint my china cabinet to match the living room and make the interior of it blue so I'm afraid I'll have too many competing colors. I think I'm going to leave everything for the summer and when I'm closed in this winter, start painting again. Thanks so much for your suggestions!

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  3. garage sales...we need to have one in a big way. I have so much stuff that I'm unpacking. I've got to get busy! I too love a white or light colored kitchen, I really love your antiqued cabinets, they have so much depth to them. Last Fall I painted our cabinets and went through a half dozen colors. Decided on a light gray to bring all the rooms together. I'm happy with them, but it was a lot of time and work.

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    1. Thanks, Debra! It helps to know that others take a while to figure these things out too. I really like that the cabinets aren't pure white anymore but up close, in places, they just look dirty. So I'm not done yet. I'm hoping I'll leave them alone and enjoy my summer and start painting again this fall. Thanks for stopping by! :)

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  4. Lord, have mercy! I've got to sit down. What a busy gal you've been. Your kitchen is looking so lovely and yes, I love white kitchens and when we moved into our new/old house we had our cabinets painted white. Glad your garage sale was a success! Thanks so much for popping in to see me.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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    1. Thanks, Shelia! It's always fun to visit your blog!

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