Kitchen Makeover

So I promised pictures of my kitchen renovation a few days back and here they are!

As you can see from the picture below the kitchen was quite dated. Outdated cabinets, hardware, light fixtures, etc. I desperately needed a quick fix since I can't afford to renovate the whole kitchen right now!

 This kitchen was a nightmare!  At first we thought we could just paint over this dated mustard color....only to find out that there was a layer of wallpaper, drywall mud, and another layer of wallpaper underneath!  It turned into a stripping wallpaper nightmare!

 

Justin attempted to repair the walls after the wallpaper was removed...only to decide they were to bad to save. So yes, a day and a half wasted stripping wallpaper only to decide to rip out all the drywall!  That was not a fun week!

Preparing to paint the cabinets...

 Can I just say I have a fabulous mother-in-law, who worked her booty off painting these cabinets!

 The cabinets were painted a cream, and glazed to give a tea stained effect, to play up the older style of the cabinets. We also updated the hardware to give a more contemporary feel.

 

 We chose Sherwin Williams "Heart of Palm" green for the kitchen. I love green and white kitchens, and the fresh clean vibe they give.

(The green in photo below appears more lime than actual color.)

 A new fridge and pantry door helped update the space. (The old pantry door matched the wood cabinets)

The End Result: What do you think? An improvement?

Here is the before photo of the breakfast room...

 

 The first thing we did was rip out the built in...and you can see all the old trim was dark brown.

 The breakfast room was the same wallpaper removal process as the kitchen...as you can see below it was quite a mess!  The nook in the wall is what seems to be a closed in window. We plan on putting in a double window there in the future.

 Justin added crown throughout the kitchen and breakfast room which makes it look so much better!

I must say, I thoroughly enjoy chilling in my calming tropical breakfast room in the morning sipping my coffee, and enjoying the view outside! It is quite soothing!

~ Elle

Painting Anyone?

Whew! I am finally taking a break from all the painting in my house!  I need a break in order to get some of my sanity back! I still have lots of trim to paint before Justin comes back home for Basic Training, but I still have a few months. Thank goodness! I don't want to see another paintbrush for a month!  This week I will finally get all my photos up of the stuff I've been working on.  I hope this helps explain why I haven't been as present lately!

Today the focus will be my front entry and dining room!

THE ENTRY:

BEFORE: Cranberry textured walls (This photo makes the previous color look much nicer than it actually was! The closet door was originally brown and my husband replaced it with a white door.)

1st step: Mud walls to lessen the texture.

2nd Step: My mother-in-law started working her magic by layering gold & silver foil on the walls!

 

3rd Step: Venetian plaster overlay troweled on.

 4th Step: You can't see it very well but there are crystals on my wall! It is beautiful when the sunlight comes in! I feel like I am in a fairytale!

The Outcome: A beautiful sparkling entryway!

THE DINING ROOM:

BEFORE: (previous owner's furnishings.)

Outdated yellow walls

 

Transformed into: My West Indies Dining Room!

This is a faux leather technique with a metallic palm stencil that my mother-in-law picked out a year ago with me in mind!  It was exactly what I had been wanting in my dining room!

I can't believe how well the walls match my chairs!

The stencil stops halfway because we are going to do a chair rail and window box paneling when my husband gets back from basic training!

 The kitchen & bathroom photos coming soon...

~Elle

Our last dinner out...

On Thursday my mother-in-law arrived safely into town.  Kim is a professional faux painter, and has offered to do several rooms in our new home!  I'm so VERY excited!  As soon as it is complete  I will show you before and after photos!  You can see Kim's past work at Great TransFAUXmations.

On another note...We decided to all go out for dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy, which I had never been to before.  It was the last time Justin and I would be going out to dinner before he leaves for basic training for 5 MONTHS! :(  The reality of how long he will be gone is just now starting to sink in since we have been so busy on the house. He leaves Tuesday and I am going to miss him like crazy.

 Sorry for the quality! All I had was my iphone to take pics with!

Haha...I don't think Justin knew where to look at! :)