Kitchen Update- Starting to Come Together!

My mom and I went shopping over the weekend and I got a couple of pieces for the kitchen; red gingham fabric for curtains and rugs for the floor. I was a little nervous about the rugs, because the were not the braided rugs that Tom and I had in mind, but I am so happy with the end result. The kitchen feels like it is coming together now, and it feels a lot warmer than before. Excuse the Halloween lights in the picture, it is that time of year.

The curtains are handmade. A couple of years ago I was looking for curtains at a department store and the prices made me gag. A curtain is more or less a rectangle of fabric with the edges turned over and a sleeve stitched into the top to run a curtain rod through. That being said, why are curtains so darn expensive? I made the decision that day to make my own from now on and I've never looked back. Not only is it extremely cost effective, I also have the luxury of making the curtains specifically for the window, with the exact fabric that matches with my decor.

Our kitchen window overlooks our balcony, which we set up with some window boxes full of herbs and a bistro set. It's a nice view with a lot of sun, so I opted to make cafe curtains. This was actually my first time making this style of curtains, usually I make drapes, but I really like how they came out.

It took me about 3 hours to cut and sew curtains for both my window and the door to our pantry. I was able to get them done the same day I bought the fabric. Tom was impressed and took me shopping for curtain rods so that we could hang them the same day. Needless to say, I am pleased.

Next on our list of projects for the kitchen? Refinishing our baker's rack with a nice coat of black spray paint. I just need to wait for the rain to stop for a few days.

Our Kitchen Shelf

Tom and I had a big empty wall in our kitchen, so we decided to fill the space with a shelf. Tom inherited a butcher block from his grandmother, so I wanted something wooden to tie in with the butcher block. I knew what I was looking for, a deep shelf with pegs that we could hang stuff from.

Our mission to find the shelf began at a local unfinished furniture store. We found a shelf that was the right length and depth, but it did not have pegs.

Tom immediately refused the shelf because it was poorly constructed and stapled together. Tom and I subsequently left the unfinished furniture store and headed to a home improvement store, where we quickly learned that the lumber necessary to build a shelf cost more than the shelf at the unfinished furniture store. Tom responded by heading to the hardware aisle and purchased some screws. Our new plan was to purchase the shelf at the unfinished furniture store, take it apart, and put it back together, correctly. We purchased the shelf, some pegs, and some wood plugs and went home.

In terms of taking the shelf apart, Tom was easily able to pull the shelf apart, which I found kind of disturbing. I am not going to name the unfinished furniture company that we went to, but I am also never going to return to purchase furniture from the store either. I distressed each piece of the shelf with rocks, a meat tenderizer, and just overall abuse. Distressing is awesome, you should try it some time. Tom drilled holes in the cross piece and I attached the pegs with a bit of wood glue. We then reassembled the shelf with wood glue and screws. Tom counter sunk the screws and capped them off with wood plugs. Once assembled, the shelf felt much sturdier than when we started, always a good thing.

The next day, I finished the shelf with an oil product both stained and protected the wood. Five coats later, we ended up with a color that we liked. The stain also made all of my distressing stand out. This morning, while I was at work, Tom hung the shelf. He mounted it right into the studs so that the shelf could support weight. Originally, Tom had our cast iron frying pan sitting on top of the shelf, but I wanted to decorate, and that completely defeated the purpose of having the pegs. We fashioned some pot hooks out of 4 inch segments cut from a wire hanger. The top is decorated with some random knickknacks that we've accumulated.

Inspiration Source

Finished Product

Overall, I'm impressed with our project. I have been purchasing Tom tools for Christmas and his birthday for the last couple of years, so it was nice to see him actually use them. Also, if you compare the finished project to our inspiration, I think we hit our mark. It is nice to have little bits and pieces of our kitchen coming together, it makes me excited to go shopping for rugs and fabric to make curtains tomorrow.

Kitchen Inspiration

Sources: Pot Rack, Clock, Mixer & Glasses, Dishes, Pans, & Casserole Set, Braided Rug, Shelf, Curtains, Baker's Rack, Butcher Block, Canister Set, Dancing Snacks, Inspiration Kitchen paint chips courtesy of Sherwin-Williams Chip-It tool

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how we wanted to make over our kitchen, both to make it more pleasant to be in, as well as to make the kitchen more functional. Thanks to Anna's tutorial on How to Create a Design Board, I was finally able to put my vision together. I feel a ton more comfortable about it to, because we already have the majority of the items on the board, it's just a matter of putting everything together in a cohesive way and altering a couple of things. For example, we have a baker's rack, but right now it is ivory. It's just a matter of some sanding and a can of spray paint to update the baker's rack and have it match the rest of our kitchen. We have a large empty wall on the kitchen, and I have been collecting some antiques, so now it is just a matter of finding an unfinished shelf so that I can match the finish to the antique butcher block we already have. The goal of the pot rack is to get the pots and pans out of our limited  cabinet space. I only insist that we purchase the new pans first, so that I have something I will be happy to have out on display. Tom is happy because he finally understands why I'm going nuts with the spray paint and sees everything as a cohesive plan. The fact that red is his favorite color helps out a bit too.

What do you think?

Updating with Spray Paint

As anyone that may have followed me over from Our Day (In the Making) could figure out, I really enjoy crafts. There is just something awesome about putting a handmade touch on something to come out with a one-of-a-kind item. This is why it may come as a surprise to find out that in my 31 years, I have never used spray paint. When my sister found out, she said she joked that she was embarrassed to know me.

It all started when my mother gave me a wooden spice rack from the 90's that she no longer wanted. Tom and I definitely need a spice rack, but we are trying to update our kitchen, not add more hand-me-downs to the mix. Tom suggested spray painting it black. At first I was skeptical, but we found a nice satin black spray paint and the end result was perfect. I would post pictures, but now I'm in the process of updating all the labels on the individual spice jars, so, more on that later. I was so impressed with the results of the spice rack, that I decided to salvage some of our other wooden kitchen accessories, like the mug tree.

Sadly, I did not take a picture of my mug tree before I painted it, I definitely should have, because I could not find a picture of it on the web. So my "before" picture is the closest image that I could find. Same wood color and overall shape, just slightly different form. My after picture is after a single coat of black satin spray paint and the addition of a cork bottom to prevent slipping.

Before:

Source

And after

It would go without saying that Tom has created a bit of a monster by introducing me to spray paint. I have our "new" paper towel holder drying on the back deck right now. A matched set for the price of a can of spray paint! Yay! 

Apartment Kitchen Make Over

Our kitchen, the day we moved in

Just about a year ago, Tom and I were less than a week away from our wedding. We were also in the middle of moving into our apartment. Over the last 12 months we have definitely transitioned our apartment into our home. Rooms that were once full of boxes are now full of furniture, and we have put rugs on the floors to make everything seem more "homey". You know, about as much as you can do when you are renting. A couple of weeks ago, I had an epiphany of sorts. I realized that I  absolutely hate our kitchen. I know I am sort of stating the obvious by saying this, but our kitchen looks like an apartment kitchen. More specifically, like a college student's apartment kitchen. Do not take this the wrong way, I'm not trying to bash on college students, what I am saying is that I graduated college 8 years ago. (Holy crap, has it really been that long?!?!?!) I'm married now, it's time to have a grown up kitchen.

Up until now, our kitchen was made up of hand-me-downs and stuff that we have individually been hanging onto for a decade or more. I was not blessed with a bridal shower before I married Tom. Due to the fact that I was young and stupid once, my marriage with Tom is my second wedding. In my family, bridal showers are reserved for first time brides, as they should be. I am not bothered by the lack of a bridal shower; however, the amount of ivy kitchen stuff I had left over from my bridal shower to my now-ex does bother me. Out with the old, in with the new. It's time to update our kitchen, well, as much as we can in a rented apartment. My mother-in-law gave us a gorgeous 1950's vintage table before we moved from Kansas City to Maine. Even though the table sits in our dining room with a set of matching reproduction chairs, I opted to use the table as design inspiration for our kitchen. Ideally, we will be in a home of our own in the next couple of years, which means the table will eventually make it into the kitchen.

Source My new dishes! I have a set in red and black

This brings us up to now, we are updating and redecorating our kitchen, on a budget. Our color palette comes directly from the table, red and chrome with a little black thrown in for flavor. Originally, I wanted to go full 50's vintage, but now I think I am going to go for more of a vintage flavor with a modern feel. So far I was able to acquire a vintage chrome canister set, we also have a new set of dishes, bakeware, and knives thanks to sales at shopworldkitchen.com. If you have not heard or visited this site, I would strongly recommend it. They carry brands like Corelle, Pyrex, and Corningware and they are always having sales. We are just waiting for a Revere sale so that we can upgrade our pots and pans. I'm eyeing some other decorations from around the web, and I'm also trying to work some DIY projects in, just to add that personal touch. We are about 1/3 of the way through right now, and I am already so much happier with my kitchen.