WE GOT NEW CABINETS IN THE KITCHEN

Can you tell I'm excited! Matt's Granddad did it! And they are in the house and absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We also got a new dishwasher for Christmas. The first week of January was a really, really good week for 5054's kitchen.

Just as a reminder, here is the awkward space we were working with before. Cooking on a cliff.

Upper cabinets, but no lowers. We will never know. 

I also peeled off the back splash in an attempt to prep this countertop for the new one to match what was going in on the other side of the stove. More laminate, but just a temporary top until we get the new stuff. (Still totally better than what was there) Getting this small piece of countertop off was quite the experience. The plywood is nailed and glued all the way around with 4 inch nails. Apparently when they did it, green laminate was the rage and they must have assumed no one would ever want to take it off. Well, they were sadly mistaken. It does make me nervous about the removal process all the way around the kitchen, but MLW made the executive decision that we will be calling in the pros for that. 

And boom! They.are.so.pretty. And perfect and above and beyond what we thought they could look like. MLW's Granddad is the bomb. 

Look how much more finished the whole kitchen looks with them in. They aren't even painted and its a huge improvement!

View looking the other way. I can't wait to start priming these babies and putting them to good use!

Our other major kitchen improvement was a new dishwasher! And thank goodness for it. The old one, was purchased used, plugged in with a spliced extension cord and scotch tape=terrifing. This one is spanking new and installed safely and correctly. It is also quite as a mouse.

So pretty!

So if you are following along here is the kitchen to-do list:

-Paint chalk board wall on back wall

-Add shaker style detailing to flat bottom cabinets (see this tutorial)

-Add pantry and lower cabinets to random side of stove 

-Paint uppers "Decorator's White" by BM

-Paint lowers a blue/grey slate

-Replace all hardware with ballin' brass hardware (that I already purchased when it went on sale)

-New Countertops

-Subway tile backsplash with grey grout (dark grout=less dirty looking)

-Get a new dishwasher to match stove and fridge 

-Actually install hood above stove 

-Replace lighting 

-Style all those pretty glass uppers

-Cook something yummy when its all done 

2 more things done! I love progress, and lists and changes in the kitchen.

See ya'll soon!

Betsy 

What the hall? Part 2

Back to the hallway we go. As promised I wanted to give ya'll an update on the rug and little art alcove.    The hallway makes me so incredibly happy, I can't even tell you. Basically the corgis and I run down it with glee each day. 

The view walking out of our bedroom. This rug is a total departure for me. Its thick and fluffy and white. White rugs scare me because of my dirty little fur-babies that run up and down. However, I've seen similar rugs used in living rooms with people who have kids and dogs to much success. So far, I've pretty much stuck to seagrass or dhurrie rugs (ie low profile and  tightly woven). This thing is basically a shag rug and yet I love it. Love is weird like that. Also at 70% off from RugsUSA on their black friday sale, how could I say no?

Close up view looking down. The cross geometric pattern is a dark chocolate brown. I also love how the "fluffiness" of the rug makes the lines not so perfect. A home is not so perfect and I like it that way.

See how thick it is! It's basically a cold foot's dream. So warm and fluffy. My only complaint thus far is that it sheds a lot, but I'm hoping with regular vacuuming it will soon end. 

Since we are in the hallway I thought I would walk ya'll down the art as well. So here it is again. 

And as we slowly make our way towards the kitchen, we notice a lovely floating shelf! 

Dosen't this space look so much more finished? That wall doesn't look awkward to me anymore. I think I have a problem with bare walls.

The shelf is a target find that I spray painted white. I wanted a shelf with a lip so I could put photos up there without fear of them falling off. I found the one I wanted at Pottery Barn, but it was a little pricey. When in doubt head to Target. This shelf is also the perfect width for the wall and about 1/3 what the Pottery Barn option was. An air plant, moss in amber shot glass, map of the London Tube from this summer, a fun etsy print, and 2 frames from HomeGoods was all I needed. I love it! I'm also happy with the new mix of color. Green from the air plant, cobalt blue from the frame and a little touch of rustic from the wood frame and shot glass.

Taking a step back and looking at the full entry, I'm still super pleased. The shelf doesn't protrude enough to pull focus, but still adds nice balance. 

One more shot of my print from Stephanie Creekmur that hides, just behind the front door...

 And finally the view looking the other way.

There is still that one wonky wall that I need to balance, but overall I'm pleased as punch. Oh, that rug..

-B

{Also a little Monday happy...}

The Green Room

Guest Room 2 is finally looking like a guest room! And its green! So we have the guest room 1 or the blue room and guest room 2, the green room. It still has a little bit of a way to go as this was the room we had the least amount of furniture for. By least, I mean none. Luckily, my Mom has been harboring an extra bed for me for the past few months and my Dad was able to move it down to Chuck as part of his big retirement move! Yay for parents! I ventured back into paint world a few weeks back after deciding on Ben Moore's new color "Van Halen Green" or HC120. Green but not too green. You know how I feel about colors that change color with the light. {hint: I love them}
Anyway, the room is still far from done, but here is the mid stage phase update:

It all started with borrowing a truck from our wonderful friends and neighbors. Trucks make me happy. So does rescuing furniture from my parent's garage. 

And this is the crazy mess  of a room we moved it into. Basically it has been our storage room for the past 5 months, but no more! Its time to have room for not 1 but 2 guests! 

And here is the bed ready to rock n roll.

I have been causally thinking about the layout of this room for a while and its been a little tricky. Its as big as our master, but the windows are laid out differently. I started out on the wall that looks out into the backyard and put a few of the accents together to see how it all was fitting. 

The palm pillow has a home! So does this awesome fluffy bedding I found at Homegoods before we even bought the house. I liked the bed here, but it made some of the other space awkward. I also have 2 big duck chairs that I needed to work in for a sitting area and this placement just didn't leave any good arrangement for them. 

And then basically I moved everything to the other wall. And it worked much better! See the duck chair peeking out in the upper right corner. I found the palm fabric on joanns.com so I believe I'm going to recover the seat cushions in that. I hope to keep everything else a either a crisp white or medium wood tone, with small touches of you guessed it, gold. The headboard may or may not go as well. I love love love it, but I think it might be a little to dark for what I'm going for. In my head this is my mid-century modern palm springs room. Also I've been obsessing over this headboard from Society Social for months. However it is crazy expensive. Alas I've a very similar concept on Craigslist for $150. I just need to bite the bullet and make contact with the seller. {please don't buy it before I can, k?}

View looking the other way. The Ikea cow hide rug stays. I love it and I'm super excited it has a home. Also picture a nice bright white and styled book shelf under that window. P.S. its the one my Dad made for me when I was little! 

Close sence. Still some boxes and art to get out of there, but I'm excited to see it come to completion. Here's a little list of whats to come to finish it all off:

-Small round side table for left side of bed (probably gold)
-An Ikea hack of 2 Rast dressers to fill the right side of the bed under the window
-White window treatments
-White bookshelf under left hand side window
-Recover duck chair cushions and add fluffy pillows
- Table?coffe table? to go between duck chairs
-lamps
-art
-Sheets and bedskirt

Okay I think that is it. Also I can't wait for it to start getting lighter outside. Taking nighttime photos when I get home from work is no beuno. Let the sunshine in!

xo
Betsy

Turn on the lights

I know...another light post. But, we keep getting more and more bold with our electrical skills and a good light fixture can make a whole room. This time we are back in the den. My brother got MLW and I some killer pendant lights from Urban Outfitters that I had been lusting over. Brother Bear is the best gift giver! But first lets revisit what the room looked like the first day we took possession of 5054.

Wha-Bam! I actually really liked the navy blue wall color, but we had to paint over as part of Operation Smokey Bear.  Its pretty wild to think that is where we started though. Notice the little dinky pendant lights tied up in the center of the room? Those would be the stars of this post. 

And here is where we begin. MLW and I put of the first one a few days ago and it was a learning process. The second pendant only took about 15 minuets to install including breaking for photos, while the first took about an hour. Needless to say there was no documentation of the first pendant's hanging. 

Its like a little sneak peak! But do you see where its headed? I hope so, because I was crazy excited! 

The pendant upclose. Can you believe they were only about $60 each at urban outfitters?!? We were able to make use of the existing pendant light cord so that also helped, but not too shabby for new lighting cost. 

So step 1 was to turn off the power at the breaker (Image MLW at the window making hand signals, while I randomly flipped switches). The second was to pull the light down from the celling. And yes, I read blogging how to books. I'm trying to be the best little blogger I can for ya'll!! : D

Step 3 included pulling the light brace thing ( I have no clue what the technical term is?) down as well since we had to switch out the screws. The added width of the pendant meant we needed them to reach down farther so everything actually stayed up on the ceiling. 

I laid everything down in the kitchen for a little pendant light operation.  Betsy, to OR1 please!

Check out the zip tie the previous light hanger used to manage the amount of cord hanging down. Pretty genius! The first pendant doesn't have this handy contraption but I took note for the second and made sure to add it.

So I cut that zip tie off and pulled the cord through to remove the old glass shade we would no longer be needing.

Not really wire cutters but these things did the trick! MLW and I learned from pendant one that there was way to much cord to shove up in the light box considering I wanted the light to hang much closer to the ceiling that it did originally. Notice I'm holding a piece of cord and there is a piece of cord laying on the operating table in the background. Snip Snip. (Manicure desperately needed. My mom is shaking her head at me right now) 

I used the same tool to pull of the insulation from the wires and then to actually expose the wire itself to connect in the light box. Pretty advanced right?

These are the screws I replace the original ones with to give the length we needed.

Then I just re-screwed that back up into the light box and made sure it was good and tight. It always freaks me out to learn how few screws hold things together.

I also went ahead and measured how much of the light cord was hanging down from pendant one. Like I mentioned that was kind of a test run, but I wanted to make sure that pendant two and an equally finished feel. I measured 5 inches of "hang" and placed my zip tie accordingly.

One more go with the scissors and this light operation was complete. 

The pendant then just slide in on top of everything and we were ready to hang.

Boom! Two lights! Pictures don't totally do these justice, they are super cool in person. 

Here is the thing, if you are going to take photos in the man cave turned den, you are probably going to get a photo of a man. Good thing he is good lookin'.

The lights let of a really soft glow, which I love. We do have to turn on other light sources if we really need the room bright, but those occasions are rare. For the most part they add a perfect warm glow and just look so dang awesome. A little like two mid-century modern beehives, if thats a thing? 

So there you have it, another lighting adventure down. I'm sure if an electrician ever stumbles upon this blog, he or she will just shake their head at me. But, hey, so far nothing has caught on fire and no corgis or people have been injured in the making of this blog. 

Love the lights and love ya'll!

Betsy 

One Little Word

I've taken the plunge and joined Alie's One Little Word for 2014. My word: Change.
The last few days of 2013 I found myself saying over and over how much I feared and hated change. But change is what moves us forward and pushes our creative boundries. So I've decided to face change and accept it into my life. The more I've reflected on it the more I've realized that this one little word affects almost every area of my life I want to improve upon or change. How I eat and exercise, how I spend money, how I operate in my professional life and how I want my future to look like.

So I plan to update ya'll once a month with changes, big or small. Change 2014!