A kitchen makeover and painting a refrigerator...YOU CAN DO IT...and sometimes should!

My friends, Tammy and BR, have lived in their home for over 20 years…and like me they are constantly “projecting.” Tammy is the designer ( a.k.a.instigator,) BR is the muscle and craftsman, and usually I am just an advisor and cheerleader.

A few months ago, they started a HUGE project…remodeling their kitchen.

It is a project they have dreamed about and we have discussed and one their 1990s house desperately needed for years!

This picture was taken after they replaced the head scratching paddle fan over the bar with a thrift store upcycled light fixture. MUCH better but as you can see, there was soooo much more to do.

Remove the funky over-the-cabinet florescent lighting and add can lighting, paint the cabinets, replace dated hardware, a new venthood, new tops and backsplash and replace the ORIGINAL almond stove.

A major list on a tight budget.

During one of our “advisory sessions” (again, my advice and opinions are always free) Tammy mentioned she couldn’t wait for her black refrigerator to go out so they HAD to replace it.

With all the other “must have now” expenses, like replacing the dated almond stove with a stainless, replacing the black refrigerator just wasn’t in the budget. They had already replaced the dishwasher and like most people (including myself) the expense of replacing all our appliances at once is often cost prohibitive.

Light bulb moment.

PAINT IT!!!

I know they have “stainless” spray paint but I seemed to recall a product specifically made for painting refrigerators to look stainless. So I started googling and found this product on Amazon….

The product had good reviews. And like I told Tammy, if it doesn’t turn out great, you can still probably sell the refrigerator on Craiglist for a hundred bucks.

So this is what we started out with…a plain ole’ black refrigerator….

The first thing I did was read ALL the directions but most importantly, the Amazon reviews. The people who have used the product gave some pretty solid advise.

After reading all the reviews, we went to work. I removed the handles (even if you want to paint them, remove them), cleaned the doors thoroughly, and taped off the water dispenser and inside around the rubber gaskets. One of the sagest pieces of advice was to apply THIN coats…so after the first coat this is what it looked like…

While this might not instill confidence in one’s ability to do this, I know how important it is to “trust the process.”

The second coat, a tad better….

By the third coat we were all amazed at how great it looked!

BR did a great job of working Tammy’s list…he removed the over head florescent lighting and capped off the cabinets with crown and installed can lights, painted the cabinets and added new hardware,…

…. removed the old venthood and cabinet above the stove and installed a new stainless vent…

….and removed the old tile backsplash and installed new.

Quartz counter tops were a little bit out of the budget but they were able to achieve a very similar look with new formica.

Beautiful!

Tammy LOVES her new kitchen and fortunately she loves her “new stainless” refrigerator.

Would she be happier with a brand new REAL stainless fridge? Wouldn’t we all!!!! But this is a prime example of changing an element in a room that will stop the growling (and the envy and frustration) until you can afford to do what you really want to do. I have done it over the years with furniture and now I can say I have successfully done it with a refrigerator.

If you don’t love it, CHANGE IT!!!!

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Designing a room....

Everything seems to progressing nicely at the new house…knock on wood! Wood floors are going in, walk in shower is being built, sheetrock repair is being done.

Today I want to talk about “design features.”

As I mentioned before, I kind of “wing it” when it comes to design. Some people need a visual like a design board that shows all the elements of a room.

Me…I find one thing I absolutely love and then go from there.

In the new kitchen, it was this tile….

I can not tell you how much I LOVE this tile. (It was delivered this week…even more beautiful in person!)

I have one space in the kitchen that is about 8’ long…it is the perfect “cubby” for a cooking center…cook top, oven and microwave. My vision is walnut lowers with two painted uppers to the ceiling, walnut floating shelves, white quartz tops, stainless vent hood and this tile.

This tile has a “brushed gold” accent in it so to tie in the gold with the rest of the kitchen I have decided to go with these simple pendant lights above the island….

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They kind of coordinate with the light fixture I have in my dining room…the exact same one I have ordered for the breakfast room in the new house.

What can I say, I love what I love!!!

Some really funky gold hardware.

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A touch of “whimsy.” I’m not a big “cabinet hardware” person…I don’t even have them on my cabinets here…but I am going with shaker style cabinets and they will need hardware. I just thought these were fun and different.

The appliances are all stainless. I LOVE my black stainless appliances, but I fear that will be one of those “fad” things. I think in the long run I will be happy with stainless. Also, there is Carrara marble accents in the tile backsplash and greyish veining in the quartz tops…I think the stainless will blend right in.

I have a two door/two drawer refrigerator. I went with a side-by-side.

First, I will NEVER buy another Samsung product. Love the other appliances but the ice maker on the fridge hasn’t worked right since the second year… I actually have to go buy ice every week. Evidently it is a “design flaw” not covered by their warranty. Rampant problem and no real fix. Not cool Samsung.

Second, while I love the drawers, I am just getting too old to bend down and dig through a big ole’ drawer for a frozen chicken. I know side-by-sides are not nearly as energy efficient and they aren’t the “in thing” right now, but I loved the one I had years ago so I am going back with one!

I read reviews and decided to go with either Kitchen Aide or Whirlpool. Considering the price difference, I went with Whirlpool.

The bar stools…I have struggled with that one because I have had mine for 20 years and I still love them especially after this little “makeover”…truth is if I needed “bar height” vs “counter height” I would just take them with me.

Unfortunately they are not counter height and they are iron so cutting them down is not feasible… so I had to find new counter height bar stools. The minute I saw these I knew they were exactly what I want….

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Super simple and I think the walnut color will tie in beautifully with the walnut base cabinets and floating shelves!

This is my “design board”….I drop pictures of what I like into a computer file…each has at least one element I like. I may not like everything in the picture, but there is one thing in each I am drawn to…

I know I am drawn to walnut cabinets…but I don’t want ALL of them walnut so I am going to have walnut lowers in the “cooking center” and painted uppers. The entire island will be painted. The tops are white quartz with greyish/taupish veining. I was able to go to the quartz place and actually pick out the slabs of quartz I wanted.

Some people HAVE to have a design or “mood” board….

…something that allows them to see every element of their design (This is not my design board, just one I plucked off Pinterest.)

I get it…and it isn’t hard to make…just find what you want on line and drop it into a file, then create a “board” on a program like Photoshop. You are able to see all your elements and determine if they coordinate.

Personally, I can see every detail in my “minds eye.” I wake up at 3 a.m. every morning and visualize every single element. Probably drives my subs nuts because if I “see” something I like, I will text or email them at 4 a.m. with my idea. (Hopefully they mute their phones at night or the “ding” of my text will wake them at this unGodly hour!)

My motto…YOU DO YOU! If you need a design or mood board, go for it. Do what works for YOU! Probably would have been a lot easier on my cabinet guy had I had a design board rather than 30 random pictures of cabinets and kitchens and having to go through each one to show him the one element in each pictures I love. I only hope and pray he has the same vision as I do!

Guess we’ll see in a few weeks. In the meantime I will continue to micro-manage the poor guys who have to work at the house every day…lol!

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BIG LIFE CHANGES

I know this is a rare Monday posting, but I can finally share the big changes that are happening in my life.

A few months ago I woke up one morning and decided it was time to sell my apartments.

I called a realtor I had worked with last year and told him I was ready to sell. At 3:30 that afternoon he brought me an acceptable offer.

I have owned these apartments for 23 years.

At first I was a bit “sad.” After all, they have been my “career” for 23 years…they are what I do!

The income has provided me with the ability to provide for my children and give them a good life.

I’m only 56…I still feel like I have a few good years in me.

Yes, I am giving up a decent income. I have to roll the profit into other investment properties, specifically rental homes, but they will not produce near the income the apartments have. But that is okey…sometimes you have to sacrifice quantity for quality. The “quality” of my life will be greatly improved.

Yes, I am “starting over” at 56. The new rental homes will not take up near the time the apartments did…so the question now is what will I do with all this free time. Trust me…I am not one to sit around on my hands. I have no doubt I will find SOMETHING to do!

It’s been a stressful few months…I’m usually awake and ticking by 3 a.m. and at this point I feel like I am running on fumes.

So naturally I did what I do when I am stressed and frazzled…I went out and found something else to fret about.

We bought a new home.

For years I have wanted to “down size.” Now that we are empty nesters we don’t need a big house with three empty bedrooms upstairs and a huge yard to care for.

So naturally I went out and found a house that is WAY bigger than what we have now and has a large yard that needs TONS of work.

After a lifetime of owning “projects” I wondered if I might have ONE MORE project in me. I guess I am getting ready to find out.

The new home is waaay more “traditional” than I like…but it has soooo much potential. It has good bones and a workable floor plan!

The kitchen and master bath are complete gut jobs…and after a lifetime of living in “remodel messes” I have decided that this work will be contracted out and we will not move until the big, messy work is done!

The big wall between the kitchen and living room will go away, as well as all the cabinets, and I plan on putting a humungus island smack dab in the middle of the existing kitchen.

The wall on the far right with the glass cabinets will become the “cooking” center with a cook top, wall oven and microwave. And the coolest tile backsplash in the whole world. I can’t wait to share!

No need for lots of upper cabinets because it has a huge walk in pantry!

This is the “sitting room” adjacent to the kitchen…

One way to “detradionalize” this home will be to replace the arched transoms with rectangle ones…a bit of work since it will require brick and sheetrock repair. This is on my list of things to do, but closer to the bottom.

The quickest, simplest and cheapest way to “detradionalize” is to remove all the crown molding around the cased openings and windows! The crown around the ceiling will stay!

Another way is to change out light fixtures…that is closer to the top of the list along with removing carpet and adding more hardwood flooring (yes they are REAL hardwood floors) and refinishing them all with just a clear coat…no stain!

The fireplaces? Yes those will eventually get redesigned…again, not something I will tackle right this minute but it is on “the list!”

The master bathroom…ICK!!!! Suffice it to say, it is a gut job!

Right now I am in the process of “making the plan.” Meeting with tile guys and cabinet makers and flooring companies…getting quotes and ideas. Making a list of what HAS to be done…wants vs. immediate needs.. As always there are things I WANT to do but I might not be able to do right this minute…they stay on the list, just closer to the bottom.

I have a life time of inspiration to pull from but I am still grabbing pictures from the Pinterest and the internet. I pretty much know what I want…

Now that we have closed, it is time to “execute the plan.” We start this week with demo…and then I will work the plan from there.

One by one I will be closing the new rental houses and hopefully creating a “new career.”

These are the big life changes that are going down in my world! Huge!

While the apartments have been stressful and back breaking at times, they were my “career”…they were what I did to provide for my family. Saying good-bye is like retiring and moving on to another career.

This house has been our home for 20 years…it is where I raised my children and I have poured my money, talents and time into this house to create a home.

It will be tough to walk away from both…but that is what is going on in my life and I am super excited about the next chapter…whatever that may be!

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The calm AFTER the storm....

We have all heard the expression "the calm before the storm." For DIYers, we live for the calm AFTER the storm.

Before the storm we are searching non-stop for "inspiration," driving all over town or burning up our computers looking for materials... measuring, planning, pondering, stressing.

Then the day comes...the dreaded "demo day!"

Unless you have the luxury of starting from scratch there is always a little bit of "demo."

As you probably know I have spent the better part of three years "sitting on my hands," doing everything in my power to NOT paint my kitchen cabinets. I just know that someday in the future the "white cabinet craze" will come to an end and I will be stuck with painted cabinets.

SOOOO...in that quest, I have "reset" my entire kitchen, built open shelving, installed glass doors...and now? Well, after much measuring, planning, pondering and stressing, I have decided to take two more steps to a "lighter, brighter" kitchen WITHOUT painting the cabinets.

Hence, the "storm."

This is my kitchen shortly after the "reset".... "at peace."

I decided to install a lighter backsplash. It is time. The tile has been there for 17 years. Truthfully, itwas still the right style, just not the right color....everything was so "orange."

I went online and searched for some inspiration...I was pretty sure I wanted travertine but I wasn't sure what style...subway, tumbled, split-face...just so many options. One of the problems I ran into is that "painted cabinet craze." It seems so many kitchens that feature travertine backsplashes also have painted cabinets...mine are stained.

But I found a few "inspirations" that allowed me to see what the different types of tile would look like...again, I put the pictures in my "inspiration file" and didn't bother to save a "link." So my sincerest apologies if this is your kitchen or picture and I do not give you proper credit...just know that imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery!

These are just of a few of the MANY photos I put in my "inspiration" file.

So off to the tile stores I went. Honestly, I have been looking for new tile since I installed new granite over four years ago...to no avail. I finally found one I loved! I brought home a sample...looked good. Played with it in different lights...all good. So I ordered it!

Here is one small problem with even the simplest change around here. If I am going to install a new backsplash, now would be the time to install the larger window I've kinda been wanting. Bigger window, more light... "lighter and brighter." Right?

But do I want one that raises up like the existing window...or maybe one that slides to the side and has a screen that slides so I can hand stuff out to Brian while he grills.

Hum....so off to the window store. Remember, I DO NOT like to shop...so "shopping" for new windows and tile for a kitchen I know I will have to live with for MANY years is not really what I call "fun."

Finally settled on a larger sliding window and a travertine tile and after everything was ordered I started the dreaded "demo."

First, I removed the 9" cabinet to the left of the window. Honestly, the only thing in that cabinet were long expired cold medications and eye glasses my 28 year old son wore when he was 14! The cabinet didn't go to waste...I removed the door, painted it to match the laundry room cabinets and installed it between the two cabinets above the washer and dryer!

I can still tile, so I started removing the old tile...which means removing the sheetrock because, well, you ARE going to tear up your sheetrock when you remove ceramic tile. No way around it.

Now this is when I admit that I am no longer super woman. When I changed out this window the last time (no, this is not the first time I have changed out this window!) I did all the work myself, except the siding (I don't do siding). I removed the old window, framed in the opening for the new window and installed it.

But that was a few years ago and this time I decided the cost to reframe and install the window was equivalent to what I would spend at the chiropractor. So I hired it done!

After tearing up one wall of tile and sheetrock, I decided to do a little research about tiling over tile.

Now I am one who NEVER paints over paper, or papers over paper, or tiles over tile. I'm a firm believer in removing the old before installing the new. But after a lot of research and talking with a few "experts" I determined that there is no reason I could not tile over the existing backspash...it was sturdy, the tiles were all firmly attached to the wall and I didn't have any mold or mildew issues. So rather than remove ALL the tile around the entire kitchen and then have to replace ALL the sheetrock, I broke my cardinal rule and tiled over the existing tile on two walls.

After a day of window installation and several days of tiling, grouting, sheetrock repair, trimming, painting and cleaning, this is what I ended up with!

I also took the opportunity to add two more glass front doors. I had added several when I did the original "reset" a year ago, and I loved them. So I ordered two maple doors for the cabinets on both sides of the refrigerator, stained them to match the existing cabinets and added reeded glass...love!

My next big goal for this kitchen are new appliances...but as I have said before I can't bring myself to buy new when the old still works just fine...so someday! Honestly, it is a good thing I didn't do it a few years ago when I got a bug for stainless...because now I love the "black stainless." See...it's a good thing I didn't follow the fad then!