One Complete Project.. the Kitchen

We always have several projects in progress at once at the abode.  One, however, that we have officially denoted as "complete" is our kitchen reno!  The kitchen was "under construction" for two whole years - ever since we bought our place until just before our wedding this past October!  Our "to do list" consisted of, and was completed in the following order:

1) Replace the ugly light in the kitchen

2) Add under cabinet lighting (I call it our "mood lighting")

3) Expand our work space (it is t-i-n-y) 

4) Replace the vinyl flooring

5) Install Crown Molding

6) Install Light over extended workspace

7) New Appliances

8) New Countertops/Sink

9) New Backsplash

10) Repaint (there isn't a pic of this below... I should take one) 

We did every single item ourselves - installed tile, crown molding, lights, ripped out coutertops and old appliances, cut and installed the granite, installed appliances, installed backsplash, and of course, paint.  It was frustrating at times (i.e. when we had to cut our old dishwasher in half with a saw to get it out before we could install the new one), but definitely rewarding, and super cheap!  Yippee!

A glimpse at the kitchen's progress in pictures... love it!  Info on how we completed everything is sure to follow in the future:

Kitchen when we bought it ,, blah

New Lighting, Flooring, Crown Molding, and Extended Workspace (on right)

Extended Workspace (fits perfect), and light above (the crabs have been relocated to a better spot)

Removing old countertops

Installing granite

Installing Granite

New Appliances (Grouper checking it out)

New appliances (see cement board on back wall ready for new backsplash)

Installing Glass Tile backsplash

All done! (except for fresh coat of paint .. see the ceiling .. which is done now)

All done!

All done! (well, except for outlet covers which are installed now)

I love the combo of rustic and shiny!

Now, we technically still have a couple of items I would like to complete - like giving the cabinets a nice refresher.  We want to keep the natural wood look but it needs a new coat of stain and sealer.  Also, we want to add door pulls and concealed hinges.  Small beans though compared to the other items.

Painted Blue

Friday night I came home from work in the mood to … paint!  I wasn’t ready to kick my shoes off and relax (supposedly I have a hard time relaxing) so I completed the first coat of the Gentle Tide paint color in our Master Bedroom.  Sunday morning I cut-in around all the trim.  It definitely needs another coat – if you look really close you can see some yellow peeping through, but for now it works.  Plus I still have to do the other room.  Hubs and I love it - he was kind of worried this color would make the room look dark (he has nightmares from the gray paint of days past) but his first words when he saw it was “I like it”.  Success in my book!

Below is what it looks like now with our new paint!

This is what it looked like last week.

And this is what it looked like with our original paint color (yeah.. it has come a long way)

Tackled by Paint

My last post gave you a glimpse at our Vibrant Casa the day the keys were handed to us 2 years ago and it was officially ours (and the banks).  Now it’s time to see where a little lot of painting got us.  All the paint is Behr, from Hubs' favorite store ever, Home Depot, besides West Marine.

I feel like I must write a disclaimer here... I apologize for the move-in mess (at least I am pretty sure we were still organizing here).  I obviously didn't clean up for these pictures.

Living Room – Antique White

Living Room and Dining Room - Antique White

(see the Dining Room in the back there...)

Kitchen – Spicy Cayenne

Master Bedroom – originally Gray (can’t remember….oops)

Master Bedroom – now Hawthorne Yellow (Benjamin Moore) color matched at Home Depot

Guest Bedroom/Office/Dog Room/Storage – originally Gray (can’t remember…oops)

Guest Bedroom/Office/Dog Room/Storage – now Hawthorne Yellow (Benjamin Moore)

color matched at Home Depot

Notice the new hardwood floors.  More on that in a future blog post.

Bathroom – Spicy Cayenne

Started with a light green that we didn’t like, so we used the rest of the Spicy Cayenne… for now.  I have had major plans for the bathroom too since day 1 .. if only money grew on trees.

How we selected our color scheme … a shot in the dark, kind of.  We knew we wanted a more “low key” color in the Living and Dining Room, so Antique White seemed just right.  Although the kitchen was tiny, I really wanted a cozy feeling to compliment the cabinets (that we knew would always stay).  Plus, I wanted to experiment with colors and step outside my comfort zone… Spicy Cayenne was that color and I am still in love with it!  The bedrooms are still a “disaster” as I like to say.  I wanted a calming feeling in the rooms so I originally went with a gray .. lets just say gray and I didn’t work out for these room.  We found out that our master bedroom pretty much never gets natural sunlight unless it is between 4 pm and 5 pm during the summer and the gray I picked out was just too gloomy.  Our non-existent natural sunlight was one reason why we went with lighter hard wood floors – to lighten the space up.  At the same time we installed new hardwood floors one year in, I started looking at yellow paint and found “the perfect” yellow while browsing a Pottery Barn magazine.  I loved it at first but have realized that this yellow is just too “bright” for me to go to sleep to or wake up to.  It would be great for some type of living space, but I feel like it is yelling at me as I try to unwind for the day .. not good.  So, today, recent inspiration has come to transform these rooms into a more calming space using light gray/blue/green color.  More on transforming these spaces soon, so keep posted!



Our Vibrant House - Before

Time for a little intro to the homestead.  Hubs and I live just on the outskirts of DC .. about 5 minutes away - across the river on the VA side.  If anyone knows the area, it by far isn't the cheapest.  We could have moved to the suburbs of DC but 1) we work in the DC area and 2) traffic would be an absolute nightmare leaving two very unhappy people at the end of the day.  And who wants to go home grumpy after a long day of work!  So, we did tons of research, visited a ton of houses, and very soon fell for a little place in an old garden style condo building ... that fit the budget.  We're on the first floor with only one neighbor, so it totally makes us "feel" like we are living in a house, at least that is what we tell ourselves.  There is even a park behind us the that the pup can play in! 

The place totally needed a good facelift when we purchased it.    The previous owners apparently loved every color in the rainbow so we knew we would be painting the entire 800 sf place in 1 week before moving in.  Being built in the 40s and renovated in the 80s with no new updates since the 80s, we also knew we had our fair share of renovations.  Lucky for it - we both build buildings on a daily basis and absolutely love a good challenge!

Without further ado - Our Vibrant Casa Before we tackled it with paint brushes.

 Living Room and Entrance (main door to the left of the window)

 

Dining Room - Right and Left Walls

Kitchen (the only room without paint)

Master Bedroom - Left and Right Walls

2nd Bedroom (to be Office / Guest Room)

Full Bathroom

There you have it! A glimpse at our house before we started DIYing everywhere!