I'm Dreaming of a White Kitchen.....

Well, for reasons best kept to myself, I've moved on in my ongoing hunt for economical, yet attractive and well-made kitchen cabinets. I've decided to order some unfinished cabinets from thecabinetjoint.com. So far they've impressed me with excellent customer service, plus they carry Conestoga cabinets which look awesome and are well made. On our skinny budget, we'll be painting them ourselves. I'll be sure and update you on each major milestone.

As you know from earlier posts, the wall was removed between our kitchen and diningroom. The studs are still there, but we've decided it's best to knock them down and make the rooms look like one big one. Just like our living room...it'll be one big NARROW room. I swear, what was with these people in the 1950s. There are clearly so many better ways to have laid out this home within the same footprint.

I've obsessed over the colors....
Do I want colorful cabinets?
All white?
Black on bottom and white on top?
Stained on bottom and white on top?

At this juncture, I'm now leaning toward all white. I think we should paint our wall cabinets first, then see how the base looks as a light wood color. Maybe use a sample front to try out a few options. If it looks silly, we'll continue painting the remainder of the base cabinets white as well.

Mr. Buzzkill said he felt like he would be walking between two icebergs when I mentioned all white a few months ago, but I think I've worn him down enough now that he's fine with anything. Teehee.

Now for some dreaming....

Love the chandelier...

photo by ooh_food	via PhotoRee

I have always wanted one of these knife magnets...

photo by thekitchendesigner.org	via PhotoRee

Love the cabinets that sit on the countertop. Unfortunately, I don't have much space to waste. I guess I'll have to let go of this particular dream. I've thought about adding some corbels to make them look more furniture like though. In addition, I like the wood and stone countertops together. I am planning on adding some sort of rustic wood element to each room in my home.

photo by thekitchendesigner.org	via PhotoRee

No More Wire Hangers and Other Changes for the Better

If I'm going to get this house looking good, I decided I should start by thinking up new ideas and systems for keeping the clutter and other things that drive me crazy under control. One thing I hate is wire hangers. I gather them and toss on a regular basis. I also find myself hunting all over for hangers when I do laundry (when being the optimum word). Well, I begged my husband to install a rod in our bathroom closet for storing hangers. It's working out well so far.



Here is a zoomed out picture so you can see it from the larger perspective. It spans the depth of the closet and is located down low. I see my husband has allowed some baby hangers to be added to the mix. I will have to fix that. I store them in a seperate place her my daughter's room.



Next, I went to the dollar store and bought three baskets. I was sick and tired of all the various shampoos, shaving cremes, razors, etc taking up permanent residence on our tub. So, I separated each persons belongings into their assigned basket. This has worked out fabulous too. I had to remind me husband a few times, but he started following the system because I think he, too, hated all the stuff on the tub's edge.



I want to find an inexpensive and orderly way to store all the medicine and toiletries we have in baskets in the upper portion of the closet. Any ideas are welcome. I hate to spend big bucks on the fabric storage units or metal bins - but I want it looking orderly. Another reason, is because every time we need to enter the attic, we have to remove a panel that is located behind the shelves in this closet. Ugh! It makes a mess. You shoudl have seen how bad it was before I had baskets!!

Update on Kitchen

NeedCo is working on the 3rd plan for my kitchen. We have definitely decided to go with the Integrity Line of cabinets because they are inexpensive and look good. My husband visited the showroom and gave the thumbs up on their construction. Yay!

Now I just have to decide the following:

• Do I definitely want to go two-tone? We had decided either stained wood cabinets on bottom and white on top OR black cabinets on bottom and white on top. I figure a black and white kitchen is timeless.
• Or, do I want to go all white? Mr. Buzzkill said that he would feel as if he were walking between two icebergs if we went with all white? Ahhhhh me.....crazy talk! I have heard of plenty of husbands being tentative about all white kitchens, but then being happy about the final outcome. In looking through a book of 500 kitchens last night I didn't see a single one with black on bottom and white on top. If I went that route, I'd want carrerra marble or look alike counter which equals expensive from all the research I've done. The one solid surface countertop I found that looked very much like marble was in the highest cost category. Wouldn't you know it? I'm thinking if we went with all white, then we could go with a different color of countertop that would be less expensive. Also, I think my husband will see that the iceberg feeling will go away once we have stainless steel appliances and some decoration and art work to give the white kitchen some character.

The New Kitchen Is about to Become a Reality!

After much debate and research, I finally called NeedCo Cabinets (located in Homewood, Al) and they are coming out this evening to measure our space and make suggestions. In a few days I'll have numerous layouts in color. They suggested the Integrity, LLC line or the Wellborn Select Series line for our meager budget. Both options look good.

I've decided for our small kitchen I need either white cabinets or light colored wood. I only like the slab front wood styles. Mr. BuzzKill actually left it all up to me. So, this is good news bc I'll get exactly what I want.

He doesn't know it yet, but I went to Benj Moore and purchased some primer and floor paint in a light grey that I am going to paint the diningroom with. Perhaps after he sees it, he'll like it. If not, then we'll look for affordable flooring. I think painting is the way to go for now since we need to use the rest of our budget on other things. I'd be willing to forgo a floor until next year or the year after.

Pictures forthcoming as the new kitchen begins to take place. I'll also take a few shots of the painted floor as well.

This Isn't Your Ordinary Decorator Blog

You won't be seeing cute pictures of my home anytime soon -well except for the nursery. Post to come soon on that one.

I live in chaos, but I've been inspired through the numerous decorating blogs out there I have become addicted to reading late at night when I have spare time. I've decided creating a blog of my own will be satisfying as I document my journey towards a beautiful home. I am convinced if I can do it, anyone can. Maybe it'll inspire a few readers along the way if anyone happens to stop by and read a post. I'm convinced that I'm never going to be wealthy and I certainly won't have any long lost relatives leaving me a fortune in their will. Therefore, I've been on a mission. A mission to figure out exactly what to do with this house I live in to make it a welcoming home. I've scoured blogs and decorator books for ideas. I've nearly driven my husband nuts with questions.

I think I'm finally ready to begin the process. But first, I'll have to let you know what exactly is wrong with this house. This is just the short list.

Before I begin my list, I notice that in all these blogs the female authors usually gives their husbands a cute little name like Mr. Marvelous or Mr. Wonderful. I love him dearly, but my name for him will have to be Mr. Buzzkill. He's pretty pestimistic as far as any plans go to use creativity and ingenuity to get a room looking great on a very skinny budget. I hope to change his mind as progress unfolds. I'll keep you posted on that one. LOL.

These pictures are just the tip of the iceburg, folks.

We recently tore down a wall in our tiny kitchen when I told Mr. Buzzkill I could no longer stand the lack of counterspace. There was a cabinet on that wall too. I kind of wish I hadn't had him tear it down just yet. I better not tell him that though. Our plan is to either purchase some RTA cabinets, IKEA cabinets, or we are heavily considering refacing these cabinet boxes we already have and adding in new stock cabinets as needed. Then, we'll paint them all white. Oh yes, we will definitely be ordering new doors from somewhere.

You'll see here I talked my husband into buying this old armoire which I love. My idea was to use it as a pantry. Nope, that was a bad idea. It's noisy to open so I can't open it when the baby is napping. Also even though I added shelving, it's just very hard to find the food for which I am searching while cooking meals. It's deep and dark in this cabinet. We are considering tearing down the closet in the bathroom and using this to hold towels and toiletries or we may use it as a larger dresser- the one we have now barely has enough storage.

I begged my husband to let me pull up the old nasty Berber carpet he had put in before I knew him. He did that because the previous owner let her dog pee all over the place. Apparently urine stains are NOT easy to get out or disguise. I tried some of the darkest stains possible. Then I experimented with lots of other paint as well. It's an embarrassment. My husband wants to buy engineered hardwoods, but I'm fighting to stay on a budget and I think we should paint all the orignal hardwoods in the house white or light creme. We could easily touch it up until our daughter is older and we no longer have a Great Dane visiting upstairs from time to time. I don't want new engineered hardwoods getting dinged. I might just sneak out and paint this while he's at work and I'm supposed to be contracting here at home.

Our house is a wreck from moving furniture back and forth when we pulled up the carpet. We currently have laminate countertops. We are hoping to make our own concrete ones during the big renovation. Mr. Buzzkill is for trying that at least. You can see I have this corner where the fridge is that keeps me from being able to use many of the cabinets back under the microwave. I have to reach back there and identify things by feel only. My wrist is killing me by the time we are done. I do have some plans for this corner though. Big ones to come in more posts on the kitchen project.

Here is where my dear husband attempted to square up the door because the screen wasn't closing properly. Well, now the door doesn't close, but the screen does. Agghhhhh!

OK, enough for now. I am getting sort of down just looking at all this. I also have to pick up my daughter, Ella, from daycare. She is so happy with the indoor swing I installed in the explosed ceiling joist that we had after tearing down the drywall around it. At least one great thing came from that premature demo of the wall. I can push her in her swing while I'm cooking and cleaning in the kitchen.