Kitchen Upgrade: 1 Year Later

Well, it's been just a touch over a year since I finished upgrading the kitchen. I look back on it now and it's almost like a dream. I forget how much anxiety, exhaustion, and hard work it was, and I think, "Oh, it wasn't THAT bad."

It's sort of like pregnancy amnesia...so I've heard.

In the beginning...when things were innocent and easy.

We've had friends, family, and even a couple of realtors compliment us on a great job, and I think it is a HUGE improvement compared to what it looked like before.

Orange you glad we updated the kitchen?

I can proudly say that everything has held up like a champ. The cabinet finishes are wonderful and I've had no chipping or scraping, other than that one incident of knicking a cabinet with a measuring cup. I give the cabinets a wipe down every once in a while to clean up spills or drips.

My outside vented range hood is a dream, although we've learned that we have to grease the outside wall vent flap with silicone grease in the winter to keep it from freezing shut!

The ONLY touch up I've had to do recently is re-caulk the base of the backsplash with the counter top. It's pretty common that caulk can shrink and pull back a little over time and need to be refilled. That, and I went pretty sparse on the initial application.

If there's anything I hate more in the world it's caulking. It drives me nuts and I end up wiping away more than I put down to prevent it overlapping onto the tile/counter or looking sloppy. I'd ALMOST rather cut and fit trim moulding....ALMOST. :-)

Anyway, I decided to try the whole put-down-painter's-tape trick for caulking a straight line with the least amount of mess, and it worked pretty well. I still had some touch up wiping to do, but much better than free-styling it.

So, one year later I am still thrilled with the kitchen upgrade and I'm SO, SO glad I did it. It's made a huge impact on the value of our home and it's made the kitchen more user-friendly. Not to mention it's gorgeous!

How to Patch a Drywall Hole: The California Patch

There has been one, last small project that's been hanging over my head from last year's kitchen remodel, and that's been to patch up this drywall hole in my garage.

When we had an electrical outlet installed in our pantry, the electricians had to go in through the wall on the opposite side in the garage. Fortunately, it was small enough for me to use one of my favorite drywall patch techniques: The California Patch.

I'm not sure how it got this name, but if you've ever had to patch a sizable hole in your drywall, you know that it's a nail-biting experience. There's nothing worse than to go through all the trouble to patch a drywall hole and see that it is very noticeable after priming and painting. In my experience, the California Patch technique is the easiest and gives the best results for a seamless drywall patch into an existing wall.

This drywall patch technique is best for holes no larger than 6" and my hole is right on the edge of being too big, but I was able to pull it off. The California Patch technique should be used for cosmetic patches and should not be done in areas of drywall that will later be used for load-bearing purposes (i.e. install shelving, hang pictures).

So, with that said, here's what you will need to patch up a hole using the California Patch technique:
a piece of drywall (I had leftover greenboard), some joint compound, a spackle knife, a utility knife, a measuring tape, a pencil, and something to write on.

First you are going to measure your hole. In my case, I was lucky and the electrician left the original drywall piece that he cut out, so I was able to use and trace that piece for my template. Once you have your measurements, draw your hole shape on the drywall. Be sure to leave at lease 2" of drywall on all sides.

Next, you are going to score the drywall, outlining the shape of your template, without going all the way through to the bottom paper layer. Overscore to the edges and snap-and-peel the top paper and drywall material from your shape. You want to leave the bottom drywall paper layer behind. It helps to score the edges in several places and snap-and-peel in small pieces, 

When you are done, you should have your drywall shape with the back paper layer exposed. I actually did this backwards and should have traced my template on the other side of the greenboard, but since this is a cosmetic patch in a non-wet environment, it should be alright.

After this, you want to dry fit your drywall patch to make sure it fits. You may have to sand or scrape off the edges of the drywall if it doesn't fit. It doesn't have to be tight, but you do not want more than 1/4" gap between the drywall patch piece and the hole size.

Once you have verified the patch piece fits inside the hole, liberally butter the extending edge paper piece with joint compound and then refit the patch back into the hole. The joint compound should hold it in place.

Next, take your spackle knife and start pulling out the extra joint compound from under the paper. Go all the way around and taper out from the edges. Try to make the paper smooth and flush with the surrounding drywall. Be sure to not press too hard, as you will tear the paper.

When you are done, you may have to fill in the center of the patch a little to make the patch flush with the surrounding drywall. Let it dry for 24 - 48 hours, sand some of the rougher or high points, then add another very lite skim coat of joint compound over the entire patch while feathering out into the wall. Once that is dry, sand again to make it flush with the surrounding wall, prime and paint!

I still need to sand and add my second skim coat to this, but you get the idea.

If you really want to see a true artist do this, check out Russel Olinatz's drywall repair series on Youtube. He makes it look so damn easy! #drywallrepairgoals

Painted Kitchen Cabinets: 6 Months Later

I have a love/hate relationship with white kitchen cabinets.

I love how clean, open, and modern they make a kitchen look, but I hate that they show every smudge, drip, and finger print. I had white kitchen cabinets in my house in Florida and I was always on the lookout and wiping them down. I swore that I would never have white kitchen cabinets again...ahem. Well, people change, right?

It's been a tad bit over 6 months since I finished painting the kitchen cabinets and they have cured and held up WONDERFULLY!

I have only had 1 chip in the paint on an upper cabinet, and that is from me hitting the cabinet pretty hard with a glass measuring cup when I was pulling it out for use. Somehow, I had underestimated where the cabinet door was or I was distracted/in a hurry and hit the door pretty hard. This is the result:

No biggie. A little sanding, a drop of primer or two, and a touch of paint will make that good as new. That IS one of the benefits of painting your cabinets though, when you have a scratch, it's easy to fix. If I had taken a chunk out of a pre-fabbed cabinet, I wouldn't be able to match the paint.

Otherwise, the rest of the cabinets get a scuff or drip here and there. Mostly, I just wipe off with a damp washcloth, but for scuffs from silverware or stainless steel bowls, I VERY LIGHTLY buff them out with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

I've not seen any wearing-down/scuffing of the paint when I do this, even if I have to use a little elbow grease on tougher scuffs. That's a benefit of having white cabinets too. I know others who have painted their cabinets darker colors and have wiped-off scuff marks which later show. I attribute this also to the type of paint you use.

Overall, my husband and I are VERY happy with how the Benjamin Moore's INSL-X Cabinet Coat paint has held up and we've had many compliments. You can now get it at Home Depot too.

Would I do it again if I needed to? Absolutely, and may HAVE to depending on what type of house we buy next and where we want to spend money. However, next time I would invest in a sprayer to get that perfect, manufactured finish and to save time.

How to Glam Up Your LED Lightbulbs - Part 2

I really wish there were more decorative options for light bulbs. I mean, I KNOW there are more options out there, but they are super expensive.

So you all remember my Phase I, glammed up bulbs right? I took regular LED bulbs and removed all the warning and product information using nail polish remover.

They looked fine, but I decided to step it up a notch and introduce some more bling with gold, metallic spray paint.

First, I grabbed some painter's tape, Glad Press-n-Seal, and my LED bulbs:

I used the painter's tape to cover the plug end of each bulb and used the Press-n-Seal to cover the glass portion, leaving the base exposed like this:

I used Press-n-Seal to cover the bulbs versus the painter's tape, as it was more flexible and able to mold to the bulb's shape better. 

I then took the bulb's outside and gave them some love with a metallic spray paint. Don't they look like Christmas ornaments? So pretty!

I let them dry for about an hour and then removed the tape and Press-n-Seal. Depending on how well of a job you do with preparation, you will most likely have some touch-up work to do afterwards like I did.

I used some paint thinner and a q-tip to remove any over spray on the glass portion, and used a small paintbrush to touch up any portions of the base that didn't get covered. To do this, take a plastic, disposable cup and spray the spray paint into the bottom of the cup until you have a little puddle of paint. I used this to dip my paintbrush into for touch-up.

After the touch-ups are dry, screw those babies back in, step back and enjoy!

I think they turned out fabulous, don't you? The only irony to all of this is when I have the fixture turned on without the dimmer on, you really can't see the gold at all, it comes across as black. They really look their best without the light on, which suites me fine, as we rarely use this fixture.

Another way to add an extra little bit of glamour to an otherwise boring light fixture. You're welcome!

Laundry Room Upgrade Reveal

I’ve been wanting to post this post for a while, but it seems that every time I wanted to take pictures, the weather didn’t want to cooperate with a sunny day. Sigh, such is life in the fall and winter.

Anyway, I’m VERY excited to show you my new, updated laundry room!

I think laundry rooms should be glamorous and fun; a place where you WANT to go. How many of you schlep down to a dark corner in your basement to do laundry? Not very inspiring is it? Well, I didn't exactly have to do laundry in a dark basement, but my laundry room certainly wasn't inspiring.

Take a look at what it used to look like: 

Blah, right? Uninspiring and kinda messy. 

So I began my transformation with some wallpaper ideas. You can see the samples I was trying out taped to the wall in the above picture. 

Next came this FABULOUS Italian mid-century chandelier that took us forever to figure out how to wire and install. 

This thing truly is gorgeous. I love it and want to marry it. 

But the transformation stopped there for several, several months until my 10-year-old washing machine started acting up. Really, it was on it's last legs. Besides not being able to select a few cycles on the control pad and only being able to use hot water on one cycle, it used to randomly beep out this morse-code conversation for minutes at a time. We used to joke that it was talking to the aliens. 

So, we had to go purchase a new washing machine, which made sense to include a new clothes dryer, since our old one was 10-years-old as well.

By this point, I had picked out the wall paper sample I wanted and had ordered it (hint, it was the second sample down from the top on the left), but was stalling on putting it up as I knew that meant moving the washer and dryer. Besides, I had never installed wall paper and I was nervous, so that made procrastinating easier. 

Once we had ordered a new washer and dryer, I knew it was now-or-never and dove in. After it was all said and done, this is what I ended up with:

I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture with Leo sitting in the window, but the wall paper is a sort of iridescent and white ginko leaf pattern. I wanted something that would pick up the brass/gold from the chandelier and not be too busy or dated. 

However, there were some major changes that had happened once the wall paper, washer, and dryer were installed. I'm not sure if you can see it, but our new dryer sticks out about 6 more inches than our old one did, so that forced me to change my ideas for the shelving.

I originally wanted a shelf that went across the front of the washer and dryer, and then turn at a 45° angle in the corner to the left. I was then going to install a smaller shelf above that

I also wanted and LUSTED over installing these brass shelf brackets from West Elm, but they were expensive and I would have needed like 9 of them to do what I originally wanted to do. 

But even after the change in plans, West Elm stopped carrying these. #storyofmylife

So then I thought, how about an Ikea hack like this?

But, I wasn't digging it, and by then we were talking about selling the house, so I went with some very simple bronze brackets I got from Home Depot. 

BUT, remember this old chandelier from before the kitchen remodel? This will replace the mid-century chandelier when we move...I am taking that baby with me! So, in hindsight, this old chandelier will match the black shelf brackets better.

NAILED IT!

I built and stained the shelf above the washer and dryer, as I wanted something with a skirt that would kind of hide the electrical outlets. I love my nail gun!

The shelf stain color is supposed to be "weathered grey" but it came out with more of a blueish tint, which actually tied into that piece of art I got from World Market.

Let's talk about that table!

The stainless steel table is from Home Decorators Collection, which is a subsidiary of Home Depot. It's a Martha Sterwart piece and is actually part of her garage organization collection, but it's the perfect height to stand in front of an fold laundry. 

It comes in three colors!

I also want to talk about those laundry hampers. They are from The Container Store and they are SUPER strong and durable! 

We have a third one up in our closet for dirty laundry. When I need to bring it downstairs, I literally grab it by the handle and drag it down the stairs without picking it up. I've been doing that for almost 2 years and the handle hasn't broken or shown any wear. Worth every penny.

Since we've updated our laundry room, I've been kind of a laundry nerd. Yes, I have bought into buying and using The Laundress products, even though they cost an arm and a leg. Don't hate, I love the smell! 

I've even taken to using these laundry balls in place of dryer sheets. They make the the clothes, and especially the sheets smell SOOOO divine. 

Mostly, I just love yelling, "HONEY, HAVE YOU SEEN MY BALLS?! WHERE ARE MY BALLS?"

Lastly, I want to talk about my Bravos XL 835 washer and dryer set. So far, I've been very happy with them, but they do make some odd noises that I haven't determined if they are "normal-odd" or "not-normal-odd". My thought is, BREAK NOW IF YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK since they are under warranty.

So, that concludes my glamorous laundry room journey. I love doing laundry now, and even tell my husband to not touch it!  I'm having so much fun!

Tips for Painting Your Kitchen Cabinets (Part 3)

Welcome to the third and last part of my short series on helpful tips for painting your kitchen cabinets. Yesterday, I posted two videos that went over the importance of lighting and in what order to paint your cabinet surfaces for the best result, and today I have two more videos that cover how to and the importance of sanding and cleaning your doors/drawers/frames before moving on.

This first video goes over the type of sanding tools I use and how to sand your kitchen cabinet doors in between coats of primer and paint.

This second video goes over the importance of why and how to clean your kitchen cabinet doors after you sand.

That's it folks for my little series on helpful tips for painting your kitchen cabinet doors! I hope the videos shed a little extra light onto some of the minutia of prepping your surfaces before those two, final coats of paint. Believe me, that extra work makes a difference!

I've had a my house painter, Bill, who paints houses and cabinetry for a living compliment me on my work and even ask ME for tips, so I take that as one of the highest compliments. The extra work also ensures the quality of adhesion, which in the 6 months that we've been using our "new" cabinets, we've not had one chip or flake come off, so that says something.