Due to lots of wet weather, my kitchen reno has come to a halt. I need to paint the cabinet doors, but that must be done outside. I’ve got a handy new paint sprayer that I’m super excited to use. But aside from that, I’m drowning in pillows. It’s all wonderful, but I’m so busy sewing. I didn’t even get to start my roman shade yesterday. Hopefully I can get caught up on my orders and crank out the shade over the weekend. I’m still crossing my fingers for a semi-sunny day.
…well, I’m attempting to make my first roman shade. I’m a little nervous, but mostly excited. I picked up this roman shade kit from JoAnns (using a a 40% off coupon, of course).
I’m using this lovely robin egg blue fabric. The color is amazing!
The roman shade will replace the blinds that we currently have in the kitchen. I’m working on framing out the window and then I’ll mount the shade on the inside.
I’ll share a full tutorial on the shade once I’m done. Wish me luck!
Installing butcher block is a DIY project that anyone can do if you’ve got the right tools. This project took my husband and I one day to complete and this was the first time we’ve done anything like this before. We used two 8 foot pieces of butcher block from Ikea. They are the cheapest around and this stuff is quality. It’s SO heavy!
Removing our old counters was a snap. They were just screwed in, so once we removed the screws on the underside, they lifted right off. My husband was a little scared about removing the sink, but it went very well. You don’t need to take the disposal apart. There were only 3 places he had to unhook and we lifted the sink right out.
Then we measured and measured again (always measure at least twice!) and made our cuts with a circular saw. You can easily rent a table saw to do this as well, or just ask around and see if you can borrow one from a neighbor. The butcher block is already standard counter depth, so you only need to cut the length.
After cutting, we gave the edges a quick sanding and then put them on. This stuff sands really well and it’s not hard to get a smooth finish.
Here is where the two pieces come together. We used the manufactured edge here and put the cut edge up against the stove where it’s not as easily seen.
Then it was time to cut out the spot for the sink. We used the old counter top as a template. We placed it right on top and traced around the opening.
Sorry I don’t have a picture of the next step. We used a jigsaw (borrowed from a nice neighbor) to cut out the sink hole. We sanded lightly around the edges, dropped the sink back in, and hooked everything up again.
The counters are also easy to secure. They come with these brackets that screw into your cabinets so you don’t need to mess with any kind of glue.
The final step is to sand and oil. We gave the whole thing a light sanding with a fine sanding block. Then we oiled it with the stuff they sell at Ikea. The maintenance is a little high at first because you are supposed to oil it every other day for first 2 weeks. But after that you just need to oil it 3-5 times a year.
So far, we LOVE them! I’m just so happy that the old ones are gone. I’ll show you more pics when the kitchen is done.
Hi everyone! Sorry I’ve been missing for a few days. But I’m back and ready to show you what has been keeping my very busy. I decided to start a mini kitchen renovation and I always seem to underestimate how much time these things will take. Things are a mess around here, but they are going well nonetheless. I’m still in the middle of it, but I thought I’d let you all in on the journey. My kitchen is the LAST room in my house to add my personal stamp to and I’m SO excited. When this is done, you’ll get the full house tour.
Here’s a look at what I did last week.
We’re not replacing any cabinets, but I’m giving them a full paint job.
Everything is going white! Yay!!
I took all the doors off and primed with my favorite Kilz spray primer. Since then, the weather has been horrible, so I’m waiting for the next sunny day to finish painting.
We also removed our counter tops. I didn’t shed one tear upon seeing these babies leave (Ok maybe just tears of joy)!
We replaced them with some fabulous and inexpensive butcher block from Ikea.
Come back tomorrow to see it and get the play by play of our installation.
One of my favorite things about running this blog is getting to decorate for others. It’s a dream for me and there’s nothing I love more than dreaming up a space for my clients (all on a budget!). I’ve had so much fun working with Cathey, one of my e-design clients, on a few rooms in her home during the past few months. Here are the design boards I came up with for her guest bedroom and entryway.
She was leaning toward a blue and orange scheme for the guest bedroom and I was happy to run with it.
For the entry, she wasn’t sure what she wanted. I came up with this yellow and gray scheme with a pop of blue.
I kind of want to move in with her! She’s promised to send me pics of the finished rooms, so I’ll be sure to keep you posted.
If you want help creating a space you love, contact me about my e-design services.
My fabric supply has gotten slightly out of control and I feel like I’ve been drowning in stacks upon stacks of fabric for months. So it was time for a much needed organizing solution.
I picked up a bunch of these wooden pants hangers from Ikea.
They were $1.00 each.
I also added a hanging rod to my existing shelving unit.
Here it is all is hung up neatly in my craft closet.
Isn’t it beautiful!? I just LOVE it!!
Now I know exactly where everything is when I need it.
Now that I’ve given you all the science and technical know how for hanging a gallery wall, I though I’d end this series with some inspiration pics to get you excited about creating your own wall. Here we go…
via Young House Love
I hope you are inspired and have the confidence to tackle your own gallery wall. Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday.
Today I’ve got another idea for hanging your gallery wall with precision. It’s similar to this idea I posted a few days ago, but instead of cutting out each frame individually, you trace all the frames on a large sheet of paper while they are on the floor. It’s the same concept, but might be less time consuming.
This project is from The Nesting Game. She used a couple pieces of tissue paper taped together, traced, measured the holes, etc. She has a great tutorial and photos of every step so you can’t mess it up.
via The Nesting Game
via The Nesting Game
Doesn’t her wall look great?!
via The Nesting Game
Come back tomorrow for one more tip on how to hang a gallery wall.
There are a few tricks to making a gallery wall look easy on the eyes. For an asymmetrical arrangement, you should have a common axis on which the pieces are lined up. The axis will give some order to the chaos and give you a great display.
This invisible line could go through the middle from which you work your way up and down.
Another way is to line the frames up at the bottom and keep the line there.
With a staircase wall, your frames should mimic the steps of the stairs and your axis should be a diagonal line through the middle.
If you want more symmetry you could work within a large square or rectangle, lining your frames up on all sides.
Hanging the perfect gallery wall (without a million unnecessary holes in the wall) is not hard. It just takes a little extra planning time, but it’s worth it to make sure everything is hung just right. All you need is some newspaper and tape.
via Dream Book Design
Trace your frames on to newspaper, cut out, and tape your paper on the wall. Measure where the hanger on your frame is and mark that spot on the newspaper. Hammer in your nail, rip the paper off, and hang your frames. It’s quite simple. Head on over to Dream Book Design for a complete tutorial of all these steps. Her wall turned out amazing!!
Come back tomorrow for more tips on how to hang a gallery wall.
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