House saga - Act I Parts 1 & 2 - The Kitchen

 Before I delve into the kitchen saga that began in June 2018, let's back up to the spring of 2014.  I'd been living in the house for almost 4 years, and really didn't like the kitchen, but hadn't seriously considered remodeling.  The previous owners (who built the house) had 3 different kinds of unfinished cabinets installed, some with a clear coat and some left with raw wood.  The counters were a pebbled gray laminate that I didn't particularly like.  For a small kitchen, it had lots of cabinet space (going all the way to the ceiling), but when I stood at the stove or sink, I felt like they were looming over me.  There was a blind corner cabinet between the sink and the stove that was very impractical, so I didn't really store anything back there.  

The island had 4 usable cabinets, but one of them was turned towards the dishwasher making awkward (to me) jut outs on two sides.

The lights in the kitchen were not well spaced - there were two boob lights, a fluorescent fixture between the kitchen and living room, and a ceiling fan off center over the island.  The backsplash was sort of ok - 2" white tiles, but with a few strangely spaced larger tiles.

The pantry cabinet (to the right of the refrigerator) was ok, but it was 24" deep with fixed shelves, so stuff got buried in the back all the time.  The best thing about it was the chalkboard on the side - everyone loved that 😊

This corner set of cabinets consisted of 2 15" wide cabinets, and an 18" wide upper and lower.  They were very awkward sizes to store things.

The sink was a huge (48" wide) vintage one, but came with its own issues that had gotten progressively worse in the 4 years I'd lived here.  I hadn't paid any attention to underneath the sink (except to throw plastic bags into a crate living there).  When a chunk of metal came off of the faucet, I started looking for replacement faucets.  I pulled out the crate from below to unhook the faucet and discovered that it had been leaking and rotting out the cabinet.  There was no way to save the sink cabinet, and the sink itself was very rusty.  

I cried a little to my husband … he was (and still is) in Arizona for his job.  I researched replacing the sink cabinet and watched lots of cabinet/sink installation videos, and figured I could do it myself.  My husband cheered me on from afar, and suggested I look into replacing all the cabinets while I was at it.  After many hours of searching, I decided on white shaker style (which I've loved for many, many years, even before they became the in thing, lol) and purchased them from Cliq Studios.  I didn't replace the island cabinets, but I did modify them.

With the budget we decided on, and me doing the installation, I could splurge a little on the countertops.  I chose walnut butcher block for the island (good old Lumber Liquidators!) and soapstone for the perimeter cabinets.  But first, I had to do the demo …

I'll just share a few fun pictures ('fun' is supposed to be in the sarcasm font, lol) - the backsplash was a real pain to get off - it completely destroyed the drywall behind it, ugh.  So I also got to practice putting up drywall.  It didn't have to be perfect, just good enough to be behind cabinets and backsplash.

Unfortunately, I don't have good pictures of the finished kitchen, only some in process photos.  But I *LOVED* how it turned out!  The counter top guys were phenomenal - this corner is in 3 pieces, with the seams on either side of the skinny piece at the back of the sink.  They cut it so it looked the veining matched, and the seam was almost invisible.  I changed the corner configuration, as you can see.  I picked the Kohler Whitehaven sink, at only 36" wide, so I could have a lazy susan corner cabinet instead of a blind corner.  The sink isn't centered under the window anymore, but it hasn't bothered me a bit - and it's still a nice large sink.

I called this my 'Texas T' counter top 😁

These two 24" cabinets replaced the odd 15-18-15 configuration here previously.  I did make an error by not using a small spacer on the left side wall.  The left drawer front would hit the door trim when I opened it.  In this picture, I'd removed it to cut 1/8" off - that fixed the problem, and no one ever noticed that the left drawer front was slightly smaller.

Since we were already spending so much money, we decided to replace the appliances too.  I'm cooking something in this picture - probably a large batch of HEB chicken breast fajita meat.  For those not from Texas, HEB is a regional grocery store chain - this Texas girl *loves* her HEB 😋

I follow a number of other bloggers, and got lots of ideas from them.  One in particular (Kristi from Addicted2Decorating!!!) inspired me to create a window bench from stock cabinets:  these are unfinished 36" wide, 15" high wall cabinets (like go over a refrigerator or stove), with a plank top I made.  I color matched the paint to the new cabinets.  I don't remember why I didn't have the last door on when I took this picture - it's sitting right there on the floor, lol.  I also made 'feet' for the base of the cabinets so it looked like a free standing piece.  The cabinets are resting on a 2x4 frame that I painted black.  With the feet on the bottom, the black receded and you didn't really see the support.

I kept the old island cabinets but reconfigured them to face the same way (no more weird footprint).  I also painted them a custom turquoise color - I bought a bunch of different brand sample paints and mixed them until I liked the color.   I found a woodworker guy in Austin to put my butcher block together and cut it to shape for me.  He also routed the edges so it had a nice finished look.  I didn't want a super shiny finish, so I went with pure tung oil.  It took about 4 coats to get a really good finish.  I loved how satiny smooth it was!  I did a light sanding and added another coat or two once a year, but otherwise didn't baby the surface.  I had him make the overhang and ultimately had two stools here to eat at the island.  The sides are angled because it's a small kitchen and that gave more room to walk around.

A couple of the island cabinets had double doors, but they always seemed awkward to me.  I bought standard width doors from the Habitat Restore and replaced the double doors.  I should have changed the hinge side on the left one, but just never got around to it.

Another blogger I follow and love is Anita at Whispering Pines Homestead.  She had a board on the end of her island to hang pots from, and I stole that idea 😀  I had an old oak board in my stash, so I stained it dark and attached it. Since I have heavy cookware, I put 1x4's on the inside of the cabinets to give the board something substantial to screw into. 

 

I also made the little 'feet' for the island.  I really like the look it gives to the cabinets.

This brings us to the end of the prequel to the house saga - I loved my remodeled kitchen and was so proud that I successfully hung drywall and replaced cabinets.  I'm sorry I don't have better (and complete) pictures of the 'after'.  When I get to the current 'after', I *will* have a complete set of photos, and I will try to stage them to look pretty, lol.

Another sneak peek of the coming saga …

 

 

And a short eight years later ...

I started this blog thinking it would be fun to chronicle what we did to our Texas house … but then I found out that blogging is hard and takes a lot of time, lol.  Here's the disclaimer up front: I don't lean up or stage things for photos, you'll see lots of real life in the background.  

The house has become quite the saga - SO much has happened, especially in the last 3 years.  But the big tale is for another day, I'll start with something simple and happy.  We got the house painted in 2016 and I got the soft yellow I wanted.  I tried out so many different paint samples to figure out which would work - I ultimately fell in love with Behr Midsummer, it's a perfect cheerful yellow.  The trim is Sherwin Williams Dover White/

The before color was khaki-ish with maroon trim.  It always seemed kind of sad to me.  Here's a few pictures of the old color

The front of the house, with a Gibbs photo bomb :-)

The north side yard - that little deck is off my laundry room.  This is the shadiest part of the yard, it's really hard to grow grass, ugh.  I am thinking of putting stone down in the muddiest part.

The south side - the part that juts out on the left is the dining room.

The back of the house (faces west).  The french door is my bedroom, the other door is the kitchen.

I only have a couple of after photos.  I'll try to get more soon, but right now the porch and yard have a lot of tools and materials out and about.

This is during the painting, but it shows a little of the pretty blue porch ceiling.  It's Sherwin Williams Pool Blue; I love it!

The front porch - the front door is on the right side, the dining room is on the left.  I have no idea why I had the old ironing board leaning there

The front of the house, and Gibbs again :-)

The house looks so much happier with the sweet yellow color, and I love seeing it when I come down my driveway.  I have so many things I want to do in the yard, if only I had time, money, and the energy to do them all!  I have debated on painting the front door - I thought I wanted turquoise, but have changed my mind a million times.  Maybe one of these days I'll decide and just go for it!

Here's a sneak peak of the 7+ year saga on the inside of the house:  Hopefully I won't wait 8 years to share the tale :-) 

Chairs are done ... porch sitting time! A-n-d ....... Surprise!!

I finally put the redwood chairs back together.  I had to cut several of the old bolts to get them apart, which meant I had to go to Lowe's to pick up some replacement.  Sigh, the more things I learn to do around the place, the more I love hardware and tool stores ... they're as much fun as a fabric store for me now.  And if you knew how many bins of fabric I had, you'd know that was saying something!

I love the hardware section - all those pretty bins filled with shiny stuff just waiting to finish off a project.  My husband sometimes compares me to a crow ... 'Oooooh, shiny'.   Anyway, I picked up 16 shiny new carriage bolts, 32 washers and a small package of nuts.  I love that I could buy just the number of bolts and washers I needed - not like the old hotdog/bun situation.  But I digress.

The chairs feel so sturdy now, and make me feel very happy!

Here are all the disclaimers, lol - please excuse the cell phone picture, I was too lazy to pull out the 'good' camera.  And it's not staged because it's the only clean section of my back porch, I don't know how to stage things.  You're lucky I used the leaf blower to blow 6 12 24 months worth of cobwebs and dirt off the concrete.

I only finished one cushion but wanted to show off the chairs.  The pillow is a down insert from Ikea ($6.99! whoa, Nellie, that's a good price, and it is comfy!)  I winged it making the cover - it has a zipper in the back and ruffles on 3 sides.  Wider ruffles would look better, but I'm not gonna change them now.    

Now on to the 'Surprise' portion of today's program ...

One of the reasons we like living on acreage is that we love our critters.  We have 3 mutt dogs, 2 roosters, 9 hens, 2 barn cats, and 2 horses. 

Here are my two horse buddies (once again, sorry for poor cell pics).  They are so friendly, and love to follow us around.

Boone - 11 year old gelding - he's just an old ranch horse, but such a pleasure to ride!

Lightning - a 3 year old Pinto mare

Last week I was at a work conference in Dallas, and my 20 year old son was taking care of all the critters for me.  He called me a week ago Monday and the conversation went like this:

Z:  Mom, there's something I need to tell you
(this is *not* a good sign)

Me:  Ok

Z:  It's about the horses
(my heart sinks, stomach roils)

Me:  O ... k ....

Z:  There's 3 of them now

Me:  ...
(thinking, huh?)

Z:  And one of them is a lot smaller than the other 2.

Me: ...
(stunned silence)

May I introduce the newest addition to our little menagerie - no official name yet, we're thinking "Surprise" or "Lightning Strikes" ...

We did *not* know Lightning was pregnant.  My brother in law brought both horses to live with us last Thanksgiving.  We knew she had been bred, but the vet said it hadn't taken. 

Surprise   :-)   

Praise the Lord that nothing went wrong with the birth.  Poor Lightning had no mare care (just regular feed and water), and no vet during or after the birth.  But both mama and little guy (yep, he's a little colt) seem to be doing fine. 

Big Burn pile sendoff and Mom's Patio Chairs

I have so many furniture, sewing, yard, decluttering, and decorating projects in progress, sigh.   

At the top of my list was a HUGE brush pile to get burned. 

I have been clearing cedar and underbrush from my oak trees for 2 years - this field was full!  I wish I had a picture of it from just a few weeks ago.  The pile stretched 50 yards down the field, 15-20 feet across, and 4-5 feet high.  And now it's all gone, yay!!  There is still the trash from the previous owners, but that will be gone this week.

One job down, but more to clear ... I have so many beautiful live oak trees hidden in almost impenetrable underbrush.  These pictures are just to the right of the field above ... the leaning oaks remind me of the wind battered trees at the coast, I love how sculptural they are. 

 
My son named the tree below "the sitting tree".  It appears to be healthy and sturdy, it just grew sideways. 

 
I have also done a little furniture work.  When my mom downsized several years ago, I took her vintage redwood patio chairs.  Time and the elements have taken their toll, but are in very good condition for their age. 

I started priming the first chair and realized it would be a crummy paint job if I didn't take them apart and do it properly.  Here's the first one primed (before taking apart) ...

The chairs are held together with 8 bolts, so I started taking them apart.  Unfortunately some of the bolts were extremely hard to remove (important tip - do not paint over bolts you might want to remove ... ). I spent almost two hours on the first chair, and only got 7 of the bolts removed.  I didn't do much better on the second chair.

 

Then I remembered I had this little baby:

 

About 5 minutes later (it would have been faster, but I had to find the metal cutting blade) ... I had a bunch of these:

The savings in time and aggravation is WELL worth having to buy new bolts, nuts and washers.

By the time I got the chairs apart, it was dark, and a cold front came through, so the painting won't take place until this weekend. 

My plan is to paint them white, and make new cushions.  I have pinned a few inspiration photos, these are my two favorites:  White cushions   and   Colorful cushions.

Until next time .....

Finally a 2nd Project!

I am obviously *not* a 'professional' blogger - it's been 9 months since my last post, haha.  I spend a LOT of time online looking at blogs though, and I *think* about things I could post, just never quite get around to it.  Today I think I found a "round tuit" and decided to post. 

I have been collecting auction stuff for a year and a half (the barn is only part of the picture - I have a shed and storage room with many other future projects!).   Don't ask me what I intend to do with all this stuff - I don't have a shop, my house is already pretty full, I just can't let things get thrown away ...  I'm afraid I am a future subject of "Hoarders".

This little cart was a freebie from an auction- no one wanted it so I said "I'll take it home and save it from the dump." 

These pictures are after I cleaned it up - it was covered with who knows how many years of grease and dirt, and came with free mud dauber nests :-) 

I sanded her down using my palm sander until all the rust was gone and painted her with my favorite red - Krylon Cherry Red in gloss.  I am not good at the whole staging thing, so decided to let Mother Nature provide the stage (meaning, here's a gratuitous shot of a few of the bluebonnets in my back yard, lol). 

She is destined for my porch.  I hope to get the porch cleaned up one of these days so I can show photos of it.  My house is currently a kind of tan/khaki color with maroon trim.  My dream is to paint it a buttery yellow, with white trim, and a turquoise door.  I love the combination of turquoise, red, and yellow - colors that just make me happy!

*Some* of my junk and a small project

I have been collecting junk good stuff from auctions, thrift shops, and CL since I moved back to Texas last August.

I have some of my finds stored in a barn behind my house ...

and lots more stuffed elsewhere....
 ... including inside my house waiting to be redone and staged properly ...

A few pics for your viewing pleasure ...

 

I plan hope to get some work done and show some finished products

.... someday ....

And now (insert drumroll) my first actual project post ...

 

A friend asked me to cover an old footstool she found ...

The original piece had in *interesting* vintage fabric and was also a foot warmer ... it had an old heating pad under the top.

Here she is all finished - alas, no more foot warmer, I was afraid the old wire might lead to a fire - entirely the wrong kind or warming!  

I used my handy dandy Quick Pleaters for the first time - they made the little ruffle so easy!

I can't decide if I should clean my sewing/craft room so I'm more motivated to be in it, or work on some furniture.  

Hopefully I make up my mind and get something done :-)

'Til next time ... Patty