Tiger Cubs

Lightening up - Painting the kitchen - Part 2 (after pictures)

These first two pictures were taken before I painted the cabinets, very dark and the white fridge really looks out of place.

very brown, and the granite and backsplash is not so noticeable because you just see brown.

To see more pictures of when I painted the cabinets go here

A nice big kitchen but this brown was just feeling too dark for me:

I had about 1 1/2 gallons of paint leftover from when I painted the kitchen cabinets a few months ago, so this project was free!

The paint I used was Zinsser perma white - "Two coat system, no priming required". I had used it on the cabinets and it covered well, so I thought it would be good for covering that dark color too. It is a satin finish and looks so much nicer than the brown did - it was a glossy paint and showed all the imperfections in the walls - the previous owners had removed wallpaper and the walls are not super smooth). The color is Sherwin Williams softer tan #6141 (they can mix any SW colors at Lowes if you are on a budget like me - this paint was under $20 a gallon). I have to thank Janell from the blog Isabella and Max Rooms where I got the idea for this creamy color for the cabinets instead of the traditional "white".
The room feels so much more balanced now with the light color - and it is a much better transition to the family room which is painted a gold color. I will probably change these curtain valances for some other curtains at some point.

another blog idea I used was the giant fork and spoon in the kitchen

Mine came from Goodwill and were $2.99 - I spray painted them black - I actually used the chalkboard paint because that's what I already had.

these pillows were a yard sale find from a month or so ago, and they are perfect for these chairs. The chairs were $20 each - yes also from a yard sale and when I looked them up online I found they were originally from Pier One - $99 each - yay! We don't actually use them that much - mostly the kids backpacks stay here during the week to organize their things for school, but they sure look nice!

a 99c Goodwill store Halloween decoration

the white fridge does not stand out so much now. Eventually in a couple of years or when this once breaks it would be nice to have a fancy stainless steel one here. I haven't put any decorations back up on top of the cabinets yet. I love this color - even though the cabinets and walls are painted the same color it looks different depending on the light.

view from the family room




one more little project on the "to do" list is take off the shiny brass door knobs and spray paint them the oil rubbed bronze to match the cabinet knobs.

from the kitchen to the family room

the table and black painted chairs look much nicer against a light color

I had not thought to use this little window to display things before

the paint transition from one room to the other

Posted on Between Naps on the Porch - Metamorphosis Monday

and DIY day at A Soft Place to Land

Lightening up - Painting the kitchen

So I went back to work on Monday, but I had been thinking of painting the rest of the kitchen for a while and so last weekend I finished the project before I would not have the time or energy to get it done . I do not have after pictures yet, maybe tomorrow if I can get them taken when I get home and if the light is still good, if not, then for sure I will get some good pictures on Saturday.

I painted the kitchen cabinets back in June, and added the cabinet hardware, and although I am a fan of brown, this dark chocolate brown really was still making the room dark

here is a look at a little paint on the walls, so just imagine it now, but just don't look at all the mess on the counter, when you start a project like this, it seems like there is no time for much of anything else - I worked on painting most of last Thursday, then Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

So, check back soon for the after pictures!

Kate's room

So now Kate is pretty computer savvy and has been enjoying reading my blog and looking at the pictures, so I thought she would like me to blog about her room too as I did one this week on Thomas' room and his new bed.
And no one in my family has got come come out and stay with us in our new house since we moved in April, maybe my Mum will come out next summer (hint hint Nana, I know you are reading this!) so I thought they would like to see her room too. Being home on leave this week it's been good to get a little organizing and cleaning done while the kids are at school!

her new pink guitar
her dresser I blogged about here.
this is one of my favorite things, one of my students (3 year old) drew this for me when I was pregnant with Kate - you see the little tiny person inside the big person.
desk and stuff
the little pink polka dot dog was from Goodwill and I think it originally is from Victoria's Secret, but Kate loves dogs and it matches her sheets which were under $10 from Ross.
my Mum gave this to Kate when she was a baby - I recently painted the frame white
just a few decorations and one of her softball trophies
a girl's gotta have her bows - we do live in Texas after all!
I love the windows in her room. I got these curtains from Wal-mart. They are actually from the disney princess line.
The American girls Kit and Ruthie with their Target imitation friends. This little doll bed we've had since Kate was little - it's from IKEA - I spray painted it pink for her new room when we moved.

She wanted the walls painted pink, but I think there is enough pink in the room that the neutral wall color looks ok. And probably she might not like pink so much in a few years and will want a change of decor.

Some furniture now for my living room

So the big bonus about getting Thomas a new bed is that we had our futon we could move down to the living room (by "we", I mean Chris dragged the futon downstairs by himself) to use as a couch until I could get this couch I have been wanting from IKEA:

I used a white duvet cover over the futon matress, so it almost looks like I have a pretty white slipcovered couch!

the family photo table

view from the other side - I have a basket for shoes, which maybe I need a better storage solution because my daughter has too many shoes and so they are all downstairs by the end of the week, so don't look to close at this picture, I didn't want to pick up all those shoes.

this little chest of drawers I have had a couple of years - another garage sale purchase it was $15, the only thing I did to it was change out the knobs. This is my husband's old typewriter.

and my $10 chair I recently made over

I love the big windows in here, I think this will be the perfect place for a Christmas tree in front of the window so it can be all lit up. It's nice to have another "living room" to be able to sit and read or whatever.