Sexy knobs

When I was in high school I worked at Ann Taylor where I learned about the importance of accessorizing.  It's huge people!  You can take the most blah top and with the right scarf or necklace all of the sudden it looks totally money.  

Same thing with hardware my friends!

I mean, we are dealing with pretty basic cabinetry here and formica counters ...bull nose, no less...and these vintage brass knobs (found on ebay) totally bring in the sassy.

Hubba hubba amirite?

  

The cool blue, white and grey color scheme just needed some gold to warm it up. 

Seriously, these knobs make me so giddy!

 I carried one in my purse for about 3 weeks while I was painting the kitchen and every once in a while I would just pull it out and let the weight of it sit in my hand while I admired the lovely golden brass hue of it. 

I'm not even kidding.

I may have also made everyone I know hold and admire the knobs too.

Possibly...

PS:  I LOVE BRASS!!

pps:  I love tequila!

 and this stuff is pretty drinkable and real cheap.

Why in the world would I post a photo of my messy cabinets insides?  Other than to remind myself (and now you) of good cheap tequila...

Perhaps, the same reason as why my final reveal photo has a bag of chips and some cheese on the counter.  Because I am a total blogging amateur.

There's still so much more to do in the kitchen so there is a chance I may redeem myself with a clear, well lit, clutter free final final reveal.

Anything is possible.

Sweat equity in the kitchen

I'm so close to being done here and so far I'm loving the paint colors. I used White Dove (a Benjamin Moore color that I had Dunn Edwards mix for me in their semi-gloss finish) for the uppers.  When I started the project I figured I would just brush the paint on or use a roller.  So I took down the cabinet fronts and painted the frames with a brush which worked out great and then I moved on to the cabinet fronts which I took outside to paint.  My first attempt was with a roller and that left a bumpy finish that didn't really settle after drying...so then I brushed and got streaky brush marks.  I think this may have had to do with the fact that it was 100 degrees out and the paint was drying too fast?  Anyway, after a weekend of that I basically got depressed and gave up. Gorgeous, right?

Then, the next weekend my neighbor came to the rescue with his paint sprayer which he was nice enough to let me borrow.  Total game changer! The resulting finish came out smooth as butter and it went SO much faster!  I was able to jam out all of the white cabinet fronts doing two coats per side on Saturday ...

 I kind of even look like I know what I'm doing here!

 Cut to the overspray on my feet...

On Sunday it rained and it took me an hour just to wipe down and clean the soot off of all of my nice white cabinets.  There were a couple of stains that resulted which I'll have to detail later.  But I was on a deadline to finish the lowers. I went with Valspar's  Jazz Club in gloss (it really looks more like semi -gloss.  But maybe it's because it's latex?)  Again the paint sprayer was a life saver.  Three coats per side and it only took me about 4 hours including drying time.

I didn't hang them for 2 weeks.  Instead I let them dry while I was out of town and hung them I got back.

 Look how cute the curve on the frame is in the new color?  


I also removed the vent and used some of this stuff to remove about 12 layers of paint.  It works great and doesn't smell at all.  Just brush on and let it sit for a few hours.  Wipe down and the layers of paint just magically disappear!

Also,  for my feet, I discovered this!



Rub onto painted feet and scrub the paint off.  This worked better than soap and water and was a nice moisturizer too! 

The next day I wised up and put the oil on my arms, legs and feet BEFORE painting and the over-spray came right off in the shower hardly any scrubbing needed. 

Raw Truffles

You guys these are seriously so delicious!  Besides their outstanding flavor,  they are also vegan, gluten free, (processed) sugar free and full of healthy ingredients.  Dates are full of fiber, minerals and vitamins and their natural sugar content gives you a nice burst of energy.  Walnuts are high in protein, antioxidants and healthy fats. Cocoa is low in  sugar and fat and high in health-protecting and disease-fighting flavonoids.  Maca is a Peruvian super food that is said to balance hormones and increase fertility.  You can read more about it here

Basically, what I am saying is, you need to make these.  It's for your health people!

Here’s what you need:

12-13 large Medjool dates –pits removed

1 ½ cups raw walnuts

Pinch of sea salt

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

little bit water

Optional:

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp maca powder

Coating:

½ cup raw shredded coconut (or more cocoa powder , or some almond meal)

In a food processor grind up the walnuts until they are a fine meal. Add the dates, salt and cocoa powder (plus vanilla, maca or whatever you want to sub in for these) and pulse until combined.  While the motor is running take your  water and add tiny amounts until the dough forms a ball. Be conservative here or the mixture will be too runny.

Roll about a Tablespoon the date mixture between your palms to form a ball and set aside until you are done with all of the dough.

Wash hands and roll the balls in a plate of shredded coconut (or cocoa or nuts).  This keeps them from sticking  together  when you store them.  I keep them in the fridge in a Tupperware and they stay fresh for at least a week.

Kitchen Inspiration

 Here is where I'm starting from:

Honestly, this photo actually makes it look not as awful as it is.   In person it's really dingy and dude looking.  Like dude that shops at Tommy Bahama.  Just yuck.  Two earthy tones of pea and beige and black painted hardware.  

These old cabinets are such a cute shape.  Just look at the curves under the sink and the vent.  It looks so nautical to me.  

Here are some kitchens that I've saved in my Pinterest to remind me of what I want my kitchen to look like...

via hermithomewares

 I love this kitchen!  Brass lighting and pulls, dove gray cabinets, carrera marble.  It so good. 

via pinterest

 This one is good too.  I love the white uppers and grey-blue lowers.  Looks really clean and fresh.

via Canadian House and Home

This one is fantastic with the brass hardware and that farm sink...  that brass faucet is incredible!

via houseofearnest

This one looks like a brighter blue.  I love the white uppers and subway tiles and it has the marble counters that I covet!

Well like Thomas Edison said: Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration so I imagine I will be doing at least some sweating to get this kitchen in ship shape. 

Stay tuned...

Outside a da haus

 Ok here we are before any painting and scraping. The stucco is a mauvy pink (it looks peach in this light) and the trim is terra cotta colored.  I think it would look so much more modern in white with a dark brown trim. 

Can we talk about how much I LOVE these windows and that beam that goes straight into the house?  I can't wait for the beam to be all one color inside and out.  It's going to look so great.

To start off this project I got as many ladders as I could find.  Seriously,  why are there 3 ladders here? I look like a crazy ladder hoarder.

Actually the only ladder in this photo that is mine is the dainty white one.  

How cute of me to think that would serve all my home painting and renovating needs!

  Luckily I moved in next to the greatest neighbors ever and they help me with my crazy projects and lend me ladders. In fact this place would still look exactly like this if it wasn't for the help of my handy neighbor Bill.  He managed to patch the stucco near the ground, spray wash the whole house and sand the trim down to its wood while I patched holes and spackled stucco and scraped peeling paint from under the eaves.

Scraping sucks. So so so much.  It feels like it will never end.

I almost lost my mind there for a minute and decided to give up.  Turns out I  was just hangry and tired so I made this, regrouped and got back to something so much more fun!...painting!

Look at that gorgeous "Swiss Coffee"?!  All of the sudden the frumpy little bungalow is starting to look like a pretty mid century modern.   So exciting!  Jiggity Jig!

Next weekend:  I will paint the trim "Weathered Brown" 

pretty right? 

yay more painting...

My first Ikea hack

And I couldn't be more excited!  These are $40 simple twin beds from ikea 

That I hacked and turned into these cuties!

My inspiration bed was this one from Land of Nod:

So cute! But so pricey...

I knew I could do something similar for a lot less money so I started researching on line.  Ultimately I got the idea from Manhattan Nest to use the Fjellse frame as a base.  I studied his tutorial and made a few minor changes.  One of which is I used a patterned fabric.  I don't really recommend this and will probably not be doing that when I tackle my own bed.  Matching patterns on the edges and corners and keeping the print level can be a challenge for a first project.  However, it does look cute so if you do go with a print, make sure to buy a bit of extra fabric just to be safe.  So here is how it all went down:

I bought a piece of plywood at Home Depot and had them cut it so that it was as wide as the heaboard but taller and screwed it into the front of the frame.  My goal was to have the top of the headboard be 44" (that is about a foot taller than the frame is originally).

Then I used scrap wood to frame out the sides and top so that it was all the same thickness all the way around the side of the headboard.

I cut off the part of the footboard that was higher than the rails to give the whole base of the beds a smooth edge

 

Then I wrapped batting around the rails and the headboard and stapled it into place with an electric staple gun.  Best $25 I ever spent.  I wouldnt try this with a manual staple gun.  As it was, my hands were sore.

I used 2 layers of batting on the rails.

And 3 layers on the headboard.  

I got 2 different bags of batting at Jo-Ann fabric with a coupon (I think one was king sized and the other was a queen and one was beefier than the other) and used the heavier one for the headboard and the lighter one on the rails.

After the batting I started on the fabric for the headboard and tried to line it up so the pattern was centered and level.  This took a couple of attempts and I had to un-staple and adjust it a few times before it looked decent (this is why you might want to consider using a solid fabric)

Also I stapled the top center and the bottom center and worked outwards from both sides.  Then I worked on the sides using the same system.  I stapled the centers and worked up to the top and then down to the base.  To do the corners I folded the fabric like I was wrapping a present and once I had a clean straight line stapled it down in the back.  The back of the headboard is unfinished with about 2 inches of fabric along the sides and I'm okay with that since it will be against the wall.  I think it would be super cute with a contrast fabric in the back at some point like hot pink and to do that I would cut a piece of thin board, wrap it in the fabric glue it down and either use nailheads to attach to the back or staple and add piping to disguise the staples... but that is a project for another day.

  

Anyway,  on to the rails.  Match the pattern so that it is continuous and matches all the way around the railing.  This is where the extra fabric comes in because there will be some waste.   I stapled the sides first then did the front in a separate piece folding in the edges so that there was a clean seam next to both legs.

And voila!  

Super cute little beds for my guests!  

The best part is it only cost me about $275 for both of them!