How Do You Like Your Kitchens??

My favorite look is an all white kitchen... white cabinets, some sort of white stone for the counters and some sort of white tile backsplash. {Or, the same white stone carried up as the backsplash... dreamy!!} But as our design tastes tend to change over time, I have also recently had my eye on the look of painted cabinetry in soft, muted colors. Taupe/gray cabinets with that same white stone lends depth and charm. Here is a round up of some great kitchens, where they have done just that!

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Mix it up with bold contrast...

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Black and white...

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Now, one might argue that these kitchens are gorgeous already. I mean, look at them??? Is that really how mine would look if I painted my cabinets? So, I thought it would be fun to also include an amazing before and after of a kitchen that changed their builder grade cabinets from a stained finish to a wow gray! Julia, from the blog Hooked on Houses, showed us this...

Before...

After...

To see the chosen cabinet color and more photos, visit HERE.

So... how do you like your cabinets???

One Door at a Time

There's nothing like having a blog with recorded posts to remind me about my very slow progress with projects! A long while back, I painted our interior foyer door black and vowed that I would do the rest of the interior doors, one at a time. Well.... flash forward a little over a year, and I have painted one more! I hope I'm not the only one who moves at a snail's pace with my home! The best time for me to paint is at night. The house is quiet and I can concentrate on what I'm doing. But, it's also not the best lighting! So, it probably takes me even longer, because I want to make sure I get in every crevice so that I don't have to take the paint brush back out the next day to fix what I have missed. I literally had a flash light to the door to catch any missed spots! And anytime you are painting a very dark color over a light one, there's always the need for at least 2-3 coats. OK, so with all of my complaining, you can now see why I waited a year to do a second door. :) I chose to paint our kitchen door next, which goes into our newly finished basement. After all that work, here she is...

I am really happy with how it turned out! As with the foyer, I went with Dragon's Breath by Benjamin Moore. It's a muddy gray/brown/black color that is so soft and neutral. I like the way it pops against our builder grade faux brass door knobs, making them feel more current. The paint is in a semi gloss finish, which will clean up nicely and gives a fun, shiny style to the door.

Hopefully, you won't have to wait a year + to see the next door!  :)

{Before and After Shots} More is Definitely Better

Do you remember my post HERE about the floppy curtain dilemma? If you read that post, you'll know that I tried to save money and not buy as many curtain rod rings for our drapery panels in the kitchen. Big mistake! I ended up with a droopy mess that looked like this...

Before

I am usually in the less is more camp, but not with this project! More is definitely better. I used a whopping 17 curtain rings for these 54" panels! Even though my arms were getting tired reaching to clip them all, I am so happy with how they turned out!

After

I can't believe I went from 7 rings to 17 per panel! I actually did these drapes differently than my living room and dining room panels.  With those rooms, I just went with a certain number of rings and hung them up while evenly spacing them out. This time, I started with the outside of each panel and used them as I wanted. If I needed more, I just popped some on the rod from the other side. {Instead of looking at this as making so many mistakes before finally getting it right, I like to think of it as just getting better with age. Ha!} I have the same drapes in our family room, so it looks like I'll be headed back to buy more rings... again! Ugh... it never ends. But, at least I know now how to tackle this problem. Here's a run down:

* Start with the outside part of the panels when using the rings.

* Work your way across, pinching the back of the panels as you go and clipping the rings to the back of the panels.

* More is definitelty better when it comes to drapery rod rings! Clip every two inches, or so.


Have you entered the amazing Kimberly Blok Art giveaway?? Today's the last day to enter. The winner will be drawn tomorrow. Enter HERE!!

Our Kitchen and Family Room - Before and Afters Revealed!

I finally did some styling and took some pictures of our rooms with the new paint color! I am really happy with the way it came out and am loving the lighter color. I went with Benjamin Moore's Alaskan Husky in an eggshell finish. Our ceilings were already painted Horizon, which is one shade lighter on the swatch. The colors are both very light shades of a blue/gray. With the ceiling already painted, I knew the color would go- but it is a pretty dramatic change for us!

Kitchen Before:

And the Kitchen After:

Family Room Before:

And the Family Room After:

The spaces truly feel so different with a new paint color. Even the same accessories look new again! I will show more shots of the spaces soon, along with my no hassle painting tips!

Lighten Up

As I've been busy painting away in our kitchen and family room, I definitely have lighter colored rooms on the brain. Most of the walls in our home have been dark for a while, and I'm looking to change that in a few spaces. I love the moodiness and drama of dark walls, but I'm lightening things up this year in a couple rooms and I'm excited for the change. (I will post the after photos soon- just waiting for the perfect sunny day to take the pictures!)

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These images are beautiful and I'm so excited I lightened it up! The second image is almost exactly our paint color. After pictures to come soon!