Before/After: Kitchen

I hope everyone in the path of today’s snowstorm is staying warm and safe. We’ve already gotten about a foot so far and it’s not showing any signs of letting up! As for my readers in warm places like Florida and New Zealand… can I come visit?!

For this week’s Before/After look we will be checking out the room that has seen the MOST change in the past two years… the kitchen!

We almost didn’t buy our house because of the original design issues in the kitchen. The previous owners obviously didn’t like having people over because instead of a dining table, they just had a HUGE island that seated two.

That’s it.

Just an island. There was NO dining room in the house and NO space for a table in the kitchen.

Kitchen B - 2012

Kitchen - 2012

The kitchen was HUGE and there was this random box of an island all lined up under a light on one side of the room. Here, check out another view:

Kitchen C - 2012

I guess it worked for them, but how in the heck was I going to have a Thanksgiving dinner?! Not to mention that there wasn’t really a lot of counter space in the kitchen area to prepare food. It just seemed really odd and didn’t work for us at all.

We really liked the rest of the house though, so the problem of the weird kitchen kept floating around in my mind. UNTIL, I had a brilliant idea.

Let’s MOVE the island!

That’s right. It was like it was Lost all up in here and all our problems were solved by MOVING the ISLAND!

The day after we settled on the house, I sent my dad, husband and brother over while I enjoyed my baby shower. They were instructed to rip that darn island out of the floor, move it and take the granite top to be cut down to size. I also tasked them with painting the room a pretty shade of grayish blue, because for some reason the yellow walls made my pregnant brain want to hurl.

Totally logical.

Moving the island wasn’t a big deal, but it did leave a few holes in the floor – one larger one from the electrical wires and some smaller ones from the nails that they used to secure it. The previous owners must have gone nail crazy, because the entire bottom of the island was ripped apart from the nails once it was moved. Luckily the floor holes were easily covered with the accent rug and the island mess was hid behind some matching trim.

My husband took the island top to a granite shop and had them cut it down to size, since we no longer had the space available for an overhanging seating area. If I remember correctly, to cut it down and re-polish the granite edge, it only cost around $100.

Once we moved in, I made some more changes:

After saving up for a bit, we also purchased a new dishwasher and oven. Not only did the old appliances not match, they were pretty old and weren’t working very well. Our refrigerator is also old, but we don’t plan on replacing it until it dies.

Here is our kitchen and dining area now:

Kitchen B - 2014

Kitchen - 2014

Sorry for the glare, but with so much snow outside it was causing weird bright spots. Also, I was careful to take pictures from very similar angles as the original ones so that you can see what a huge change just a few tweaks made.

Having the island near the rest of the kitchen appliances and countertops ROCKS my world. I use it every single time I cook for preparing ingredients, plating food, laying out snacks for parties, etc. The trash can is hidden inside the island, which is a nice little space-saving bonus.

Moving the island meant we had plenty of room for our kitchen table. It’s from our old house and was a Roomstore find that opens up into a huge square to seat 8 for holidays.

Kitchen C - 2014

The tablecloth is from Target, the brown placemats are from Ikea and the Car’s kiddie placemat is from Walmart. I’m pretty sure the pedestal bowl holding bananas is a Homegoods score. The snazzy orange rug is from West Elm – I looked EVERYWHERE for a similar one for less money, but I pretty much fell in love with this one at first sight. They still sell it on their website and ours pretty much looks brand-new after repeated cleaning from a messy kid. And a messy husband. And I’m pretty sure it’s been hurled on by a dog too. So, I’m going to say it’s worth the money.

I made the little café curtains myself from a pack on sale at Target. I just took one curtain panel, cut it in half and sewed up the edges. Super easy and much cheaper than buying café curtains.

Kitchen E - 2014

I found this table and chairs at a thrift store, but I’m pretty sure it’s the Laitt set from Ikea for just $19.99. I LOVE this table because even if you scribble on the top with crayons it wipes off easily. Also, the mini chairs have fit not only my butt, but my husband’s butt on them.

Oh and you totally have to check out this cute little corner of the kitchen:

Kitchen D - 2014

The kitchen cart is from Target for $149.99, I just didn’t add on the wheels. If you like it, the red version is currently on sale for $74.98. The white KitchenAid mixer was handed down from my sister-in-law – I added the “made with love” decals to it myself. The vase was something that I would gaze lovingly at every time I went to Anthropologie until I received it as a gift for my birthday a couple years ago. The wall art is from Homegoods (large picture) and Ikea (small pictures). So you see, EVERYTHING was done on a budget!

Here’s my last little detail picture. I love the way that there are lots of patterns, but somehow they kind of “go” together.

Kitchen Details - 2014

The yellow bee cookie jar is from Homegoods and I love it, even though I’ve never actually put cookies inside. The yellow giraffe head is from World Market and the calendar was on clearance at Anthropologie when I stopped by on my 24 Hour Date.

What Still Needs to Change?
I hate our refrigerator. The freezer side is really skinny and when you thrust it open to reach inside, the door pops back and smacks you in the side of the head. Also, since it’s so skinny it’s difficult to fit stuff in there. Another drawback is that since the fridge is around 10 years old, they don’t make water filters for it anymore so we don’t use the water or ice feature much. I just can’t pull the trigger to buy a new fridge though because they’re very expensive and technically this one still works… so we wait.

The only other addition I’d like to make is that I really want a china cabinet. I inherited my grandmother’s beautiful china and I’d love a place to store it and show it off. If we found one, I’d put it where the kitchen cart currently lives, or in the opposite corner where we store an extra chair.

What do you think?
Do you want to come over and have a cup of coffee? Do you think the last owners were crazy-pants for having an island in the dining area? Do you want to steal my KitchenAid mixer so that your cookies are also ‘made with love’?

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Before/After: Bathrooms

Next up on our fun before/after list is our three bathrooms – one half-bath on the first floor and two full bathrooms upstairs. Three bathrooms sounds like kind of a lot, but our townhouse had four full bathrooms so having one less to clean really rocks my world.

Bathroom #1
Unfortunately I don’t have a ‘before’ picture of this bathroom, so you’ll have to use your imagination. It was covered in wallpaper. The wallpaper wasn’t quite as offensive as the design that you’ll see in bathroom #2, but still bad enough that it had to go. And yes, I realize I just said “number two” and “had to go” in the same sentence and I’m giggling because apparently I’m a 12 year old boy.

Before we even moved into our house, I hired a handyman friend to remove all the wallpaper from the stairs going upstairs, the upstairs foyer, the upstairs bathroom AND the downstairs bathroom. Yes, I could have done it myself… but I was 8 months pregnant so I splurged a little. Also, we got a really good deal on his handyman help because we did a trade where my husband worked on his jeep in exchange for house help.

I remember that I painted this bathroom one day soon after Jack came home from the hospital. The first coat went up during a morning nap and the second coat went up a few hours later when he was napping again. It’s funny the things you remember two years after they happen.

Downstairs bathroom - 2014

Downstairs bathroom b - 2014

Throwing some paint on the wall is pretty much all we did for this bathroom. The flower picture came from Homegoods a few years ago and was in a bathroom in our last house too. The basket that we use for storing extra TP came as part of a gift set at some point in the last 10 years. I swear, I think I have dozens of baskets hidden away in this house and I probably only paid for 1/3 of them. I think I might be a basket hoarder.

What Still Needs to Change?
The drawback of this bathroom is that it’s incredibly tiny. You pretty much have to squeeze in awkwardly to shut the door behind you. The pedestal sink doesn’t really take up that much area, but I often wonder if it would feel a little less cramped if I tore it out and replaced it with one of those trendy half-sinks like this one. Also, I could replace the medicine cabinet/light with a prettier light and flat mirror. It’s workable though, so these projects are WAY DOWN on my list.

Bathroom #2
Now THIS bathroom has changed quite a lot from when we moved it. Here’s the before pictures and I’m sure you can see why I called it my “Ugly Green Bathroom.”

Upstairs bathroom - 2012

Upstairs bathroom b - 2012

I actually blogged about the changes step-by-step if you’re interested in seeing how we did things.

My Ugly Green Bathroom
Ugly Green Bathroom Update: Less Ugly and Less Green
No Longer the Ugly Green Bathroom

The “after” is quite impressive, so I’ll pat myself on the back for a minute while you check it out:

Upstairs bathroom - 2014

Upstairs bathroom details - 2014

The shower curtain is from West Elm, the rug is from World Market and the hand towels are from Homegoods. I found the “You are my sunshine” plaque on Etsy and the Robot wall art at a local kids shop called Greenberries. It’s from Modern Moose and I LOVE it so much that I’m considering buying one of their clocks for Jack’s room.

What Still Needs to Change?
Well, the ugly green bathtub is still there… hidden behind the curtain. However, the tub and tile are both in fine shape so it doesn’t make sense to demolish the bathroom just to switch out to a white tub. For the time being (and possibly forever), we are done with this room.

Bathroom #3
For a master bathroom, our bathroom isn’t very master-like. It’s actually quite small. If it were on an episode of House Hunters, the buyers would be disappointed at the lack of double-sinks or a soaking tub.

Master Bathroom - 2012

We haven’t really made many changes to this room. I hung a tension shower curtain rod and curtain (from West Elm) because I don’t like being all naked in the middle of a room. We also switched out the leaky silver builder-grade faucet with a new one in oil-rubbed bronze. I added in an old CD stand holder that I got from a friend for free years ago to hold some stuff like extra toilet paper, soap, etc. That’s about it.

Master Bathroom - 2014

What Still Needs to Change?
I want to rip this bathroom down to the studs with a full renovation. I want to take out the capsule shower, bust down some walls (maybe into my office, which is on the other side) and put in a nicer shower. Maybe something pretty like travertine with one of those rain shower faucets. If we can make the room for it, I’d love to have a double vanity with a long space of countertop. The medicine cabinet will be replaced with one that sits flush with the wall (and fits in between the wall studs) and the lighting will also be upgraded. I pinned a few ideas on Pinterest that show you the ‘feeling’ that I’d like. This sounds expensive though, right? Yup. That’s why we haven’t done it.

What do you think?
This was probably the least exciting of my before/after posts because on all three bathrooms we’ve probably spent less than $700 total in the past two years. Even though I’d love a designer master bathroom, the one we have is livable… so a full gut-job will probably not happen for a long, long time.

How about you, which rooms do you make your priorities when doing home improvement projects? For me, I’d rather have an un-updated bathroom as long as I have new, matching appliances in my kitchen!

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Before/After: Den & Laundry

As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m planning to celebrate our 2 years of living in our home by comparing the 2012 version of each room with where we are now in 2014.

If we’re going to start at the very beginning, it only makes sense to start with that first room that I painted… while 8 months pregnant.

The Den
Now you may be thinking, “Um, Joules…aren’t you supposed to stay away from fumes and stuff while you’re growing a human?” and the answer is YES. I didn’t PLAN to paint this room myself… the original plan was for me to paint the dark trim white (with the windows and doors open), while my friend painted the walls. However, due to some mixed up communication (that I’m totally not still annoyed about), that friend’s plans changed and I ended up working on the project with just a little help… instead of the other way around.

I don’t know why my preggo mind decided that I simply could not LIVE with the original dark trim and cream walls, but I REFUSED to move into the house unless this room was done.

I know. Pregnant Type A Joules is weird.

Here’s the original version of the room as we first saw it:

Den - 2012It’s wasn’t totally horrible, it just looked very mid-90’s to me. We hated the brass fireplace insert with a passion, and the cream painted paneling walls just looked kind of dirty and dingy up close. The laminate floor looks like wood, but it feels really cheap when you walk on it.

Den B - 2012I have no idea what they were thinking with room set up. If you were sitting on their couch, you’d have to be laying sideways and crane your neck to see the TV which was shoved into the little alcove.

Here is our den now:

Den - 2014I tried to take very similar angles to the original pictures for comparison purposes. For for painting changes, I painted all the trim at the tops and bottoms of the walls a nice, bright white to go with the rest of the house. Then, I painted the walls this pretty medium blue color — I unfortunately can’t find the name of the paint color I used, but it was definitely from Duron (they’re always my favorite). We ripped out the brass insert and replaced it with one from Home Depot in a more “us” oil rubbed bronze finish.

Den 1 - 2014As you can see in the above picture, there is still the odd little alcove in the corner. I had originally planned to build in some bookshelves, but at Christmas that is the perfect place to put the tree… so I don’t want to build in something permanent. I’m thinking that I may either purchase or build in a removable bench, kind of like a little window seat for reading (without the window).

Here are some of my favorite room details:

Den details - 2014I didn’t really have a place for my favorite books, so I stuck them up on the mantle and LOVE the way they look there. Even though Travis is convinced they are a fire hazard. Which they are NOT. My little flying pig was a Homegoods find for less than $15.

The doggie bookends are from Target a year or two ago, also on sale. The rug was a steal from RugsUSA — it looks similar to a West Elm rug I loved, but was WAY cheaper and has been holding up quite well. I made the Valentine’s banner last year for less than $5 and just remembered to bring it out again this year. I love it though and I’m considering it being a year-round piece of den decor.

What still needs to change?
This is actually one of my favorite rooms in the house. This view totally does it for me, especially when there is a roaring fire (just pretend it’s there):

FireplaceHowever, I do still really want to deal with that weird alcove. It’s not really a priority right now though, since it seems to be fine for a dog bed and feeding station. Eventually, it will either become a built in bookcase or reading nook. I hate the laminate flooring and plan to replace it with some gorgeous hardwood floors. However, Jack is pretty tough on the floors and it’s nice to not worry about him scratching them up with his toys. I think we’re going to give it another couple years and then move forward with the hardwood installation.

The Laundry Room
Another change that happened quite quickly after we moved in, is that we got rid of the existing washer and dryer. Here’s what the laundry room looked like when we first saw our house:

Laundry room - 2012The laundry room is a pretty open area right near the den (there is a small hallway that leads from the den to the laundry with our first-floor 1/2 bathroom), and the old machines were REALLY LOUD. Considering that we were bringing a baby home soon, we really didn’t want to wake him with the entire house shaking to do laundry, so we figured that we should switch them out with new, quieter models.

Here’s the laundry room now:

laundry room - 2014The walls were in great shape and the color was nice and neutral, so I didn’t bother painting a thing in here. We basically just brought in the new washer and dryer and then threw in stuff from our old house.

The rug was from our old laundry room and came from World Market probably 10 years ago (and it’s still in great shape). The pictures were leftover from when I sold Home Interiors stuff as a consultant, so they found a new home brightening up the neutral walls. I bought the paper towel holder (mounted on the wall) for $1 at DollarTree.

laundry room details - 2014The small hallway leading to the laundry room has become Jack’s art wall (inspired by Kari’s kid art wall over at A Grace Full Life) and it’s the first thing you see when you exit the bathroom.

There is no cabinetry to hide laundry stuff, so I re-purposed a basket we received as part of a Christmas gift a couple years ago to keep my detergent, bleach and dryer sheets corralled in one place. The only thing I actually made was the cafe curtains — just a bit of material from Joann’s and maybe 5 minutes on a sewing machine to stitch up the edges and BOOM you have a curtain!

What still needs to change?
I’m pretty happy with this room — it’s (mostly) clean and functional. The work-sink is a great place for my husband to clean up his dirty hands from working in the garage and the dirt mostly seems to stay in the sink. Okay, maybe half of the time. But still, that’s a success! I may add a hanging cabinet at some point, so I can hide away my detergents… however, the basket system seems to be working fine so maybe I’ll just save my time and money.

For both of the rooms, I really worked with what we already had. I’d love to be so wealthy that I could just throw out everything and buy new stuff at West Elm and World Market… but we’re not. Actually, even if we WERE that rich I’d probably still be buying birdhouses at the thrift store and spray painting them in my backyard. It’s just who I am.

What do you think?
Since this is my first before/after post and a bunch of you guys asked for me to write them for home decor help, did I include everything you wanted to know? Is there anything I’m missing? Do you want to come over and curl up in front of the fireplace with some hot chocolate?

 

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