Tag Archives: Kitchen

Home & Garden

A Christmas Buffet and a New Back Splash

My husband and son and I were hanging around after dinner last night when we heard a beeping from the basement. My husband went downstairs to see what it was and our carbon monoxide detector was beeping. After determining the batteries were good in both the basement detector and the main floor detector, he opened the basement patio door and the alarm soon quit.

And then the one in the family room, where we were sitting, went off. We got out of the house and called the emergency line for the company that takes care of our heating system.

When our heat guy came over, he told us the carbon monoxide levels in our basement had been dangerously high (5,000 ppm by the heater) and the detectors had saved our lives. We spent last night without any heat in the house but so thankful to God that He protected us. If you have gas logs or gas powered heat in your house, please get these detectors. The gas is odorless and we would have passed out and unless someone had found us quickly, died. 

On to more pleasant things!

One of the things we really love about our home is the open floor plan. It's especially nice for the holidays and entertaining.

Our dining room, kitchen and family room are divided by this large 'island.' This gives me tons of counter space and I use it like a buffet at the holidays.

It's also nice that I can talk to everyone while I'm cooking!

I moved my gold sled to the buffet and surrounded it with treats.  This little chalk board that I found at Tuesday Morning is always fun to change to match the season.
On Christmas day, this spot is filled with appetizers, desserts and drinks.

While I'm cooking, someone is always sitting right here - snacking.


When we redid our master bathroom this summer, our tile guy was nice enough to help me with our back splash. I already had the 4" travertine tile. He advised me how to seal them and what products to use. 
He had his wet saw set up on our drive way and when I got to the point where I needed the tile cut, he paused working on our bathroom and cut the tile for me!  But I did all the tile laying and grouting myself.
I love how it turned out and how well the tile matches the colors of the cabinets. A friend asked me how I got the pattern of the tile so perfect. I didn't do anything! I just kept grabbing the nearest tile.

I'm also really thankful for the advice and help that our tile expert gave me because I would have missed some steps without him! Thank you, Neil, at Carpet Gallery!
These are cardboard letters that I bought at HobbyLobby. I decoupaged them with blue and white napkins that I found at Tuesday Morning a couple of years ago.

Hope you've got all your shopping done! We've got a couple of Christmas parties this week and will be picking our son up at the airport tomorrow for a week long visit.

Also, our wonderful 'heat guy' is coming over today to get our heat working again! I've got both our gas logs going and I'm wearing several layers under a thick blanket. It's 59 degrees in our house.

love and blessings~
"So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them." Luke 2
Standard
Home & Garden

A Christmas Buffet and a New Back Splash

My husband and son and I were hanging around after dinner last night when we heard a beeping from the basement. My husband went downstairs to see what it was and our carbon monoxide detector was beeping. After determining the batteries were good in both the basement detector and the main floor detector, he opened the basement patio door and the alarm soon quit.

And then the one in the family room, where we were sitting, went off. We got out of the house and called the emergency line for the company that takes care of our heating system.

When our heat guy came over, he told us the carbon monoxide levels in our basement had been dangerously high (5,000 ppm by the heater) and the detectors had saved our lives. We spent last night without any heat in the house but so thankful to God that He protected us. If you have gas logs or gas powered heat in your house, please get these detectors. The gas is odorless and we would have passed out and unless someone had found us quickly, died. 

On to more pleasant things!

One of the things we really love about our home is the open floor plan. It's especially nice for the holidays and entertaining.

Our dining room, kitchen and family room are divided by this large 'island.' This gives me tons of counter space and I use it like a buffet at the holidays.

It's also nice that I can talk to everyone while I'm cooking!

I moved my gold sled to the buffet and surrounded it with treats.  This little chalk board that I found at Tuesday Morning is always fun to change to match the season.
On Christmas day, this spot is filled with appetizers, desserts and drinks.

While I'm cooking, someone is always sitting right here - snacking.


When we redid our master bathroom this summer, our tile guy was nice enough to help me with our back splash. I already had the 4" travertine tile. He advised me how to seal them and what products to use. 
He had his wet saw set up on our drive way and when I got to the point where I needed the tile cut, he paused working on our bathroom and cut the tile for me!  But I did all the tile laying and grouting myself.
I love how it turned out and how well the tile matches the colors of the cabinets. A friend asked me how I got the pattern of the tile so perfect. I didn't do anything! I just kept grabbing the nearest tile.

I'm also really thankful for the advice and help that our tile expert gave me because I would have missed some steps without him! Thank you, Neil, at Carpet Gallery!
These are cardboard letters that I bought at HobbyLobby. I decoupaged them with blue and white napkins that I found at Tuesday Morning a couple of years ago.

Hope you've got all your shopping done! We've got a couple of Christmas parties this week and will be picking our son up at the airport tomorrow for a week long visit.

Also, our wonderful 'heat guy' is coming over today to get our heat working again! I've got both our gas logs going and I'm wearing several layers under a thick blanket. It's 59 degrees in our house.

love and blessings~
"So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them." Luke 2
Standard
Home & Garden

A Christmas Buffet and a New Back Splash

My husband and son and I were hanging around after dinner last night when we heard a beeping from the basement. My husband went downstairs to see what it was and our carbon monoxide detector was beeping. After determining the batteries were good in both the basement detector and the main floor detector, he opened the basement patio door and the alarm soon quit.

And then the one in the family room, where we were sitting, went off. We got out of the house and called the emergency line for the company that takes care of our heating system.

When our heat guy came over, he told us the carbon monoxide levels in our basement had been dangerously high (5,000 ppm by the heater) and the detectors had saved our lives. We spent last night without any heat in the house but so thankful to God that He protected us. If you have gas logs or gas powered heat in your house, please get these detectors. The gas is odorless and we would have passed out and unless someone had found us quickly, died. 

On to more pleasant things!

One of the things we really love about our home is the open floor plan. It's especially nice for the holidays and entertaining.

Our dining room, kitchen and family room are divided by this large 'island.' This gives me tons of counter space and I use it like a buffet at the holidays.

It's also nice that I can talk to everyone while I'm cooking!

I moved my gold sled to the buffet and surrounded it with treats.  This little chalk board that I found at Tuesday Morning is always fun to change to match the season.
On Christmas day, this spot is filled with appetizers, desserts and drinks.

While I'm cooking, someone is always sitting right here - snacking.


When we redid our master bathroom this summer, our tile guy was nice enough to help me with our back splash. I already had the 4" travertine tile. He advised me how to seal them and what products to use. 
He had his wet saw set up on our drive way and when I got to the point where I needed the tile cut, he paused working on our bathroom and cut the tile for me!  But I did all the tile laying and grouting myself.
I love how it turned out and how well the tile matches the colors of the cabinets. A friend asked me how I got the pattern of the tile so perfect. I didn't do anything! I just kept grabbing the nearest tile.

I'm also really thankful for the advice and help that our tile expert gave me because I would have missed some steps without him! Thank you, Neil, at Carpet Gallery!
These are cardboard letters that I bought at HobbyLobby. I decoupaged them with blue and white napkins that I found at Tuesday Morning a couple of years ago.

Hope you've got all your shopping done! We've got a couple of Christmas parties this week and will be picking our son up at the airport tomorrow for a week long visit.

Also, our wonderful 'heat guy' is coming over today to get our heat working again! I've got both our gas logs going and I'm wearing several layers under a thick blanket. It's 59 degrees in our house.

love and blessings~
"So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them." Luke 2
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

A Romantic French Kitchen

We put all new cabinet fronts on our kitchen almost two years ago. It was a major change and since our kitchen is open to our living room, dining area and family room, it has made such a big difference.

I started out a little too farmhouse but eventually found my way back to French Country. I've been adding a little romance to our kitchen lately with blue and white and some other accessories.

This framed canvas of roses is one of my favorite things.

It's been in our master bedroom but it was on the wall where our barn door opens so I've moved it to the kitchen.  An ivy planted in a little blue and white watering can and a small urn complete the vignette.
Our back splash is bead board. I hung a little frieze of angels above the stove that I've had forever.

I edited my Ode de Charles Faudree a bit by taking away a few plates and adding another corbel. (I thought it all looked really straight but I don't think it does in this picture!)
I also recently painted this small section of our island again. If you remember, it was Seal Brown by SW. Now it's SW Rain which is one of the colors I've used on our family room shutters. With our shutters in the dining room and living room being brown, I decided now I wanted this to be blue. lol Someone suggested this when I was trying to decide what color to paint this. Thank you!

My husband told my daughter, "When I left the house this morning some things were brown and some things were blue. When I came home, the things that were brown are now blue and vice versa." Poor man!

You can see from these pictures why I would want our kitchen to be a little more formal than most kitchens. We can see it from every room.
I'm on the hunt for some new bar stools. I've never loved these but I also need three now for our three grand children. They come over often for lunch during the week and our youngest little guy (10 mos) needs a bar stool now. :)  Fitting three in here might be a little close but I'm going to try it.

I keep thinking that I'd like to have different hardware on this blue section just to dress it up a bit and also make it feel like a separate cabinet. Maybe I'll see if I can find some the next time I go to Grand Rapids HobbyLobby.


I had done an antiquing glaze to our cabinets a while back. It added some nice depth from far away but up close, it just looked dirty to me. So I also gave our doors a fresh coat of SW Sand.
It feels so much fresher to me now and I love a kitchen that feels really clean.

I'll be back soon with more changes. Have a wonderful day!

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12

Cabinet color: SW Sand in Satin and SW Rain in Satin

I'm joining these parties:

thoughts-of-home-on-thursday
addisonmeadowslane
creative-circle-week-61
frenchcountrycottage
impartinggrace
handmade-hangout-97
foodie-friday-and-everything-else
home/sweet-inspiration-link-party-2
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
stonegableblog
betweennapsontheporch
astrollthrulife
savvysouthernstyle
diybydesign
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

A Romantic French Kitchen

We put all new cabinet fronts on our kitchen almost two years ago. It was a major change and since our kitchen is open to our living room, dining area and family room, it has made such a big difference.

I started out a little too farmhouse but eventually found my way back to French Country. I've been adding a little romance to our kitchen lately with blue and white and some other accessories.

This framed canvas of roses is one of my favorite things.

It's been in our master bedroom but it was on the wall where our barn door opens so I've moved it to the kitchen.  An ivy planted in a little blue and white watering can and a small urn complete the vignette.
Our back splash is bead board. I hung a little frieze of angels above the stove that I've had forever.

I edited my Ode de Charles Faudree a bit by taking away a few plates and adding another corbel. (I thought it all looked really straight but I don't think it does in this picture!)
I also recently painted this small section of our island again. If you remember, it was Seal Brown by SW. Now it's SW Rain which is one of the colors I've used on our family room shutters. With our shutters in the dining room and living room being brown, I decided now I wanted this to be blue. lol Someone suggested this when I was trying to decide what color to paint this. Thank you!

My husband told my daughter, "When I left the house this morning some things were brown and some things were blue. When I came home, the things that were brown are now blue and vice versa." Poor man!

You can see from these pictures why I would want our kitchen to be a little more formal than most kitchens. We can see it from every room.
I'm on the hunt for some new bar stools. I've never loved these but I also need three now for our three grand children. They come over often for lunch during the week and our youngest little guy (10 mos) needs a bar stool now. :)  Fitting three in here might be a little close but I'm going to try it.

I keep thinking that I'd like to have different hardware on this blue section just to dress it up a bit and also make it feel like a separate cabinet. Maybe I'll see if I can find some the next time I go to Grand Rapids HobbyLobby.


I had done an antiquing glaze to our cabinets a while back. It added some nice depth from far away but up close, it just looked dirty to me. So I also gave our doors a fresh coat of SW Sand.
It feels so much fresher to me now and I love a kitchen that feels really clean.

I'll be back soon with more changes. Have a wonderful day!

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12

Cabinet color: SW Sand in Satin and SW Rain in Satin

I'm joining these parties:

thoughts-of-home-on-thursday
addisonmeadowslane
creative-circle-week-61
frenchcountrycottage
impartinggrace
handmade-hangout-97
foodie-friday-and-everything-else
home/sweet-inspiration-link-party-2
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
stonegableblog
betweennapsontheporch
astrollthrulife
savvysouthernstyle
diybydesign
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Blue and White in the Kitchen

Spring is still a long way off here in Michigan.  But I've been in a mood for all my blue and white lately.  It adds freshness everywhere I put it!

Our kitchen is open to our whole main living area so I like to keep it as coordinated and 'dressy' as possible.
Nothing big has changed in our kitchen lately.  We were planning on doing a travertine back splash but have run into problems. Underneath the temporary bead board we put up is a corian back splash and maybe I would just leave it but it stops where the microwave used to be. And it goes under the wall cabinets. So tearing it out is going to be difficult. So, for the time being, we're doing nothing.

I have a set of Spode spice jars that I love.  I haven't had a great place to put them so I got this little shelf at HomeGoods and we put it up.  I'm thinking about painting the back splash as long as I'm stuck. Blue?

This wall always bugs me.  It's kind of a focal point and I'm never happy with what I put here. But I'm thinking I like my "Ode to Charles Faudree!"
I found this little stand at HomeGoods and grabbed it.  I love it but now I'm not really sure what to do with it. I'm hoping to find a better spot where it can really shine.  I think it's so cute!

After I painted our window shutters brown in the living room, our white doors looked out of place. This door to our basement was my test door and I think it flows better with the style I'm heading towards. So, I see some door painting in my future!
I'll be back soon with some more updates all around the house!

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Blue and White in the Kitchen

Spring is still a long way off here in Michigan.  But I've been in a mood for all my blue and white lately.  It adds freshness everywhere I put it!

Our kitchen is open to our whole main living area so I like to keep it as coordinated and 'dressy' as possible.
Nothing big has changed in our kitchen lately.  We were planning on doing a travertine back splash but have run into problems. Underneath the temporary bead board we put up is a corian back splash and maybe I would just leave it but it stops where the microwave used to be. And it goes under the wall cabinets. So tearing it out is going to be difficult. So, for the time being, we're doing nothing.

I have a set of Spode spice jars that I love.  I haven't had a great place to put them so I got this little shelf at HomeGoods and we put it up.  I'm thinking about painting the back splash as long as I'm stuck. Blue?

This wall always bugs me.  It's kind of a focal point and I'm never happy with what I put here. But I'm thinking I like my "Ode to Charles Faudree!"
I found this little stand at HomeGoods and grabbed it.  I love it but now I'm not really sure what to do with it. I'm hoping to find a better spot where it can really shine.  I think it's so cute!

After I painted our window shutters brown in the living room, our white doors looked out of place. This door to our basement was my test door and I think it flows better with the style I'm heading towards. So, I see some door painting in my future!
I'll be back soon with some more updates all around the house!

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

From "Farmhouse" to "French Country" Part Three

For those of you that have been following my blog, we are two steps closer to finishing our kitchen.

We got our new stainless gas range and we are loving it!
I ordered it online from Lowe's and really had to pay attention to details and people's reviews.  I chose this one because the sides have a lip that comes over the edge of the cabinet so things can't fall between the stove and the cabinet.

This one also has a 'dip' in the back that allows the gas line and electrical to fit in there.  Then the stove fits right up against the wall.

I was mentally ready to send it back and try again but my first choice worked perfectly!
I put my sweet cow back above the stove (he had been living with my other cows in the basement) and also added a print of cows to the wall.  My cows were in this area last year and became a real topic of conversation with my family so I thought they didn't like them.  They were all happy when I brought them back - lol!
We also got a new faucet.  Our old one was silver and I wanted one that matched the oiled bronze hardware and the other sink.
We've decided not to get a new sink right now.  We don't want to replace our counter tops and it would be pretty hard to replace the sink and have it fit perfectly.  Our current sink is in perfect condition and it's a nice sink. I would love to have a farm house sink and if we ever replace our counter tops, we'll get one then.
We finally got our schedule to match the "tile guy's" and my husband surprised me by asking him to give us an estimate on our kitchen floor as well as the master bathroom!  I've always thought our kitchen floor was weird/neat?  I like the wood inlay but wish it went both directions making a diamond pattern instead of just the one way.  We'll probably take a trip to the tile store this weekend and pick out tile for the master bathroom and the kitchen!  Yay!
We still need to put up our new back splash.  I've picked out 4" travertine tile that we're going to set on an angle.  It's such a small space and since it's completely open to the rest of the house, I'm going to keep it very simple.  If we get a new floor, I will so a similar tile also set on an angle.
From Farm house to French Country Part One
From Farm House to French Country Part Two
I'll include more pictures of the kitchen soon when I do a Fall Tour.

Have a wonderful day!

love and blessings~

"Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, (Jesus) took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds," Matthew 14:19

Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

From "Farmhouse" to "French Country" Part Three

For those of you that have been following my blog, we are two steps closer to finishing our kitchen.

We got our new stainless gas range and we are loving it!
I ordered it online from Lowe's and really had to pay attention to details and people's reviews.  I chose this one because the sides have a lip that comes over the edge of the cabinet so things can't fall between the stove and the cabinet.

This one also has a 'dip' in the back that allows the gas line and electrical to fit in there.  Then the stove fits right up against the wall.

I was mentally ready to send it back and try again but my first choice worked perfectly!
I put my sweet cow back above the stove (he had been living with my other cows in the basement) and also added a print of cows to the wall.  My cows were in this area last year and became a real topic of conversation with my family so I thought they didn't like them.  They were all happy when I brought them back - lol!
We also got a new faucet.  Our old one was silver and I wanted one that matched the oiled bronze hardware and the other sink.
We've decided not to get a new sink right now.  We don't want to replace our counter tops and it would be pretty hard to replace the sink and have it fit perfectly.  Our current sink is in perfect condition and it's a nice sink. I would love to have a farm house sink and if we ever replace our counter tops, we'll get one then.
We finally got our schedule to match the "tile guy's" and my husband surprised me by asking him to give us an estimate on our kitchen floor as well as the master bathroom!  I've always thought our kitchen floor was weird/neat?  I like the wood inlay but wish it went both directions making a diamond pattern instead of just the one way.  We'll probably take a trip to the tile store this weekend and pick out tile for the master bathroom and the kitchen!  Yay!
We still need to put up our new back splash.  I've picked out 4" travertine tile that we're going to set on an angle.  It's such a small space and since it's completely open to the rest of the house, I'm going to keep it very simple.  If we get a new floor, I will so a similar tile also set on an angle.
From Farm house to French Country Part One
From Farm House to French Country Part Two
I'll include more pictures of the kitchen soon when I do a Fall Tour.

Have a wonderful day!

love and blessings~

"Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, (Jesus) took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds," Matthew 14:19

Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Spray Painting a Brass Sink

When I told my daughter a couple of years ago that I was going to start blogging, she told me, "You should call your blog, 'There's a spray paint for that! hahahaha!'" She's a funny girl.

Obviously, I didn't follow her advice - but there's some truth in her statement.

There are a lot of things in our house that have been spray painted.  A couple of times. My spray paint collection is pretty impressive.  My husband will occasionally look at something in our house and ask me, "How many colors has THIS been?"  He's a funny guy.

But this is the first time I've ever spray painted a sink.

A couple of years ago we redecorated our main floor bathroom.  We spray painted all of our towel racks and hardware oiled bronze. They've held up perfectly.

We never use this sink. It looks really shiny in this picture.  I had scrubbed it for about 10 minutes. You might be able to tell that it's still not perfect. It stays shiny like this for about 3 hours.  Then it tarnishes.


This area in our dining room is obviously for mixing and serving drinks and we have never used it for that in the 12 years we've lived here.  I occasionally set a plant in it to water it well but otherwise...nothing. So I felt pretty confidant that it wasn't going to get a lot of wear and tear.  I certainly wouldn't advise doing this with a sink you use daily.

We tried to get this sink out.  Either to replace it or paint it...at the time we weren't sure which.  But we soon found out that it was in there for good.  So I went to Plan B.

We removed the faucet so that we could paint that separately. I taped off the sink and surrounded it with trash bags to protect the cabinet.

I then fixed a cardboard box to further protect the room while I painted.

I stuck the paint can into the box. sprayed all around and then 'closed the window' with a rag until the mist settled.

I did this several times until the sink was perfectly painted. I used Rustoleum for metal that included a primer.

We let it dry for several hours before we reattached the faucet.

Et voila!  New sink!  And I don't know if you can tell from this picture but it really is perfect.  And because of our experience with the bathroom, I think it will be durable enough.

I had a nice comment on my From Farmhouse to French Country-Part Two that the brass sink added some 'up' to the room and I agree.  It was a very pretty sink.  But it didn't match and it was hard to keep looking nice.  I think this was a nice solution.

Previously the sink was the only brass thing in the room.  Now it ties in perfectly with the cabinet hardware.

Have a great week!  I'll be back in a couple of days with my living room's newly painted French Blue shutters!
French Shutters
love and blessings~

" Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12

I'm joining these parties: oursouthernhomesc, betweennapsontheporch, .karensuponthehill, coastalcharm, astrollthrulife, savvysouthernstyle, too-much-time, tatertotsandjello, cedarhillfarmhouse.






Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Spray Painting a Brass Sink

When I told my daughter a couple of years ago that I was going to start blogging, she told me, "You should call your blog, 'There's a spray paint for that! hahahaha!'" She's a funny girl.

Obviously, I didn't follow her advice - but there's some truth in her statement.

There are a lot of things in our house that have been spray painted.  A couple of times. My spray paint collection is pretty impressive.  My husband will occasionally look at something in our house and ask me, "How many colors has THIS been?"  He's a funny guy.

But this is the first time I've ever spray painted a sink.

A couple of years ago we redecorated our main floor bathroom.  We spray painted all of our towel racks and hardware oiled bronze. They've held up perfectly.

We never use this sink. It looks really shiny in this picture.  I had scrubbed it for about 10 minutes. You might be able to tell that it's still not perfect. It stays shiny like this for about 3 hours.  Then it tarnishes.


This area in our dining room is obviously for mixing and serving drinks and we have never used it for that in the 12 years we've lived here.  I occasionally set a plant in it to water it well but otherwise...nothing. So I felt pretty confidant that it wasn't going to get a lot of wear and tear.  I certainly wouldn't advise doing this with a sink you use daily.

We tried to get this sink out.  Either to replace it or paint it...at the time we weren't sure which.  But we soon found out that it was in there for good.  So I went to Plan B.

We removed the faucet so that we could paint that separately. I taped off the sink and surrounded it with trash bags to protect the cabinet.

I then fixed a cardboard box to further protect the room while I painted.

I stuck the paint can into the box. sprayed all around and then 'closed the window' with a rag until the mist settled.

I did this several times until the sink was perfectly painted. I used Rustoleum for metal that included a primer.

We let it dry for several hours before we reattached the faucet.

Et voila!  New sink!  And I don't know if you can tell from this picture but it really is perfect.  And because of our experience with the bathroom, I think it will be durable enough.

I had a nice comment on my From Farmhouse to French Country-Part Two that the brass sink added some 'up' to the room and I agree.  It was a very pretty sink.  But it didn't match and it was hard to keep looking nice.  I think this was a nice solution.

Previously the sink was the only brass thing in the room.  Now it ties in perfectly with the cabinet hardware.

Have a great week!  I'll be back in a couple of days with my living room's newly painted French Blue shutters!
French Shutters
love and blessings~

" Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12

I'm joining these parties: oursouthernhomesc, betweennapsontheporch, .karensuponthehill, coastalcharm, astrollthrulife, savvysouthernstyle, too-much-time, tatertotsandjello, cedarhillfarmhouse.






Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

From "Farmhouse" to "French Country" – Part Two

Hi all!!

We have had a very busy couple of weeks here as our summer vacation comes to an end. Our middle son has been staying with us since June.  We've enjoyed his visit so much but he will be taking off for San Francisco soon.  And my husband, a college professor, and youngest son will be going back to college classes next week.

So my house will go from busy and a little chaotic at times to quiet and empty all day long. And I will get back to projects.  In the mean time, I'm fitting as much fun into the last of summer as I can.

I had made a commitment not to paint this summer but I didn't make it!  I finally broke down and finished painting the kitchen cabinets and all the cabinetry that's in the family room.  And I was so happy about it that I was sorry I waited so long - lol.


My son took this picture of me painting.  I posted it on my Gates of Crystal Facebook page and it went viral.  HA!

You know I'm just kidding.  He was actually taking a picture of his brother and I was in the background.  When I loaded my pictures onto my computer, there it was.  (I cropped out my son.)


But we've finished two projects in the kitchen that I have wanted to do for a while!  One of them is these fabulous X's!  The X's are just 2" wide pine boards.  We framed out the sides where needed and fit the x's inside.   We then caulked any gaps, primed and painted.

We added an X to all four ends of our cabinetry. When I got to the cabinet in the dining room,  it was going to be the only X that was the SW Seal Brown and I didn't like that.
But the other project was adding feet to our cabinets. So I re-re-painted this section the light Sand color and made the brown section look like an independent cabinet with the feet.

I'm so happy with this now.  I love the contrast of colors but I love having more of the lighter color.  I also repainted the bar stool area the lighter color.

I bought the feet at Lowe's.  They are furniture feet and were the perfect size.  We found out that the height between the floor and the bottom of each cabinet varied and the feet were too short in some places.

Rather than add to the top of each foot and remove the quarter-round moulding in the areas where there is hardwood floors, we added a small piece to the bottom of the feet. We had a dowling rod that was the exact width of the bottom of the foot. This made the bottom of the foot narrow enough to miss the quarter round.


The wet bar sink in this area is brass.  We've tried to pull it out to replace it but it must be "glued" in. So I have a plan to change it which I will post when it's finished.

We've ordered our new stove (gas stainless) and I've picked out tile for the back splash and am hoping to have that all put in before our stove arrives.

I love the 'custom look' the feet and X's have added.  And the French Country feel.

I told my husband he was almost done!  He doesn't believe me.  Poor man.
From Farmhouse to French Country Part One

Have a wonderful day!

love and blessings~
"For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes."  Jeremiah 31:25


I'm joining these parties: commonground, impartinggrace, /lessthanperfectlifeofbliss, frenchcountrycottage, thecharmofhome, shabbynest, RattlebridgeFarm, dwellings-theheartofyourhome, oursouthernhomesc, betweennapsontheporch, karensuponthehill, coastalcharm, astrollthrulife, savvysouthernstyle, tatertotsandjello, cedarhillfarmhouse, cupcakesandcrinoline
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

From "Farmhouse" to "French Country" – Part Two

Hi all!!

We have had a very busy couple of weeks here as our summer vacation comes to an end. Our middle son has been staying with us since June.  We've enjoyed his visit so much but he will be taking off for San Francisco soon.  And my husband, a college professor, and youngest son will be going back to college classes next week.

So my house will go from busy and a little chaotic at times to quiet and empty all day long. And I will get back to projects.  In the mean time, I'm fitting as much fun into the last of summer as I can.

I had made a commitment not to paint this summer but I didn't make it!  I finally broke down and finished painting the kitchen cabinets and all the cabinetry that's in the family room.  And I was so happy about it that I was sorry I waited so long - lol.


My son took this picture of me painting.  I posted it on my Gates of Crystal Facebook page and it went viral.  HA!

You know I'm just kidding.  He was actually taking a picture of his brother and I was in the background.  When I loaded my pictures onto my computer, there it was.  (I cropped out my son.)


But we've finished two projects in the kitchen that I have wanted to do for a while!  One of them is these fabulous X's!  The X's are just 2" wide pine boards.  We framed out the sides where needed and fit the x's inside.   We then caulked any gaps, primed and painted.

We added an X to all four ends of our cabinetry. When I got to the cabinet in the dining room,  it was going to be the only X that was the SW Seal Brown and I didn't like that.
But the other project was adding feet to our cabinets. So I re-re-painted this section the light Sand color and made the brown section look like an independent cabinet with the feet.

I'm so happy with this now.  I love the contrast of colors but I love having more of the lighter color.  I also repainted the bar stool area the lighter color.

I bought the feet at Lowe's.  They are furniture feet and were the perfect size.  We found out that the height between the floor and the bottom of each cabinet varied and the feet were too short in some places.

Rather than add to the top of each foot and remove the quarter-round moulding in the areas where there is hardwood floors, we added a small piece to the bottom of the feet. We had a dowling rod that was the exact width of the bottom of the foot. This made the bottom of the foot narrow enough to miss the quarter round.


The wet bar sink in this area is brass.  We've tried to pull it out to replace it but it must be "glued" in. So I have a plan to change it which I will post when it's finished.

We've ordered our new stove (gas stainless) and I've picked out tile for the back splash and am hoping to have that all put in before our stove arrives.

I love the 'custom look' the feet and X's have added.  And the French Country feel.

I told my husband he was almost done!  He doesn't believe me.  Poor man.
From Farmhouse to French Country Part One

Have a wonderful day!

love and blessings~
"For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes."  Jeremiah 31:25


I'm joining these parties: commonground, impartinggrace, /lessthanperfectlifeofbliss, frenchcountrycottage, thecharmofhome, shabbynest, RattlebridgeFarm, dwellings-theheartofyourhome, oursouthernhomesc, betweennapsontheporch, karensuponthehill, coastalcharm, astrollthrulife, savvysouthernstyle, tatertotsandjello, cedarhillfarmhouse, cupcakesandcrinoline
Standard