Progress is what our Kitchen and Dining Room is...Done? No! It is a work in progress. Lets start with the light in the kitchen. Oh how I love fluorescent lighting...especially for a person who gets migraine headaches (sarcasm all over that sentence). Changing lighting will instantly update a space.
BEFORE
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| Kitchen after 6 can lights were installed - Hole in ceiling still needs patched. |
Dining Room Light: Well, some lights can not be made beautiful with spray paint. I sprayed several light fixtures in our home (frugal way) to update on a budget. This fixture, in my opinion, was not salvageable. When we took it down in paint preparation, I told Neil to accidentally break it :)
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| The new light fixture in the dining area. |
The Cabinets:
The home we bought was built in 1994 an era where the orangey-yellow oak cabinets were popular. Buying new cabinets was completely out of the budget so we enlisted the help of a family member who also happens to be a general contractor to give our cabinets the needed update.
I am not 100% sure on the process he used..... I do know it was lacquer with a glaze applied on top and boy did it stink!
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| My great cousin who did our cabinets. |
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| Under construction |
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| Finished cabinet minus one door still at the cabinet shop. |
The Mural
The wall in the dining room had a mural from the previous home owner. I will admit it was painted well but it wasn't exactly my style. When my sister and nephews were over one afternoon helping us rip up carpet they took creative liberties with their paper plates and decorated the mural.
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| Our super model Tyson Gregory |
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| Mural |
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| Mural painted in "Bouillon" I want a job naming paint colors :) |
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| Railings were same color as cabinets but with white lacquer it freshened up the house considerably. |
Railings
Tiling
Tiling was a completely foreign concept to me when we began this adventure. I had no idea how time consuming and MESSY it was. I did learn that the "mud" we used to lay the tiles will EAT holes in the tips of ALL your fingers and that it really HURTS. I am now a master at mixing grout to the right consistency. That aside, I love how the tiling turned out. I have to take bragging rights for a minute here....I am really proud of what the husband and I did. We also had my trusty cousin giving us much needed advice along the way.
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| Our pallet of all the tile to be laid! |
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| Our tile - love love love it! Gray with brown sparkly flecks. A more contemporary tile. Did I say I love it? |
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| Pulling faces at the kids. Neil cut and I laid - what a system. |
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| First few rows laid in a staggering brick layout. |
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| What a sight to behold - Kitchen Floor Tiled? CHECK!!! |
We have a few holes to patch, touch up painting, a missing cabinet door, and covers to get on. Future wish list projects include redoing the counters, putting in a back splash, and decorating the wall where the mural used to be.
