Kitchen Updates...It's almost done!

 I finished alot of updates on the kitchen a few months ago...

And then kinda forgot I had taken these pictures :) 

Only 3 lonely to-do's remain on the Kitchen To-Do List. Sometimes I have to look back just to remember how far this kitchen has come.

I re-painted the walls from "Hot Chocolate" to "Partridge Gray":

(And, you've seen my wine rack already)

Installed open shelving over the secretary to display white flea market ceramics:

Enlarged a wedding photo of our cake-feeding fun, mod-podged it onto foam-board, and hung it with an old iron skillet where I painted "Happiness is homemade":

 

Took down my tiny framed chalkboard and went all in with a chalkboard wall for menus and schedules:

 

 Added an over-door shelf on the doorway leading to the dining room:

 

Re-purposed a white ceramic hippo planter into a cloth napkin holder:

  

 Hung an antique wood shelf in the breakfast nook for more open display:

 

Like an old family photo of lovebirds behind a heart-shaped cookie cutter:

And praying angels on a pedestal beside my favorite picture of my grandparents:

 

 Placed my favorite fedora, Sean's favorite fedora, and Sean's grandfather's old newsboy cap on coat hooks behind the reading chair:

Brought in a throw-back diy project from the early blogging days with this serving tray for candles and cotton: 

 Removed the shades from this chandelier and removed the fabric from the cornice boxes, added wood appliques, and painted them white:

 A little before and after action?

It probably took 86 projects to get it to this point, but I think it shows! It feels polished but aged, cozy but airy. And it's almost right where I want it to be.

Happy Monday!

Katie

Follow @ktgray13

Navy, Herringbone Dresser for Living Room

I'm still here...Busy and productive as ever. Just simply enjoying more "doing" and less "sharing" as before I guess! I will share another piece added to our living room that really anchored the space and made it feel so much more like home. For our large living space, I pulled all the furniture closer into the center, leaving more room between the sofa and the wall. I hate to have anything hanging on the wall without something below to "ground" it, so I brainstormed a piece to use on this wall that would still allow enough pass-through space for us to walk out into the porch. I LOVE a dresser in the living room!! I've seen it alot lately and they're often paired with lamps and artwork...AND provide a ton more storage.

This is the old dresser I started with:

 

 Because it was not solid wood, stripping and restaining it, like I originally wanted, was a no-go.

And because the top was so badly water-damaged, paint was not going to cover it there. 

I needed to paint the bottom and somehow cover the warped top surface. 

I remembered seeing a herringbone patterned stained table top from Thistlewood Farms using paint sticks, so that was my game plan for the top.

For the rest...

I could've gone turquoise.

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 Or rustic black.

 

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Or clean white.

 

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 But I wanted something to stand out against our white walls and something more classic, so I decided on navy. I used Krylon's Oxford Blue spray paint after priming.

The top was not difficult, only time consuming. But I found it therapeutic and calming. I took my time putting my puzzle together and wood-glued the paint sticks (which I cut with a miter box and saw) in the herringbone pattern until it was all covered. Sanded, Stained, Poly'd. DONE!

 

The navy color you see in the above photo is closer to reality...Somehow the pictures inside look way more blue. It wasn't a good day for picture taking so they're all terrible, but it looks AMAZING with antique brass hardware and the Dark Walnut stained top!!

 It can be the perfect toy stow-away when future kids are using our living room as a playground. Everything can be out of site but in reach.

I'm a little obsessed with the top. It was a slight labor of love so I find myself running my hand across it every time I walk by. It's so rich and pretty!

~The Grays Follow @ktgray13