Kitchen Shelving Project - Day 1

Finding Inspiration

I have open shelving in my kitchen that is in need of a makeover.

This is my "before".

I like to look at magazines and online images for ideas and inspiration. All photos are from Country  Living mgazine.

My shelves have only held dishes, but I like the food storage idea.

A lot of storage on these shelves.  Something I definitely have to take into consideration.  My shelves have to hold my everyday dishes - they cannot be display only.

Love the colors on this one.

Pretty, but too sparse for me.

This is my favorite, but I know mine will have more color and more "stuff".

This is pretty and functional.

And this I just really want.

Janet

~My Favorite Find~

This is my favorite piece of furniture.  It is an 1800's table from a local farm.

See the square nail?

And this is my favorite way to make and keep furniture beautiful.  The Briwax gives the wood a wonderful shine and protective finish, while keeping the integrity of rustic pieces.  It is a bit difficult to find and a little price-y, but totally worth it.  To apply,  you rub the wax on with a cloth, let dry, and buff to a shine.  You can get a workout with the last step.  The more layers you apply, the better it looks.  I wish I had a before picture of my table, but it was purchased ten years ago.  I put in many hours cleaning, sanding, and waxing it.  I put another coat of wax on about every six months.  Can you see how it shines?

The cupboard in my dining room has been bothering me for a while.

It always looks dusty, even though it's not.

So I gave it the Briwax treatment.

Much better.

Janet

P.S.  The wax comes in different colors-mine is dark brown.

P.S.S.  I will be linking this to:

Transformation Thursday

Furniture Feature Friday

~Shabby Pink Bench~

When I saw this picture from Rachel Ashwell's home in Romantic Country magazine I thought, "Ooh! I need a shabby pink bench."

So I decided to make one.

I cut a board for the seat and two for the sides with a 22 1/2 degree angle cut on the ends.

I cut two boards for the legs, drew an inverted "v", and cut out with a jigsaw.  I then glued and nailed it all together. 

At the bottom, I added a small shelf.

Then the fun part.  I distressed the wood by creating "worm holes" with a drill.

And then just beat and scraped and dented with a hammer.

To finish,  I painted a pale pink and antiqued with Ralph Lauren smoke glaze.

And now I have a shabby pink bench of my own.  I'm sending this post to the I made it without my hubby party at Shanty2Chic.  I can't wait to see what everyone else made.  I will also be joining SNS at Funky Junk Interiors.  And since this was my first big project of the New Year, I'm joining the party at Sanctuary Arts at Home.

Janet

~Cafe' au Lait Bowls by Moi~

OK, they're not really cafe' au lait bowls.  More like cereal /ice cream bowls, but cafe' au lait sounds much more romantic, don't ya think?  Anyway, that was the look that I was going for. I found some Cafe' au lait bowls that I liked on line, but they were 14 dollars each plus shipping. These bowls were 2 dollars each at Big Lots, so, you guessed it, I decided to make my own. 

I gathered my supplies-enamel paint from Hobby Lobby, a stencil for the border, and a rooster shape to trace. The alcohol is to clean the bowls before you paint. The paint colors are very limited, so I added some black to the red to get more of a burgandy.  I sprayed my stencil with spray adhesive-so much easier.  Then I just used a stencil brush and pounced on the paint, very light on the paint.  The best part is the paint cleans right off before it dries.

I traced around the rooster on contact paper and cut it out.  Perfect stencil.

You can let air dry for 21 days or bake.  I baked.  Instructions are on the paint bottle.

And they turned out like this.  I can't wait to see them on my kitchen shelves, after I rearrange them.(future post I'm sure)

Janet

P.S.  These are suppose to be top rack dishwasher safe, but I haven't tried it yet.

I'll be joining:

Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts

Made by You Mondays

The Girl Creative

How I Became a "Handywoman"

That's right.  I consider myself a handywoman.  Even though for every one thing I get right, I do about three things wrong, nothing ever goes the way I think it will, and there is a lot of grumbling (I'm not really one to curse, but if  I were...) in the process. But if you accomplish the task in the end, then it's a success.  Right?

So, I've been working on my project for the I made it without my hubby party at Shanty2chic, and I started thinking about all the things I have done without my hubby and how it all got started.

Here's my story.  My now husband and I had both just graduated from college, moved back home, and were looking for jobs.  We both found ourselves working at wal-mart.  I was head of lingerie and he was in charge of hardware.  His family and friends were always laughing and joking about his working in the hardware department, but I just didn't get what was so funny.  We lived in apartments the first few years of marriage, so no decorating or anything was really done.  We finally moved into our home and I was bitten by the decorating bug. I started asking my husband to do things for me-hang pictures, paint, build things.  That's when I got the joke.  My husband means well, but he has no knowledge, interest, or skill to do anything with tools, hardware, paintbrushes, etc.  I didn't think it was so funny.  What??  You are a man and you are not going to be at my beck and call for all my decorating projects?  So being the hardheaded, stubborn (I mean motivated) person that I am, I decided I would do it myself.  And now I am actually grateful.  I feel stronger and more independent and I'm having a lot of fun.

Here are a few of the projects that I have done without my Hubby:

I built new cabinet doors with fabric.

Took down cabinets and put up open shelving...

(I'm planning a total re-do of these shelves that I hope to show soon)

Built three shelves from one long shelf...

I cut the brackets from scrap wood with a jigsaw...

Made this ugly shower door disguise...

And used lots of molding.  Crown molding in the study...

And in the dining room...

Molding around the fireplace mantel...

On kitchen cabinets...

And the powder room vanity.

Not to mention window treatments, blinds, and shades installed on every window.

That's just a few and I'm just getting started. 

I am joining the Saturday nite special at Funky Junk Interiors.

Hope to see you there.

Janet

Do Three Months Make A Year?

I'm not sure, but it does make for a short year-end review.  So, here are a very few of my photos that I put together for the Year in Review party at My Romantic Home.

I have had so much fun blogging and I hope you will come visit in the upcoming year.

Happy New Year everyone!

Janet