Tool Talk: Ode to a Screwdriver

So, this isn't a project post. It's an "I Love My Screwdriver" post. Totally normal, right? :)

Anyway, I just had to share. I had an orange screwdriver for years, just like this one:

And then, one day, I torqued it a bit too much and snapped one of the tips. Oopsies! And another tip soon followed. It was already probably 15 years old-- possibly even more than that. And I used it a LOT. It was just time.

I had other screwdrivers, so I just used those. But I have to say, they paled in comparison to my trusty old (broken) orange one. They weren't as comfortable to use, and didn't have the convenience of the four built in tips (large and small Phillips and flathead). Sadness!

And then, one day, we were at Home Depot and I saw a display of orange screwdrivers! So I got another. I think they sell them all over the place, but that one was in the right place at the right time. And the rest is history!

Anyway, if you don't have one, and you do a lot of home improvement projects-- get one! I love using the electric screwdriver wherever possible, but sometimes you just need to use the old-fashioned kind. And the orange ones are the best! I couldn't find mine yesterday, and I nearly cried (true story!).

Also, you're welcome. :)

Refinishing a Bathroom Vanity {Bathroom Makeover, Phase 1}

We have this great hall bathroom upstairs. It's close to the kids' bedrooms and our guest room, and it's HUGE! It's the best bathroom in the entire house. Except I never painted it. Or did anything to it, really, except hang an old shower curtain that we already owned. So it's been calling to me for a while now... And then I was at the store the other day, and picked up a can of this:

(Yes. Another Rust-oleum product. I'm in a spray-painting phase, what can I say?)

Anyway, it seemed like the right stuff to paint our vanity with. Just like in the kitchen, we had that weird wood-on-wood thing going on. It bothered me. I wanted more contrast. My first thought would have been to paint it white, but then the countertop would have looked weird (it's not-quite-white). I decided that black would look really cool. Plus, the room is big and bright enough that I wasn't worried about it feeling smaller. So, black it was!

Since I was going to be spray painting, I needed to tape everything off and cover the area with newspaper. Spray paint is messy!

Then I sprayed to my heart's content (3 cans' worth, by the way. Thank goodness for the hardware store across the street!). I had the bathroom fan running and the window wide open, and it was still BAD! I had to take frequent breaks for fresh air, because I was getting a little light-headed. The room was filled with a cloud of lacquer spray paint! The fumes were crazy! Mommy was woozy!

That being said, it looked really good. I did the drawer fronts and cabinet door, too. I was very pleased with the finish!

Once they had been dry for about 5 hours, I very carefully removed the tape and newspaper, and reinstalled the door and drawers. And that's when the REAL cleanup began... I realized that there was a thin layer of black dust EVERYWHERE! haha! It was really noticeable when I lifted up the newspapers, and the floors underneath were noticeably cleaner and brighter. Oops! It was just dust, and it came up easily with my microfiber mop and some damp rags, but it is something to consider. If you're going to spray-paint your vanity, do that first! You've been warned! Also, move any linens out of the bathroom completely. My rugs and towels are in the washer as I type... :)

Anyway... isn't it pretty? I am in love with how it turned out, and now I'm feeling inspired to work on the rest! I have a vision now! Stay tuned! :)

Picture Frames That Won't Break the Bank

When we first moved in, I was sort of overwhelmed by all the huge blank walls in this house. I mean, I'm a sometime-portrait-photographer-- I have SO MANY photos and frames and all that. The walls in our old house were absolutely covered. But that house was about one-third the size of this one, which meant that I had a Very Serious Problem. I needed more frames. And my hubby wasn't about to let me drop several hundred bucks on something so non-essential(to him!), either!

I actually stumbled onto a solution without even trying. It was fate! One weekend, we went to a street fair in the next town. One of the booths had a craft area for kids, and my two little ones made a beeline for it. While they worked, I learned all about this cool local recycling facility! It's a place where people bring their yard sale leftovers, etc.-- many things that could have probably been donated to charity, but weren't. And it's absolutely free for local residents (you have to show ID to get in). There were TONS of picture frames to choose from! Some had artwork in them, some were hideously ugly... but they were frames, and they were in good shape! And, best of all, they were FREE! I stocked up! Here are a few of them. These ones weren't too bad at all!

The next step was to clean them up and paint them. I removed the backings and the glass, and very carefully tapped some finishing nails into the back side of the frame. This was so the frames wouldn't touch the ground when I painted them. I put down some newspaper outside, and sprayed them all with Rust-Oleum "Universal Gloss Spray Paint" in black. I swear, I don't work for Rust-Oleum. But maybe I should, because then I could get free stuff? I buy it often enough, haha!

Anyway, it really was that easy. I had some really funky-looking frames that looked great when they were all painted black. And while I understand that not everyone will have access to a cool recycling center like I did, it's easy enough to find ugly old frames for SUPER cheap at yard sales and thrift stores. Never underestimate the power of paint, and its ability to make something old look new again. Plus, you're recycling! Go you!

Check out one of my wall displays of refinished frames (it's at one end of the kitchen, so the theme is "picking fruit"). You'd never know, right??

Note: The "Family" frame was one I actually bought... I want to say it was like $7 at Wal-Mart? It didn't exactly break the bank. :)

Adventures in Baseboard Heaters...

So, we live in an old house. Have I mentioned that? haha!! Prior to us buying it, it was a rental property for many years. Most recently, it was used as a group home for developmentally challenged kids and teens. With that many young people in the house, it certainly took some abuse! Even now, there is graffiti inside some of the closets (mostly stuff like "AG + BD 4EVERRR"). Ahh, young love... :) But one thing is certain: our baseboard heater covers have definitely seen better days.

I need to clarify for some of my friends, since baseboard heaters were a foreign concept for me before moving here. Our house has a boiler down in the basement, fueled by heating oil. The boiler heats up the water, which is then sent off through copper pipes to different parts of the house. The pipes run along the interior walls and heat up the house. They are covered with these metal baseboard heater covers. And now you know!

Anyway... back to my beat-up baseboard covers... Once you start fixing up wooden baseboards and window frames, it just makes the baseboard heater covers look THAT much worse. This is the endless cycle of home improvement, my friends! I actually finished one coat of paint on the window frame, and made a rash decision to take one of the covers apart. Mostly just to see if I could. It wasn't hard! There were little screws at each end, which needed to be removed:

Then the end caps slid right off. I lifted the flat front panel straight up, and it popped right off. Easy peasy!

I also discovered this gigantic hole in the wall. Mouse hole? Right through the metal?? Who knows. Actually, it looks more like the pipe used to actually run through the wall that way, and was later rerouted through the floor. Regardless of the cause, it is still a big hole in the wall! I stuffed it full of insulation, then shoved some steel wool in there for good measure. I am a pro at this by now. Though any mouse that ever gets in is doomed to Death by Cat. Charlie is one mean mouser!

While I had the cover off, I vacuumed it out really good. Dust on the metal fins makes heating less efficient. And I need every ounce of efficiency I can get!

So, then it was time to paint. This particular section wasn't too bad. If there had been more rust, I would have sanded it down with a palm sander, then applied a rust-blocking primer paint. But this section was just scratched, dented, and the wrong color (all the trim in the house is WHITE, and the baseboard heaters are ECRU. ECRU, I tell you! Faux pas!!). I went to the store with the intention of buying white "Appliance Paint." Yeah... they only had Black and Biscuit (Ecru!). I ended up with this instead, which the store employee assured me would work for this project:

Painting was easy! I took the loose pieces outside and sprayed them there. And then I masked everything off very carefully to spray the part along the wall. It went on very smoothly, and the final coat was white and shiny and MUCH cleaner-looking!

The problem? I think that the glossy finish really emphasizes the dings and dents, and that's no good! Replacing all the baseboard covers in the house is costly, so that's not going to happen. But I think I am going to repaint this one using appliance paint (when I find it) for a slightly less glossy finish. I will update when I do! For now, though, this is definitely an improvement... I just need to perfect it before I move on to the other sections! :)

Fixing Up Old Window Frames

While our house has newer windows throughout (thankfully!) some of the window frames aren't in the best shape. I think it's because they might have actually re-used the original materials. And, while that's very cool, it also means that there's something else I need to worry about when messing with them: lead paint!

Anyway, one of the window frames at the front of the house was ESPECIALLY bad. Check it out!

While I'd normally get my paint scraper and get all that flaking paint off, I didn't think that was the brightest idea-- especially since I could see layers and layers of old paint underneath. I didn't need to be disturbing any lead paint, especially with little kids and pets in the house! Instead, I got my handy caulking gun out (I love that thing!), loaded it with painter's caulk, and went to town on filling all the little cracks and openings (after wiping down any dust and debris from the sill). I used the caulk to essentially "glue down" the flaking paint, and then to smooth over the top using my fingers. Will it ever look brand new? Probably not, and especially with all those layers of paint! But, the house is almost 200 years old. I think these things are part of its charm!

So I waited for the caulk to dry, then taped the frame off and painted it with the same paint I've been using on my baseboards.

(I also took off the cover of the baseboard heater, planning to paint it in a classic impulsive-me move!) And seriously? It looks pretty darn good! And really, it wasn't that labor-intensive. The room looks so much brighter and cleaner! And, BONUS: sealing all those cracks should keep bugs from getting inside! On to the next project...

Hiding the Litter Box: Adios, Cat Smell!

I love my cat, Charlie, most of the time. When he's not being totally psycho and licking the top of the toaster or doing some other weird thing. He's great with the kids, he can catch mice (score!), and he's nice to most of our furniture.

But, his pee and poop stink. Blech!!! And a litter box isn't exactly the nicest thing to look at, especially when you have a small home and no place to hide it(as was the case in our California home). What to do, what to do?

I looked up some different options for concealing litter boxes, but none of them had the look (or the low price tag) I was looking for. So I figured I could just make something. After all, that's sort of my M.O., haha! I started by buying a kit to build a plain pine toy box. I don't remember where, exactly, but it was some online seller that specialized in unfinished furniture. It was really basic-- I think I paid $40 for it, and then had to put it together. But it was no big deal, especially considering that most pieces of litter-box-concealing-furniture were at least $150!

Next, we needed an opening so that Charlie could get in. I knew where I planned to put the box, so it was obvious to me which side the opening needed to be on. My hubby did the cutting for me, but he just turned the box on its end and used the circular saw to make a rough, square opening. It wasn't perfect, but I didn't care-- especially since the opening wasn't going to be very obvious. If I had wanted it to be prettier, I could've sanded the edges and maybe glued on some pieces of moulding. But, I didn't. :)

Then it was time to paint it! I wanted it to match our existing furniture, so I picked up some Minwax Polyshades (stain and polyurethane) in the color that I thought matched the best ("Bombay Mahogany"). After several very careful coats with a foam brush, it looked good to me!

I opted not to paint the inside of the box, which I eventually regretted! The wood, since it wasn't sealed, was very difficult to keep clean. And litter boxes are inherently disgusting! So, learn from my mistake: finish the inside of the box, too, even if it's just with some clear polyurethane. You're welcome!

And that was it! I found a litter box that was just the right size to fit inside, along with a little "litter ramp" to clean his kitty paws when he was done. Charlie took to his new bathroom right away, and people never knew it was there until we told them! It also did a fantastic job of containing the smell. Awesome, right?!?

The whole contraption worked well for many years but, like I said, got dirty inside over time. We left it behind (in the trash) when we moved away. I kind of miss it! But plans are already in the works to turn one of our rooms into a fantastic mudroom with a built-in bench and storage, and I am going to sneak a little spot in there to hide Charlie's litter box. I can't wait to get it out of sight again!

10-Minute Tuesday: Organize Your Linen Closet!

This is part of a new series I'm starting-- quick and easy projects every Tuesday!

Ok, I am not the most organized person. I don't want people to open my closets, like, EVER! I try to keep the "visible" part of the house tidy, but the closets? I tend to shove things in there and pray the door closes. Guilty as charged. And I am sort of mortified that I am about to show you my linen closet. Because it was pretty bad!

Anyway, I saw these Sterilite crates at the store the other day-- for a whopping $3.50 each. So, I bought three. One of the crates has all the "grown-up" sheets, one has the "kid" sheets, and the other has rags and hand towels. And then I just pulled the rest of the stuff out and put it where it actually belonged (that box actually has a telescope in it... totally goes in the linen closet, right?). I also found about 4 cans of paint and some brushes. Not to mention the channel-lock pliers I've been looking for for MONTHS! (by the way, channel-lock pliers are useful for SO MANY things. We have at least two pairs around here somewhere. I think we need more.).

But yeah... it really didn't take long at all, and my sheets (which were the biggest problem) are all safely tucked away in their little green crates. My soul is happy. Plus, it'll be easier to paint this closet now. Maybe I should just suck it up and do that already... SIGH...

I also have room for a lot more stuff now! hmm... For an old house, we actually have a crazy amount of closets/storage. What else do you think I should put in there?

Making Old Baseboards Look Pretty

There is something really satisfying about painting the walls of a room a fresh new color. Everything looks so clean! Unless, of course, you live in a 200-year-old house. That's when you lower your eyes and look at the stained, beat-up old baseboards and think, "Well, dang! Those look even worse now..."

Fixing up baseboards isn't too complicated. But it is a giant pain, mostly because they are ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE, and you have to sit on the floor and scoot around to do them. I've been tackling them one section at a time, which is much more manageable. I start at one end and then follow that particular baseboard around corners and whatnot until I get to a natural stopping point. And then I take a break, because I do, at some point, have to parent my children, and I don't feel like scooting around on the floor all day with a paintbrush!

But I digress.

What You Will Need:

• White Paint (something durable and glossy)
• Angled Trim Paintbrush (2" or 3")
• Painter's Tape
• White latex ("painter's") caulk
• Caulk gun
• Paint scraper
• Wood filler (if there are holes to fill in)

STEP ONE: Prep the surface. Baseboards get pretty dirty! Take a soft, damp cloth and wipe them down really good. You may need to use the paint scraper to remove old paint drips that have dried, or who-knows-what-else that might be stuck on there. Get it nice and clean!

STEP TWO: Get that painter's tape out and tape off the top and bottom of the baseboard, so that you don't get paint on the wall or the floor! Go slowly, work carefully, and press the tape down firmly so that the paint can't leak underneath. Please note that if you did a bad job cleaning in Step 1, the tape won't stick very well. Don't say I didn't warn you! And yes, the reason I know this is because I've done this. More than once. :P

STEP THREE: Paint! This is the fun part. Follow the grain of the wood and apply nice, even coats. You'll probably have to do two coats. As soon as you think you've done enough coats, remove the painter's tape and let the baseboards dry.

STEP FOUR: This is the most complicated part, but it REALLY gives baseboards a "finished" appearance. If there is no visible gap/crack between the top of the baseboard and the wall, you can probably ignore this step. But chances are, there is EXACTLY such a crack. So read on! Get some painter's tape and tape JUST ABOVE the edge of the baseboard, on the wall. You should be able to see just a little sliver of the wall color between your tape and the baseboard. See all those little jagged pieces? They're going to disappear!

Now, cut the tip of the caulk at an angle, creating just a SMALL hole (bigger hole = lots more wasted caulk!). Use the caulk gun and squeeze a THIN line of caulk along the top ledge of your baseboard. You can view my expert technique in the following picture (haha!!). It doesn't have to be pretty. Obviously. :)

Next, use your finger and run it along the ledge to get the caulk nice and smooth (keep paper towels handy!). Remove the tape, and VOILA! Good as new!

It's really not so bad, until you imagine yourself doing this to thousands of feet of wall. ACK! But clean, crisp moulding makes a HUGE difference in a room, and it's a cheap thing to do! It's definitely worth the hassle!

P.S. The exact same techniques apply to fixing up door trim and crown moulding, too! Crown moulding is especially unpleasant, since you have to work with your arms constantly above your head. Maybe I'll post about that some day... Fun times!

It's Just Paint!

I can't tell you how many times my husband and I have watched House Hunters on TV, and rolled our eyes when they complained about cosmetic things. You don't like the paint color? Really?? I mean, it's just paint. Paint is relatively cheap! You have to look at the big picture when you buy a home.

Which is what we did, since the walls in our house were hideous, haha! And, as I am now nearly two years into (leisurely) repainting every square inch of wall and trim, I would like to say just one thing. Painting SUCKS! No, really, it's horrible. It's not hard, per se, but it's a giant pain in the booty. Now I look at those people complaining about the paint colors and think, "AMEN TO THAT! Don't buy the house with the pink bathroom! Find a house that already has great colors! YES!! DO THAT!!!"

Alas, it is too late for us. I am almost two years deep in this thing. I'm committed to finishing now. SIGH.

As a non-expert, I would like to say a few things. One is that it is worth. every. penny. to buy the paint that has the primer already mixed in (I've been using Valspar Signature paint from Lowe's). The coverage is infinitely better than regular old paint! Another observation: you have to do the prep work. You just have to. If you paint over a bumpy wall, it will still be bumpy. And then you have to do it all over again, which is NOT FUN AT ALL. So get some sandpaper, a paint scraper, and some putty, and really spend time getting the walls pretty BEFORE you paint them.

I've also gained some wisdom, and have learned that it's best (for my sanity) to do the painting on a separate day, because the prep work generally sucks the life out of me. Once the surface is clean and smooth, cover your edges with painter's tape and pour yourself a drink. Because that's the worst part. Painting itself really isn't SO terrible. Except for cleaning up. But really, cleaning in general isn't the most exciting thing on the face of the earth!

Another tip: Watch out for humidity. As a native Californian, it didn't occur to me just how humid New England would get in the summer. It makes painting much, much, MUCH more challenging and unpleasant. So... Don't do it! Do it in the winter, when you're trapped inside. Get a latex paint with low fumes, and you will be just fine. And you'll have something to do!

And now, since I have suffered through painting room after room for almost two years... you will be forced to look at them! Hahaha! These aren't all the rooms, but maybe someone, somewhere, will like my paint colors? If you don't, I don't want to hear it! lalalalala

By the way, I let the kids (then ages 3 and 4) choose the paint colors for their rooms. The boy chose DARK BROWN. It actually looks pretty cool, and he loves it, but it took like EIGHT COATS of paint (fine, maybe three). And one day, when I go to paint over it, I will be cursing this decision, haha! Oh well. Life is short. And hey, it's just paint! ;)

DIY Kitchen Island

Our old kitchen had a big, empty area in the middle. The day we moved in, I stuck a table there, using it as a kitchen island. But really, it was way too small, and I needed more storage. Plus, it just looked bad (ignore the mismatched cabinets-- I was in the process of painting them when I took this photo!):

After some brainstorming and research, I figured I could make one. Why not? I'd never done anything remotely like that before, but that has never stopped me, haha! Some people might call me impulsive. Or a little crazy. But I just knew I could figure something out-- and I DID! So there! In a lot of ways, this one project was when my inner DIY-er first emerged! :P

Things to consider before you begin:

• How do you plan to use the island? Will you need a seating area? What kind of storage is your kitchen lacking? For me, it was drawers!
• Where, exactly, will it go? Make sure to leave adequate room for foot traffic, as well as doing things like opening your dishwasher or refrigerator!
• What are you going to do for a counter top? I did basic white tile to match the rest of the kitchen. Plus, it was cheap!

STEP 1: Buy some cabinets. You can buy ones that match your current cabinetry, or you can do what I did: I got the cheapest, most basic ones that came unfinished from Lowe's. I ordered them online after measuring the area and sketching out exactly what I wanted. Then I picked them up from the store with help from my dad and my hubby's truck!

STEP 2: Get everything situated where you want it to be in the kitchen, and use clamps to hold the cabinets together tightly. (Just a heads-up: The island was never attached/anchored to the floor in any way-- it just sat on top, like a piece of furniture. It LOOKED and FELT permanent, though. By the time the counter was on and the cabinets were full, there was NO WAY that the thing was going to move anywhere!)

STEP 3: Use wood screws and screw the cabinets to each other. Use lots of screws-- how's that for a specific instruction?? haha! But you don't want this thing pulling apart! Be sure to screw the backs and sides together, along with the face frames. All the screws should be hidden once the doors and drawers are in, so be strategic. Once you've finished this step, you can remove the clamps.

STEP 4: Measure your counter top-- be sure to add in a few inches on each side for overhang, and even more if you plan to have a breakfast bar/seating area! Cut a piece of plywood (I used 3/4") to the right dimensions (I got the people at Home Depot to cut it for me when I bought it). P.S. Plywood is super heavy, especially a big piece like that! It was quite a task for me to get it home and into the house all by myself. But I did!

STEP 5: Attach the plywood to the cabinets from below, using wood screws (make sure they aren't so long that they poke out the other side of the plywood!). The cabinets should already have little brackets with pre-drilled screw holes in them for attaching the counter top-- so use those! This whole step was surprisingly unpleasant, I have to say! Squishing yourself inside a cabinet to get a good angle was not super fun. But it went pretty quickly!

STEP 6: At this point, I decided to add a layer of green cement board on top, just to make it waterproof! I cut the cement board to size, and attached it with screws from the top.

STEP 7: Siiiiigh... I was so tired, and it was time to tile! But one thing I did before adding all the weight of the tile was to get my hubby to help me move the island to EXACTLY where it needed to be. I measured the distances from the cabinets like crazy, making sure it was square with the rest of the kitchen. Once the tile was on, it became impossibly heavy to move! Also, you will probably want to tile before you paint, because grouting your tile can get pretty messy!

STEP 8: Tile the counter top, or apply whatever material you are planning to use. I laid out all the tiles ahead of time, with spacers, to see where I would need to make cuts and planned accordingly. If you have never tiled before, it's really not hard! But please do a little research first, or your tiles won't stay stuck! I will be writing a separate post on tiling in the near future!

STEP 9: Trim time! I didn't like the exposed ends of the cabinets, so I bought two thin sheets of wood veneer (cheap!) which I cut to size and attached to the ends. But the icing on the cake was installing inexpensive baseboard around the bottom-- it gave the whole thing a very polished look!

STEP 10: Paint the cabinets (check out my Repainting Kitchen Cabinets BEFORE and DURING/AFTER posts for more info!) and apply hardware. You might need to drill holes in the new cabinet doors and drawers for the hardware, but that's not too bad if you make a template first!

STEP 11: Move your stuff in and ENJOY!!! And be sure to tell every living soul who enters your house that you built the island all by yourself! I still have friends who talk about it. Considering how little I knew about building things at the time, it was sort of a miracle that it turned out as well as it did!

TOTAL COST OF PROJECT: Less than $700 for cabinets, wood veneer, trim, hardware, tile, tiling supplies, plywood, and cement board. I already had the big tools and the paint. And I busted this entire project out in under a week! :)

Have YOU made your own kitchen island? Leave your tips and tricks in the comments!

Fixing a Hole in the Ceiling

My husband reminded me of this incident the other day... Fourth of July, 2008-- just over five years ago! Our oldest kiddo was eight months old. The hubby went up into the attic (really a crawl space) of our California home to roll out some more insulation. We had installed air conditioning before the baby was born, but the house just wouldn't stay cool! Anyway, he knew he needed to be careful and only stand on the beams, or he would be going right through the ceiling. But his foot slipped, and BAM! Right on through! Luckily, he was fine. We just had this big hole in the ceiling right inside the front door! Oopsies!

My parents came over, and my dad helped us fix it. First, we cleaned up the opening and made sure we had exposed beams to attach the new drywall to:

We cut a piece of drywall to fit, and screwed it into the opening:

Then it was a matter of patching everything up and trying to get the texture/color to match the rest of the ceiling (that was my job). Home ownership is such a learning experience, isn't it? haha!!

NOTE TO HUSBAND: Let's not do that again, m'kay? :)

Wall Decor: A little living room makeover!

TRUE STORY: When we moved into this house, the movers could not get our bedroom armoire up either set of stairs. The thing was massive, the stairs were tight, and there was no way to take it apart and make it any smaller-- it just wasn't happening. And because the front part of the house has lower ceilings, we couldn't put it there, either. The thing ended up stuck in our living room for over a year, completely out of place and becoming a dumping ground where I would quickly stash the kids' toys when people came to visit. I'd even forget it was there sometimes, despite its enormous size-- I got so used to it!

So... We tried to sell it. Lots of times. We dropped the price lower and lower... There was a lot of interest, but nobody could ever manage to get their act together to actually come and pick the thing up (it needed a LARGE truck or trailer or something to move it... it was huge!). I tried to donate it, but no place would take it because of its size. It became a joke-- the armoire we were going to be stuck with for the rest of our lives!

Finally, I posted the thing on CraigsList as a FREE item to the first person who could come and get it. I had thirty emails in under ten minutes! I replied to the first few, and one person could come the next day. And they did! Better yet, it was a very nice couple with five young kids, and they had recently lost their rented home in an electrical fire. Not like that's a good thing, but I didn't know their story until they were loading the armoire into their van-- they truly needed it and appreciated it. They didn't have renter's insurance, and lost everything. I felt really good about the whole transaction-- my furniture went to a good home. Awwwww!

That being said... I walked back into the living room, and it suddenly looked gigantic! No more huge armoire taking up all this space! The wall where the armoire had been looked long and bare, and the whole room felt off-balance. Project time!

I wanted to keep the floor space open, because it made the room flow so much better. But the wall was so empty! Two stops about about $40 later, and I had a decorated wall!

I bought the shelves at Wal-Mart for $9 each, and the knick-knacks at A.C. Moore (letter "P", three small glass bottles with corks, a silk flower, and a votive candle holder). I already had the frames and the square mirror, and I just chose a few pictures to print out as black-and-whites. And that was it! I think it turned out really nicely!

TIP: When hanging shelves, drilling pilot holes and inserting wall anchors is a must!

I used to be lazy about doing this, because it added an extra step. But I feel good knowing that those shelves aren't going anywhere, especially since my kiddos play right underneath them throughout the day! I would also recommend securing the objects on the shelves using museum/mounting putty or 3M strips. Maybe it's the Californian in me, but preventing falling objects is never a bad thing, right?

Painting Kitchen Cabinets: DURING/AFTER

Have I mentioned how unpleasant it is to paint kitchen cabinets? Having done it twice now (for reasons I will never fully understand-- I'm going to plead temporary insanity!), I will swear it on a stack of Holy Bibles: painting kitchen cabinets is pure misery!

That being said... Misery loves company, right? Here's how I did it (Don't forget to check out the "before" blog post!).

STEP 1: Make a drawing of your cabinets and label each one with a number, a letter, a nickname, WHATEVER. It doesn't need to be pretty-- just look at mine! Keep this paper handy. You will thank me for this later.

STEP 2: Figure out where the heck you're going to do this. I had a few requirements: It needed to have a door I could close, to keep both my kids and the cat out. It couldn't be windy or dusty. I decided on our upstairs guest room, which also had the advantage of having really good natural light. Plus, I could paint at all hours of the day or night, and I could wear my jammies. Bonus! I laid down a plastic drop cloth, then set up sawhorses with long 2x4 boards between them. I stuck push-pins into the boards every foot or so, so that the cabinets wouldn't rest directly on the wood. When all was said and done, I had a nifty little work area that could accommodate four of the big cabinet doors at a time. So... I knew it would take a while, but that was okay!

STEP 3: Time to take the cabinet doors and drawer fronts off. Electric screwdrivers are awesome for this! Here's where my experience came into play: I labeled every single hinge "top" or "bottom" with a piece of blue painter's tape, and put all the hardware for each door (or drawer) into a plastic baggie labeled with that cabinet's number. I also labeled each cabinet with a little piece of painter's tape. Really, it's useful stuff to have around. Buy in bulk! :)

STEP 4: Cleaning time. I squirted the deglosser onto the scrubber and went to work, removing years of grease and grime from all around the cabinets. I had no idea how filthy they were until this point. It was completely disgusting!! Anyway, I scrubbed and scrubbed and then wiped everything down multiple times with a wet rag. Then let it all dry. This step took me a long time, because I wanted to make sure the paint would adhere properly to my cabinets! No taking chance or cutting corners!

STEP 5: Finally, I started painting. Again, I was glad to have my previous experience! I started with the backs of the doors, just in case I messed up. I painted around the inner ledge, then filled in the middle panel, taking great care to follow the grain of the wood. Then I painted the two short sides, followed by the two longer ones, followed by the edges. The video below, made by the good folks at Rust-oleum, explains the technique very well! I think I did three coats of paint on the front, and only two on the back (I figured I could get away with it). Once the paint was dry, I did one layer of the top coat. And then it was on to the next set, over and over again until everything was finished! The procedure was the same for the cabinet boxes. It took forever, it was a huge pain in the butt, and it was ninety-something degrees inside the house! Yep. I'm still sticking with temporary insanity.

However... when it was all said and done, my cabinets were lovely. I can sorta-kinda-MAYBE understand why I wanted to do it all over again.

SIIIIIGH.... So pretty... And for a grand total of about $150, it really transformed the kitchen!

Unfortunately, it also made the counters look even worse. Yet another project to add to the list! It never ends!

Painting Kitchen Cabinets: BEFORE

When we bought our first home in 2005, our kitchen had these hideous hunter-green cabinet boxes with oak doors and floral-printed knobs. Really. Someone actually lived like this!

The rest of the house was pretty neutral, so I made it my mission to paint the cabinets. It took me a month. It was HORRIBLE. I swore I would never, EVER paint cabinets again. Ever. Although they did look pretty... I even made a kitchen island to match (maybe I will blog about it someday)!

I also vowed never to paint them again, simply because the paint wasn't that durable. I was constantly touching it up. It chipped, got dirty, and just generally gave me grief. NEVER AGAIN!

So, then we moved into our current house. And the cabinets were in much better shape, but...

They clashed with the floor. We have almost-200-year-old Southern Yellow Pine floors, and the cabinets were cherry. It was a lot of warm-colored-but-not-exactly-matching wood. And it drove me crazy. AND, since replacing the floor isn't going to be in the budget for a looooong time, I began to have these crazy thoughts about painting the cabinets white. Again. Only this time, I'd do some research and do a better job!

My husband, after giving me The Look, agreed to my plan. He almost always does (what a good guy!). After looking into it, I decided to buy a kit. Rust-oleum's Cabinet Transformations kit, to be precise.

It comes with a heavy-duty deglosser and scrubbers to really clean the cabinets. Then there's the paint itself ("Pure White"), a "decorative glaze" that you can apply for an antiqued effect (I didn't), and a scratch-resistant protective top coat. Rust-oleum had me at "protective top coat"-- I think that's where I had gone wrong in my previous cabinet painting endeavors! I was so excited when these babies showed up on my front porch (thanks, Amazon!).

Anyway, I picked the two hottest, most humid weeks of the year to paint the cabinets. In a house with no air conditioning, and I couldn't run a fan for fear of blowing dust particles onto my wet paint. I am a glutton for punishment, I tell ya! Stay tuned for the full report, and the "after" pics!

DIY Kitchen Chalkboard/Command Center

It's so funny to me that such a spontaneous, simple project is what people always comment on when they walk into my kitchen. I mean, I painted all the cabinets, but that's not what people notice. Of course not!

Anyway... I had this big, empty wall in my kitchen. No windows or anything. Just... wall. I wanted to put something BIG on it! I had seen a kitchen-chalkboard-command-center-type-thing on Pinterest somewhere, and I liked the idea. I couldn't find the link, though, so I just made it up as I went! Seriously, this entire thing was done for less than $15, using some things we already had.

I wandered out to the garage to look at wood and see what was there. We didn't bring any wood with us when we moved across the country, but garages always seem to have pieces of wood in them, right?? Well, ours did-- and I found a thin piece of wood that was smooth on one side, and nice and big. I held it up against the wall in the kitchen, and it was perfect! Which was good, since a) the table saw wasn't set up, and b) I didn't trust myself to use it, even if it was!

I picked up a small container of chalkboard paint at the local craft store for a few bucks, and slathered it on. It took two coats, and I used pretty much the entire half-pint container, but it went on nicely!

The next step was to attach it to the wall. I strongly recommend getting someone to help you with this part, but I was on a roll... Patience has never been my strong suit! I nailed one of the upper corners to the wall, then moved the thing around while simultaneously using my level to make sure it was straight. Then I nailed the other corners down. Tada! It was awesome!

...until it fell down. OOPS!!! I am not an expert-- have I mentioned that? :P So I did the entire thing over again, this time with screws and drywall anchors, where needed. I think I used like 10 of them, staying as close to the edge as I possibly could. Much better. It's not going anywhere!

I picked up some really cheap trim at Home Depot, painted it white, cut the corners with the miter saw (I'm not afraid of that one!), and tacked it around the edges with some think finishing nails. Voila!!! I later added some small cup hooks up at the top (for keys) and the two wooden "mailbox" things (a few bucks each at the craft store-- I painted them with the same paint I had used for the trim).

Honestly, it was EASY. And cheap. And everyone (literally, EVERYONE) comments on it when they visit for the first time. It makes me want to cry a little, when I think about the sweat I've put into other things that go unnoticed. But alas, there you have it! Making a chalkboard is a piece of cake!