Hutch Makeover

Hello Friends!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. We did here in Iowa and finally the heat gave way to some cooler temperatures so it felt much more like Thanksgiving. This  post should actually be two but ended up being one that reveals more than one project.

When we last visited I left you with a peek of a project that has been a long time coming.

When I say a long time coming it is no exaggeration! You see, my kitchen  is 13' x 14' which is almost square. It is an eat in kitchen and I love that, but there is one corner that drives me crazy! It is small enough that it is hard to really do anything with as far as furniture goes but big enough that it looks so lonely and empty from the rest of the room.

My attempt to do something with this corner of the kitchen

  I thought a small hutch would be a nice filler for this barren space. Well, 2 years ago I came across the perfect hutch at a used furniture shop. It needed a good cleaning and a paint job (which I love doing) so it should come home with me...right? WRONG! Don't be indecisive and look around for something better cause when you go back it will be gone!!

 So, after 2 years of shopping, I found one on craigslist and jumped on it immediately!

It was pretty dirty and beat up which made it very appealing to me.

Sorry there are no before pictures with it in one piece.

Glass doors and a light were a must so my crystal could be displayed.

It sat in our garage most of the summer during my stay in Georgia, but when I returned home it was time to get to work.

Cleaned and ready for sanding

Remember the free paint that was given to me from work? Well, here we go again with it on the hutch. I painted a dresser with it last year and you can see that here

The hardware was scrubbed clean and spray painted ORB.

As work progressed on the hutch my thoughts were going toward getting rid of the awful green walls and the old faded curtains in the kitchen. They were there when we moved in and I have just been living with them. I mean, who wants to put a piece of furniture that you have worked so hard on in a room full of colors that you just don't like? It's still funny to me how one thing leads to another.

I came across some panels that were on clearance and got enough to sew up some new cafe curtains.

Red was not in my plan but definitely added some much needed color to otherwise drab kitchen windows. Plus, they will lend a very festive touch when it is time to decorate for Christmas :)

The walls were painted with a soft grayish taupe. I mixed my own paint with colors leftover from other projects. And yes, the recipe is saved for future touch-ups if needed.
 So, here are some pictures of the finished hutch, new wall color and curtains.

My fall decorations did not get to stay up long on the hutch as I am now putting up Christmas. I get most of my decorating goodies from thrift stores or when there is a clearance sale. My excitement level has gone way up for this room since changing the curtains and wall color :) The next big project for the kitchen will be the cabinets, but that will have to wait for warmer weather. It is getting cold and I have run out of time to paint anything in the garage. That's okay though. I find there is never a shortage of things to improve on with this home and we will keep busy inside during the winter. Thanks so much for stopping by today and may you all have a wonderful week.
Karen

Random Stuff

Hey there friends!

Last week I shared our bathroom remodel.....the one that took forever and a day!

What I left out was everything that was crammed in at the end of summer after my return home from a long stay with my daughter in Georgia.

There were lots of things that got put on the back burner and when I got home to Iowa it was time to kick it in high gear to see how much I (we) could get done.

So, what is Iowa known for??

Sweet Corn!

Getting some fresh picked and putting it up for winter is an end of summer task since moving here.

We like to put up a bushel of it...that is like 50 ears of corn!!

It's very time consuming but it is so nice to have it for meals during the winter that the time spent is well worth it. Plus, things always get done faster when you have extra helpers :)

In all there were 16 bags to freeze and it should last till early spring.

My darling stuffed and froze the last of the bell peppers to have as a quick meal anytime.

I only got a picture of the cheese portion cause some people don't wait for pictures :/

But trust me, the ones we did not freeze looked amazing and tasted even better!

Something that was not on the to-do-list was a major life change for our little guy Oakley.
He is 13 1/2 years old now and has lots of dental issues. He had a deep cleaning many years ago and that saved his teeth. This time he was not so lucky and had to go in for surgery to have all of them extracted.
Here he is with the ears back and a little nervous a couple of days before surgery. He knew something was up...poor little thing.

 Being the Pom Mom that I am, I got to work on some homemade soft treats that he would be able to chew with no teeth. They are made from peanut butter, pumpkin and flour.

These treats are so easy to freeze and you just take a little out at a time to keep in the fridge.
A few weeks later, here he is feeling a whole lot better, and a big toothless grin to prove it :)

My darling and I found some time for fun too. We love all the 80's bands and had the opportunity to go to a concert here in town at the US Cellular Center. Of course you can't go to a concert without your concert T-shirt. He has tons of them to choose from. Me? I have only 1. All of his still fit. Mine? lets just say I have put on a few pounds :(

What to do....add lots of fabric and hope it will fit. Sleeves and the bottom from an old shirt in my stash should work. I also let it out some around the neckline for a better fit.

And thank goodness it ended up fitting. There is nothing worse than pulling and tugging on a shirt to keep it from riding up. This is now a long tunic style shirt and VERY comfortable!

And off we go to re-live our teenage years with some fun music!
There were multiple bands playing and here was one of our favorites.

Apologies for some of these blurry pictures.
This is a peek of what I will be sharing with y'all next time. I brought it home back in May.

Thanks for visiting today :)
Karen

Good Bye Pink Bathroom

Hey everybody!

I bet y'all thought this day would never get here. Honestly, so did I.

Finally it's time to share our bathroom remodel that we started back in March.
You can see the beginning of this adventure here.
Also, I gave an update on our progress here.
It has been a ridiculously long amount of time since this project got underway and having it completed is so gratifying. There were many unexpected challenges along the way but we just kept pushing forward. There are lots of pictures so I will keep my captions to a minimum.

Some of the old hardware and fixtures were sprayed with ORB (my fave) 
The sink faucet is a new Delta.

Built in soap and washcloth holder that we decided to keep instead of covering it up.

Hardware from the old vanity gets a new life.

The best thing about this bathroom? 

NO MORE ICKY CARPET!!

The paint color is Passive by Sherwin Williams SW 7064.

Getting good pictures is not so easy in this small space.

In the evening with the dimmer on over the tub.

A chandelier will look amazing here when I find just the right one!!

I have placed a few small items around but nothing much for the walls except the metal star over the tub. It was a Goodwill find that I painted and distressed.

A new toilet that actually fits the space :)

I found 2 of these hooks also at Goodwill. All they needed was a good cleaning and my darling mounted them to the wall with some little wood plaques. I LOVE them!

It is so nice to have a new bath for our guests to use. It may be a small space but with the light gray and white it seems so much bigger. I hope y'all enjoyed seeing it! I am so happy to share it with you today.

 Take Care my friends :)