KP DUTY part two

Returning to my recent kitchen makeover, I thought in lieu of my posting ad naseum about what we did and how, I would just upload a few more photos. The little descriptions underneath them should help explain (or disclaim perhaps) the transformation. I will just add one more thing: a lot of what you see I already owned; it may have been in storage, used for some other purpose or quite possibly rescued from someone's curb. We are talking charm and cozyness here, not big money.





I love lamps in kitchens and I really love this one.
I bought it at Home Goods. The copper wine holder used to be a planter.
I think I bought it at an antique mall for $5. Note: the wine cost less than the planter.
Yes, we drink cheap wine.

 



   



These items sit on the shelf over Command Central. Someone gave us the pickled lemons and garlic as a hostess gift. The sterling silver flask came from a friend's estate sale. The flask is from Augusta National and has a dent in it. Someone forgot it was in their pocket I guess. The pommegranate jelly is from our own trees. It won a prize last fall at the state fair and is yummy. The sterling silver jigger is Peruvian which I bought at an estate sale for $5. Everything seems to cost $5 in this post.






I also bought this wonderful little rug at Home Goods, which I think is owned by TJ Maxx. It matches perfectly with the walnut laminate flooring we laid (from Lumber Liquidators). This is a huge improvement over the blue and white linoleum (see previous post). I do need to buy a pad for it. Or bump up the "Slip and Fall" rider on our homeowners insurance, whichever is cheaper. Oh, I just noticed someone left a small sponge on the drain board just before the photo shoot. And there's something sitting in the sink. How embarrassing.

 

You might have noticed in a couple of these photos that there are some missing ceramic tiles on the countertops. The originals were cracked and we removed them, carefully matching the new tiles to the old ones. They have not been installed yet because it was way down on the Punch List. The list is dwindling, however, and it is now almost at the top. I have been assured this will be off said list by this coming weekend. Please return in a few days to check its status; I can't guarantee anything but am ever-hopeful.

chairs,
Gigi

KP DUTY part one

As promised, I am posting today about the recent, dramatic re-decoration of our kitchen. Dramatic in the sense that it is like night and day when you look at the before and after photos. While we didn’t take the room back to the studs, we did rip things out and sling a lot of drywall around. You will see where we left the original tile counter tops and splash back, not to mention the 1970s stainless steel main sink. I did stalk some sites featuring porcelain farm sinks and subway tile but we had to stop the bleeding somewhere. Someday we may tear down our 1930 storybook-style house anyway and build anew so this seemed like a good compromise. Maybe not good. Maybe more like “I can live with it until we find cash buried in the backyard”.

One other thing to consider before you start scrolling: you may ask yourself why our kitchen looked like it did in the first place. The hideous, torn blue and white linoleum, the horribly yellowed icebox, the 1970s bar sink and so many other missteps and affronts to “HGTV” and “This Old House” (it’s old alright; just not quaint New England-old). The answer lies in my misguided attempts some years ago to give the kitchen a more rustic feel by first stripping (yes, I said I do a lot of that) the woodwork and doorframes and then waxing them. I also liked the idea of contrasting blue and white linoleum and that the bar sink should stay for practical purposes. I should just mention that my mission at that stage was to try and fix what I inherited when I bought the house in 1994: Mylar wallpaper, rectangular fluorescent light boxes (no one looks good under fluorescent lighting, no one), yellowed linoleum that surely came out of Shawshank Prison, and scalloped wood trim over the sink. Oh, there was also a recessed fluorescent light there, too. Somewhere I have more photos but this will give you a feel for just how bad it really was...


BEFORE...




This photo does not do justice because of the absence of the mylar wallpaper and fluorescent lighting.

After viewing the "way, way back photo", please continue to scroll down past my first remodeling attempt and then, finally, to how it looks now. It is no coincidence, mind you, that HGTV is one of my “favorites” buttons on the remote control. I can blame my sad attempt at remodeling back in 1994 on not having access to these types of shows. As mentioned, past episodes of “This Old House” don’t count.



The flooring was the first thing to go. We had been tripping over it for 10+ years.

 

 


I forgot to take an official "Before" photo so these will have to do.

AFTER...

Yes, those are indeed silver-plated forks and spoons cabinet pulls.

   


Command Central, where I blog, shop and run my Empire.

Since this is a two-part series I will stop here and invite all of you to return in a few days to see a few more photos (this is what they call a "teaser"). I will also include some how-to tips and what we did to save money instead of pouring it down the 1970s-style stainless steel sink.

chairs,
Gigi

Welcome to my new blog, which focuses on, among other things, taking something your mother would have probably thrown out on the curb and giving it a new purpose in life. I have certainly made my share of lamps out of wine bottles (not really, that was so 1960) but I have made them out of cowboy boots, bird cages, statuettes and barb wire (yes, really). Being very right-brained, I can happily visualize using forks and spoons as kitchen cabinet handles and Caribbean colanders as wall art. I also love to strip off old paint or stain and get out my electric sander to uncover the hidden beauty of an old breakfront or chair.  A room that needs a little facelift, or better yet, an entire house, is my idea of heaven.

When thinking about what to call my blog I decided against anything with the term "DIY" in it, even though that would come up on lots of Google searches. I did, however, think maybe using some type of technical term in the main title would show my dedication to professionalism, integrity and saving the planet. Naturally, this lead to using the word "strip" as part of the title since of course, anyone who re-purposes or re-finishes furniture knows all about paint stripper. I have to say at this point, however, that when I ran the new title past one of my siblings, her response was "Well, one plus is that it will probably attract a lot of traffic from people Googling 'stripper' and some of those people may also be into home improvement." Truer words were never spoken. Next, I came up with several "test" titles for my blog, including "The Near-Sighted Stripper" (potential danger here as being un-PC to anyone with vision issues), or "The Strypeze Artist" but fearing trade mark infringement issues could take me down before I even got started this went into the bin, too. Eventually, I came up with "The Girl With the Flying Stripeze" not because I have a secret desire to join the circus (clowns are my worst nightmare) but as an ode to those of us who love to create, fix, build, strip (old paint or stain, that is), wallpaper or otherwise make something look better, newer, prettier or more functional without spending a load of cash. 

So, while waiting to see how many pervy home improvement followers my blog title will attract, I will close by inviting all of you to stay tuned for my next post, which will highlight my newly-decorated / slightly re-modeled kitchen project. Thanks for reading and please come back in a couple of days.

Chairs,

Gigi