DIY kitchen makeover reveal

It’s done!  I could tweak it forever, but all of the hard stuff is done.  Thank you so much for sticking by me as I posted yet another step in my makeover, but I wanted to be sure to capture everything along the way.

I had to include some before and after pictures, of course. Moving the fridge to where my desk used to be really opened up the space.

I left most of my receipts at work, so I don’t have a cost breakdown, but I was not able to buy a new fridge as planned, but soon very soon :) 

I am sure I have not gone over $2,000.00. Here is a breakdown of where I spent that money

new subfloor and Allure vinyl flooring after removing 5 layers of flooring

new microwave

new countertops

new cabinets where the fridge used to be

new pantry door

new lighting

new backsplash

new cabinet handles

new to me chairs

paint, brushes, rollers, new skill saw, new circular saw, wood and moulding and innumerable trips to big orange.

 

This was the biggest project I’ve taken on yet, and I’m so glad it’s over. No more thinking about what colours to paint, what backsplash to go with, what flooring, how to install counters, how to install cupboards; it was a whole lot of thinking and a little less doing. LOL.

 

And now some gratuitous photos because I’m just so proud of getting this huge task done.

 

Thanks again for sticking with me throughout this process, and for your sweet comments that encouraged me along the way.

I will post later on the details of what products I used and how I solved issues that came up along the way.

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Junkin Junky

DIY wall clock

Using some of the left over planks from my backsplash, I made a clock.



I used a kit that I had found many months ago for $4 at the Sally Ann.



I know it’s a little wonky, I’m still working on my jig saw skills :)

My drive to pick up my chairs this morning was only 5 hours instead of the anticipated 6 hour round trip. It was well worth it as the chairs are in excellent condition.



Now I have to decide what I want to do with them. My instinct is to leave them the natural wood colour because I have so much painted furniture already. Make some new cushions for the seats and use the fabric as the pop of colour?  Yes, I think I like that idea. What would you do?

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Junkin finds – another amazing find

The weather couldn’t have been any better for this long weekend and I didn’t get anything done in my kitchen, but I did manage to do some junkin’.

This lamp was $15. It came with a bell shaped shade which I didn’t like much, so I changed it to this one, but it may change again :)

3 meters of this upholstery weight fabric for $7.99, it just may find a place on the next find I am about to share with you.

I don’t actually have these yet, I am leaving tomorrow morning at 6:30 to drive 3 hours to pick them up. I know I sound like a crazy woman, but wouldn’t you drive for 6 hours to get these for $25 each?!

Faux bamboo Chippendale arm chairs … here’s hoping that I don’t get an email overnight telling me they were sold to someone else, I think i will cry.

And my daughter picked some lilacs for me. Nothing says spring like lilacs.

I hope you had an amazing weekend too.

Weathered wood planked backsplash

The backsplash is done! A huge thank you to Debbie at Me and My DIY, who inspired me with her amazing planked wall and then she wrote an awesome tutorial on how to achieve the look!  You can find the tutorial here.



What I was trying to achieve was a transition between the white cupboards and the dark wood floor.

Following Debbie’s tutorial, I first stained the planks in American walnut.



I used a brush but found that I didn't have a lot of control of how heavy the stain was, so for the pickled white wash stain, I decided to use a lint free cloth. It was a whole lot easier to layer the wash over top. Then I used the brush to add another layer to make it look like the wood had naturally aged over many sunny days.



The planks are not perfect and I had to deal with uneven walls, so getting the first row straight was impossible. I used my brad nailer to put the planks up and didn't  bother to fill the nail holes in, but that just adds to it’s character, right? *smile*

Next I did two coats of Minwax Polyacrylic to protect the wood, especially since this is a kitchen and it’s bound to get messy.



Next to do is caulking between the counter and backsplash. I am in the home stretch with my kitchen reno with only some touch up painting to do.

This is a long weekend here in Canada and I’m a little busy, but I hope to get some work done for the final reveal. My sister is coming to stay with me for the weekend, maybe I can convince her to help me paint :)



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Kitchen Progress – sneak peek

This is the third time I’ve changed my mind about my backsplash!  Debbie at Me and My DIY did the most amazing planked backsplash in her son’s bathroom, that it totally inspired me!

So far this has taken me three hours, probably another couple of hours to finish getting the planks up, then it’s time to stain. I’m so excited!

Happy Mother’s Day

How amazingly lucky I am to be a Mum, to have a Mum and to know so many amazing Mums. Even if you are not a mother, it is still a day to celebrate, as we are all born of Mothers.

Yesterday I got to spend the day with an amazing mother, my best friend, Lorraine. We shuffled off to Buffalo to do some shopping. We had a blast and came home with some thrifty treasures. We did not intend to go to a thrift store, but we found one and came home with some great treasures.  I also had it out with my GPS whom decided to give up on me as we were leaving. Grrrr.

We hit up Hobby Lobby and Joanne’s, neither of which I had been to before. I was finally able to get my hands on some Rub N Buff. I bought the golf leaf and although it said it was only for porous surfaces, I decided to try it on this pot. It’s a little blotchy but I love it. It definitely kicked it up a notch. Now I’m looking around to see what else can use some gold leaf around here, nothing it safe :)

 

Target was our next destination where I picked up this Ikat like shower curtain to make some cushion covers.

At the thrift store I found a pair of white linen pants, some new Converse Chuck Taylors with pink trim and this groovy pair of Franco Sarto shoes.  I have a thing for patent leather and loafers, so these were a steal at $3.99. Love them!

(excuse the pasty white feet)

Happy Mother’s Day!

Junkin Finds

My daughter and I went out junkin yesterday to look for some summer clothes. She scored big time with some great brand name stuff. I told her she is lucky that we don’t wear the same size, or I’d be raiding her closet.

I also found some pretty neat stuff. For a dollar each, I found 8 of these fab place mats. I just love the pattern and the colours.  I used 4 of them to make cushions.

And 4 of them for a make shift table runner, that will be moved when I need to use them at a place setting.

Last week I showed you some of my favourite tea pots. I found another one!  A little darling bunny for 3 dollars!

Add colour to the entry

I came home from work today and as I walked up to my door I noticed how boring and blah it looked. After such a long and snowy winter, I am craving some colour.

I dug in my stash and found some bright spray paint and fabric and within an hour I added some needed colour. 

This is what I came home to, how depressing.

Much better

We don’t have much blooming yet in this part of the world, so I picked up some potted pansies that were marked down 50%, left overs from Easter. Speaking of this part of the world, I’ve added a “Meet Mel” page (at the top), maybe some of you would like to know a little more about me than just seeing a picture of my face :)

I hope to work on my kitchen this weekend if my chest infection will allow me to work without hacking up a lung or two. Have a great weekend.