Customizing a builder island...

 

When we bought this house I was so excited to have a kitchen island. We had never had one before.  Now if I was to build a home I would leave the island out and find my own. (probably from a flea market!)

  After many years of the builder cabinets and panel type wood on the back of the island,  I decided to add my own touch to it. I have a lot of wood cabinets in my kitchen and was trying to break up all the brown as well.
 

I do not have many before pictures since I lost so many pics when my computer crashed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No idea what I am doing and why we took this picture. You can see the panel side of the kitchen island here. Also our old countertops and appliances. This seems like soooo long ago!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photo was an actual photo so it is not the straightest shot!  Here you can see the side with the cabinets and drawers.

 

Now for the actual process of what I did I only have one picture.  The rest are lost! 

 

So I have to write a lot without a lot of pictures!

 

We had put beadboard up in our laundry room and had some left over.  TJ cut it to fit the back side of the island  (2 pieces) and both of the sides.  At this point I had no idea if I was painting it or leaving it white. TJ was alittle nervous about this project since once we put it on there was no going back.

 

We attached the beadboard with liquid nails and then used small nails on the edges.

 

After that TJ was at work and I wanted to keep going.  I knew I wanted something more on it.  All the corbels I found were too large.  I then found these unfinished oak half newels at Home Depot.  They were perfect, just the bottoms needed to be trimmed so they would fit.  I attached these with liquid nails.

 

 

 

I have to tell you I was and still am so excited about these.  I love how they changed the look of the island.  And also that I did it myself!!  :) 

 

After attaching the newels I just had to add base trim to the bottom of the beadboard.

 

 

My friend had tons and tons of wood trim in her garage since they replaced all their trim.  I grabbed a few pieces and cut them to fit, and then nailed them on.

 

Then I had to decide on what color to paint.  I  was between off white and gray when I decided on blue!  Again TJ was nervous!

 

I researched blue paint colors for a few days and finally decided on.....

 

 

 

Benjamin Moore Wythe Blue.  This color is so pretty!!

 

 

 

 

 

So here is my only project picture.  The beadboard was already primed so I could paint that right away.  The trim and newels needed a coat of primer first. 

 

Here is the finished project............ 

 

 

I also sold all our old cabinet hardware on craigslist and bought silver.  The brown hardware we had on before blended way too much with the cabinets!

 

This by far is one of my favorite projects in our home.  It was inexpensive, relatively easy, and made such a big difference!!

 

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

 

 



Fall Planters

 

One of my goals this week was to get my fall planters done.  My summer flowers were all dead from lack of watering these past few weeks.  My porch was a sight!!

 

 

I usually do two planters with large mums in them.  I decided to make my own planters this year.  I love all the fall plants!  Mums, Kale, Cabbage, Millet (just learned what that was today!)

 

 

I bought a little bit of everything and got to work.

 

 

 This planters has mums, millet, cabbage, and little ornamental peppers.  Love those!!  I bought the planter containers years ago at Walmart.  They have held up really well and are out all year long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a close up of the pepper plant.  I love the color they add!

 

 

 

This is the millet.  It came in a large pot and I separated it and just added a small section to each planter.  It added the height the planters needed.

 

 

 

I think the cabbage plants are so cute.  I could only find really large ones at first and wanted a smaller accent size.  Home Depot had these cute little ones.

 

 

Here is another planter I did, I was having fun!

 

 

 

 

I still need to add corn stalks and pumpkins.  But for now this looks so much better than the dried up annuals I had in those pots! 

 

 

 

 

I had a few plants left over so I put them in one of the empty pots and put it on our deck. 

 

 

The trees are changing, it is sunny & cool, and  just so beautiful here in the Midwest!  I love this time of year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Antique blue table for sale!

 

 

I just finished painting a gorgeous little antique table.  I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Florence.  It is then waxed in both clear and dark wax. This color is so beautiful!

 

I love the little scalloped edges on this table.  This table would work for a night stand, end table, or entryway table!  I also like that it has the bottom shelf which would be great for magazines or books!

 

 

24" high by 17.5" deep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$35.00


Thank you for looking!

Debbie

 



Mirror from an old door....

 

I have mentioned before that my sister and I have the taken to  garbage picking!  :)  So far only at flea markets.  We have found cool things like an antique typewriter table, old windows, tables, and an old door.  I knew I wanted to create something with the antique door , I was just not sure what. It was pretty dirty too so I was not that anxious to get started on it.

 

I finally got out in the garage and cleaned the door really well!  I even used bleach on some parts because it WAS in the trash!!  It also had some of that filmy sticky stuff to make the glass obscure.  I had fun peeling that all off!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If and when we ever move I will miss this large open area in my kitchen.  It is where I do all my projects.  It is completely in the way of getting around the house, but it is the most open area we have!

 

 

I decided to paint the door with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence Blue.  I love this color.  The buffet I sold was this color so I wanted to have something else this blue.  I painted it with two coats and then waxed it with the clear wax.

 

I had the bright idea to get a full length mirror and attach it to the front glass to make a full (almost full) length mirror.  Only I could not find the exact size and the one mirror I did find would not stay attached.  I then remembered this mirror.....

 

 

This mirror was $250.00

 

So I decided to use my Krylon Looking Glass Spray and make my own mirror. It took about 5 thin coats of the looking glass spray.  I did this outside.

 

 

The glass had some imperfections because of its age.  I like that it makes the looking glass spray look even more vintage.

 

 

I really like how it turned out.  And it was FREE!!!!  Minus the $4.00 for the mirror I tried to attached to it originally.  Other than that the door was free, I had the paint, and I had the looking glass spray!  LOVE THAT!!!

Linking to The Shabby Nest.
&
www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com

 

What do you love about fall?

 

Happy first day of fall!!

 

 

I absolutely love summer.  I love everything about it!  The sun, the warm weather, my kids being home, vacations, flip flops....the list goes on and on.

 

 

But there is something to be said about fall.  After a long hot summer fall can be a breath of fresh air! 

 

 

Here are some reasons I love fall.......

 

 

1. The beautiful fall leaves.

 

 

2.  Getting cozy at night in front of the fire with my family. ( and a glass of wine!)

 

 

3.  Football!  I do not acutally sit and watch every minute of the game.  But I do like that we all hang out, eat snacks, and make an afternoon of it!
 

 

4.  Mums!
 

 

5.  Fall candles, there is nothing like burning a fall scented candle on a cool night.  Love it!

 

 

6.  Running.  Running in the fall is awesome.  The weather is perfect and I love going on pretty trails and running through the leaves.

 

 

7.  My husband and I got married in fall.  October 6, 1990.  It was a gorgeous sunny fall day! :)

 

 

8.  Pumpkin spice shakes at Culvers.  My daughter and I LOVE these!  

 

9.  Cozy blankets.  I love wrapping up in a blanket on the couch at night.  I have a sheep skin blanket from Pottery Barn that is amazing! I ended up buying one for each of us because we all wanted it!

 

 

10.  Now that my kids are older, I have to say what I miss about fall.  I miss apple picking, pumpkin farms, hayrides, haunted trails, collecting leaves and making collages with them,  and the list goes on.  I wish I could keep them little forever!  :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I so love what wonderful people they are growing up to be!  :)

What do you love about fall?



New buffet!

 

Happy Friday!!

 

 

I have been in the process of slowly changing up our dining room.  We do not use this room much, but it is one of the first things you see when you walk in our front door.  It is right out there in the open! 

 

One of the things I changed out was the buffet. 

 

 

 

 

This was our first one. I had bought it at a furniture store and picked it out way to quick. I had never really liked it and ended up selling it on craigslist.

 

 

 

 

This was the second one. I actually loved this one.  I had found it at the flea market.  I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence Blue.  The problem is I then found one I liked even more.  I was not sure which one to keep but ended up selling this one. 

 

This is the buffet that caught my eye. After negotiating a really good deal on this (after all I am a real estate broker, I love to negotiate! :)  I brought it home with me.

 

 

I was not sure which one to keep at first.  I loved the size and the lines of this one.  I decided to keep it.  I also decided not to paint it.

 



 

The only thing is I thought the wood was a little to striped looking for me.  The vendor said he had sanded it down and added some torch marks to give it the black marks on it.  (never heard of that technique and probably will never try it!)

 

I wanted it a little darker and abit more even.

 

 

After cleaning it up really good I got out my Old English Scratch Cover for dark woods.  This stuff is AMAZING!!!  You rub it on with a soft cloth and then buff it to a shine. This wood was not protected with anything so the Old English worked really well.

 

 

It darkened the wood perfectly.  After I buffed it I applied two coats of polyurethane to protect. 

 

 

 

The only damaged spots were on the sides. 

 

 

 

I had left over wood from another project so I had it cut down to fit both sides.  My husband was at work and I am not that handy with a saw, soooooo I brought it in to Home Depot where I had purchased the wood and they cut two pieces for me!!  :) I used liquid nails and attached both sides. 

 

 

Here it is after one coat of stain.

 

 



after

before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this buffet.  I am so happy I decided on this one!!

 

A few more changes in the dining room and it will be done.  (I think.....)