Even though I'm not much of a cook, I still want my kitchen to look nice. While I'm not crazy about the color of the cabinets (can't do anything about that since I'm not stupid enough to try painting them), I can change the out of date brassy door pulls. I bought a few different ones from Lowe's and Home Depot, but nothing was a dramatic improvement. And they were all over $3 a piece. With 28 pulls, that's a LOT for a so-so improvement. So I figured I'd try painting the old ones. If they didn't look good, I'd just bite the bullet and buy new ones. I don't have a good close-up picture of the pulls on the cabinets "before," but here's what they looked like after a little sanding.

I decided to try hammered black spray paint to give them some texture and hopefully look metal-like and not spray painted. I had a bunch of styrofoam left over from a piece of furniture that we put together, so I used a bunch of toothpicks to prop them all up. I thought myself pretty clever with this solution (pictured after a coat of primer).

Of course...I didn't feel so clever after this happened.

Yes, this was supposed to be the "after" but this one piece of foam tipped over and messed up three of the pulls. I had to sand them down and start over. I'm not so patient with the sandpaper, so these are still a bit bumpy, but I hid them in the high spot over the fridge. I dare you to notice the difference.

One thing I didn't plan for was the added thickness a coat of primer and two coats of black spray paint would add. Why do I never think these kinds of things through?? Luckily, a little cramming and they all made it back in. Voila!!

Here's the final look...all for an $8 can of spray paint! Hurray for cheap!

As a side note...does this area need an island?? I just can't decide if it would cozy it up or if it'd always be in the way. What do you think?

Rock and roll hoochie koo

There's been a project that I've wanted to do for years, but I never had the place to do it. Despite the fact that we had two boys rooms, their walls were always filled with their own stuff. How dare they. But now I have spare bedrooms and I could finally put together my rock and roll fantasy. Can you figure out what it is??

How about this??

Give up yet?? Greg has a collection of old classic rock (and some strange not so classic 80s stuff we shouldn't talk about), which used to sit in his parents' shed. When they finally got sick of it sitting around, he was going to toss them, but I made him keep them all...without much protest, mind you.

I wanted to to make an album cover collage and I LOVE it. What do you think??

Who doesn't love a little AC/DC?! I hung these above a bed in the spare room and maybe it was a happy accident, but I hung them a little too high. But that has inspired me to search the thrift stores for a cheap headboard that I can paint. Meanwhile, I'll just fake it with a sad little pillow. :)

Just this week I bought some patterned sheer curtains from Target for a steal. Can't wait to hang them up and get the room a little bit more complete. Still trolling for the headboard, but I'll find it. Meanwhile, I love me some classic rock!! 

Basket case

I was wandering through my favorite Goodwill last week (shocker), when I spotted this strange thing. 

Not quite sure what it is?? Me either. Which is why I'm going with "basket." But it's not really a basket, because it's flat. Normally I over think my Goodwill purchases, but this one I snapped up for some reason. Still not quite sure why, considering I've had a few GW failures lately (more on those in a future post). But it had a decent price.

But I've passed up better prices. Who knows. Anyway, I took it on home and tucked it in a corner of the garage, hoping someone wouldn't notice yet another project coming in...without any projects finishing up.  (Of course, that strategy didn't exactly work.) 

It was a bit light colored (and a bit 80s) for me so I was thinking spray paint, but I was afraid of how it would turn out. Then sometime the next day, it hit me that I should stain it. Huzzah!! I had some walnut stain on hand and it went pretty darn quickly. I actually started and finished a project in one day!

You probably can't tell a whole lot of difference, but it looks much better now. And here's a pic of it in action...

I'm not 100% convinced that I've taken the 80s out of it, but it'll do for now. I'd like a glass jar with a lid for the right side of the mantle, but I'm having a hard time finding one. (Have I missed my chance for that kind of thing??) I was thinking of putting different things in it to go with the seasons...seashells, cranberries, nuts, etc, etc.  Here's a closer shot..

What I really want for the mantle is an old window or some interesting architectural type piece. Do you think it's a keeper for now? Or send it back to the future Goodwill?

The kindness of strangers...

One big thing we didn't like about our old house was our neighbor. We lived next door to an inconsiderate renter, who played his music at all hours of the night (which we could hear on the far side of the house...with all the windows closed). As well as a trashy, cluttered yard. And...well, that's enough about him. On to the kindness of strangers. The first week we moved in, I came home one day to find this beauty on my front porch.

Several of my new neighbors had left this plant, along with a nice card welcoming us to the neighborhood.  And they weren't even my next door neighbors. I still haven't had a chance to meet any of the gift givers. But as a person who normally likes to keep to herself, it made me want to go out and have a neighborhood bbq or something. What I especially love is that it perfectly matches my orange umbrella. Remember this??

I love this view when the umbrella is open and I'm sitting in the family room. It makes me happy. Now, if I could only get the darn plant to bloom again!!!

But I digress. Back to the hood...we did get a chance to meet the neighbor on one side of us one day in the yard. And then one day while I was on the phone with Comcast for the umpteen millionth time, a knock at our door brought this...

The neighbor on the other side brought this beautiful bouquet from her yard. After talking with both the neighbors, there seems to be a theme that I'm not too happy with..."good luck." That's good luck getting anything much to grow in the garden. Yes, even though these gorgeous blooms came from her yard, it seems it's going to be an uphill struggle.

I'm a bit discouraged...ok, a lot discouraged. But I have some ideas and with all the heat, I can't say I'm missing watering all the time. Oh well...I'll complain about the garden later (and often). For now, I'm just happy to be home, surrounded by the kindness of strangers.

Back in business

I've been gone way too long...don't judge. It's been a busy time. And add to that a hard drive that crashed and 3 visits and countless phone calls to Comcast to get my new internet up and running. But I'm back in business. New laptop. A wireless connection. And while there's still another scheduled visit from Comcast for the phone this Saturday, well, hopefully it'll go ok. There's a LOT to catch you up on. So I'll start with the move. We went from this

in the old kitchen to this

Of course, that created chaos in the new place.

And while it doesn't look all that bad, it's only because I forgot to take pictures in the middle of it. A chronic problem. Needless to say, all the boxes have been unpacked and now it's on to projects. Oh, the glorious projects. I have a lot to catch you up on.  And if I can figure out what I'm doing, I might even have a new blog site to make it easier to upload pictures. A big if.  Stay tuned!

15 Days and Counting...

That’s right...tomorrow will be two weeks until The Big Move. I’m not ready. Not by a long shot. I was busy over the holiday weekend with my family cookout to show off the home movies. They were a big hit, but my mom threatened to take away the set of extra keys to her house.  J  Check out the food...I borrowed some old tablecloths from my mom. I love these old things and wish I could find some at a flea market some time. (It might help if I actually went to flea markets!)

Here’s some of the family playing “volleyball.” I can hear my fellow RVC people snort in laughter, but it’s lots of fun, I promise. And yes, the net is at armpit level. Don't judge.

I finally got around to putting a few things into boxes Monday, but having boxes sit around gets on my nerves!!  I think I’ve officially packed 13 boxes. Think that’ll do it?? Uhhh, not so much. I’ll probably do a little more this weekend, just because I can’t leave it ALL til the last minute.

I have to admit, before I packed the first thing, I went around and took pictures of it all. Have to have some sort of sentimental history. Have you ever done that? What I want to know is why do things look so small once you take the pictures? I live there every day...it doesn't look that small!

One thing I noticed...see a striking similarity between the old chest I told you about a few weeks ago and this chest that’s in my bedroom???

Coincidence??? I think not...

The Good Old Days

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend. ("all" two of my followers) This time of year always reminds me of Nationals and the good times I had with friends. Hope all our RVC people are playing (and partying) hard. I miss going sometimes...anybody else miss it??  Next year anyone? Maybe this will help entice you...here are a few good memories from our last trip in 2007 to Austin.

Love that Embassy Suites social hour!! Chillin’ with the girls at a random restaurant in Austin...

 See a theme here??

 What I won’t miss....