Kick In The Pantry

You can call it nesting, you can call it spring cleaning, but really, it's just that I reached a point of utter ridiculousness and it had to be dealt with.

The pantry.

...Although we started referring to it as The Abyss. Three-point-five-ish years ago when we moved into this house, stuff got packed willy-nilly into the kitchen pantry. I had plans to reorganize: Some more shelving, go through the crap that was thrown in bags and stuffed in, etc. But life happened instead. And that left us with hoping nothing would fall on our heads every time we opened the door.

Top and second shelf before. Avalanche warning.

Not ideal. So I set aside an evening and tackled it, pulling everything out, sorting by expiration date (result: yikes), and recycling up a storm.

Top and second shelf after.

Happen to have a similar problem? Here's how I broke it down, beginning at the top:
Top shelf: Light use: Grilling, empty growlers, seldom-used teapot, medications, dog supplies.
Second: Frequent use: Spices, baking goods, oils
Third: Canned goods and savory supplies (pasta, grains, etc.)
Fourth: Snacks and sweet supplies (canned fruit, etc)
Fifth: Clean! I left the foil and chia seeds resting there, but hoping this is where some baby supplies will land.
Bottom: Heavy stuff: Baking supply backstock, awkward seasonal dishes, reusable shopping bags.

Vast improvement. And less hardhat requirements.

At this point only about 1/4 of you who started this post are as nerdy as I am and still reading. Queue the Brian Adams.

But seriously, getting this done has changed more for me than having room for groceries. It's totally refreshing to know what we have: I've been coming up with dinner ideas more easily because I know what's stashed. We've also used up more things because I can see them and know they're there. Who would'a thunk... If you know you have it, you'll use it. It's all been a pretty delicious revelation.

Top 5 of 2014

Last year I rounded up the top five attention-getting posts of the year, and it was so interesting (probably only for me, but hey) that it's officially an annual event as of right now.

Sometimes I understand why a post is popular immediately, and sometimes... well sometimes I just end up thinking the world is a pretty weird and wonderful place. I'm happy people like the same things I do, and get even the tiniest kick of seeing those things in black and white here on this blog.

Drumroll please...

#1: Kitchen Switchin'

The top half of the kitchen cabinets was made over, grubby before photos and all. Funnily the whole-kitchen reveal didn't get quite as much attention. 

#2: Oil Pulling - The Basics

This is good stuff, guys, and I'm glad you were into it! It really does work wonders. I'm still a believer.

#3: Onesie, Twosie, Redsie, Bluesie

This fast, easy, and personalized baby gift is fun and do-able for anyone!

#4: RespecTABLE and Shelf Life

It's a tie for fourth place! Apparently people really dig a wooden furniture element (and watching me struggle).

#5: T1D Tuesday - My Reason

THANK YOU! This makes my day that it's a top five-er. And better yet, you can still get in on the feel-good fun by donating right here (she's over half way to her goal!).

Thanks for another wonderful year, all of you! Cheers to what's ahead, whatever it may be.

Kitchen Kompleted

I can't even tell you how happy it makes me to write this post. No more scrubbing, sanding, priming, painting, drilling, wrangling..... DONE.

I showed you the bottom half completed here, but now: The really big show (thanks, Ed).

Hard at times, dirty often, extremely time consuming work, but totally, completely, entirely worth it.

Top: Move-in day. Bottom: Now.

Purchased this cute contact paper on Amazon.

Of course, my brain goes to 'what's next'... backsplash, for one. But I'm trying to take a minute or two every day just to stand there and realize this portion - this big portion - is DONE. And that's a pretty enjoyable piece of time.

Logistics

Steps:
Clean, sand to bare wood, wipe down with liquid deglosser, prime (dry completely), paint - 2 coats (dry completely between each).
Measure, create a jig, measure, measure,... measure, drill, attach handles, re-hang/install.
Put lining in drawers.

Used:
Electric sander, stain-blocking primer, liquid deglosser, Benjamin Moore Advance paint (Decorators White).
2" handle angled paint brush, foam roller, vinyl bumpers.
New hardware (from here)

Time frame:
Can you devote all your time? Days.
Do you have things to do? Weeks. Yes, plural.

Absolutely Necessary:
Patience.

Kitchen Switchin'

Ready for this? Well, I'm not entirely sure you are, but here we go anyway:

The (upper) kitchen cabinets are refinished and installed! That's right, we officially have a completely overhauled and working (upper half of our) kitchen!

Alright so you caught that it's all only truly half complete, but wow, what a half it is. If anything motivates me to do a few more weeks of tedious, take-an-advil-for-back-pain work, it's seeing how successful the first go 'round has been. Here's what we were working with on move-in day two years ago, and save the wall color, flooring, and countertop (oh, we threw a fridge in there too)... Not a ton has changed.

I'll give you as short a version as I can...
First, the usual: Sand. Wipe down with liquid deglosser. Prime (twice) and paint (twice). I sprung for Benjamin Moore Advance paint, which from my research sounded like the best for cabinetry.

Right to Left: Sanded, primed, painted - Used a foam roller and a 2" handle brush.

Ain't no lie.
This stuff is pretty much straight outta Harry Potter: It's self-leveling, which means it figures out how to cover your brush strokes. Plus the word on the street is that although it's a latex paint, it's as durable as an oil-based, which is pretty much the dream in cabinet world.

Top to Bottom: Getting sanded, primed, and painted.

The actual functioning cabinet parts stayed on the wall (with everything still in them, #LazyDIY), and got exactly the same treatment.

Transformation Station!

Lastly, Nate whipped up a paper template, drilled holes, and screwed in the new handles (more on those here).

Bumpers

Back up went the doors, and with the stick of a vinyl bumper to protect the edges and keep the screw backs from banging up the cabinet base, we were..... done!

I'm a teensy bit in denial that we now have to do the entire bottom section, but knowing what we're doing works and looks good almost makes me excited to tackle the rest. Almost.

Two Cool Stools

The stars aligned, the angels sang, and light shone down from the heavens... Right onto HomeGoods.

Have you been in one? They're great, but pretty hit or miss. It's not like you're going to walk in and find a really specific thing you're looking for... Or are you...! We had a list of 5 places to go hunting for barstools to go with our new table, and this was the criteria:

Comfortable.

Not backless. 

Sturdy.

Stylistically compatible with the table.

We marched into our first stop - HomeGoods - got distracted by the pretty things browsed for a minute, and bam: Two perfect stools. They were like a tractor beam, I tell ya, and Nate and I gravitated right to 'em.

The only thing neither of us were crazy about was the cream pleather seats. But a quick flip-over in the store showed just 4 small screws holding the seat on, and I knew I could recover them pretty easily. Check it out:

This fabric is a little too classical for me, but I knew in small amounts it'd be just the thing.

Yellow for the kitchen, chestnut for the stools, black for the table.

I mentioned there were 4 small screws holding the seat in place... You'll just have to take my word for it since I failed to take photos (tricky to hold a stool, a screwdriver, and a camera... where is that third arm when you need it?!). But literally within 2 minutes, off came the seat and I had this:

Seat-free!

Centered, and traced with a few extra inches to wrap around.

Trusty staple gun - Staple, flip, done!

Tada!!

This is one stellar find and easy mini-makeover that equaled out to a pretty huge dining room upgrade. I'm in love.

One done...

...And two. Woohoo!

It's Heeee-eeeere!

Nope, not a creepy Halloween reference - I'm talking about the new kitchen table! Remember? I told you about our little love story and the fact that we had to wait monthS for it to arrive has only made the reunion sweeter.

So here's what we were working with: Cobbled together Ikea-o-rama.

And now? Bam.

And those chairs? Well, ignore those for now. We'll talk Friday.

Handled.

The pieces of the puzzle continue to come together with the kitchen cabinet overhaul. The hardware arrived last night!

Couldn't be more thrilled - The shape, finish, and price were all perfect. At this point I will highly recommend MyKnobs.com (and barring the hardware turning to dust upon installation, I'll probably continue this love fest).

Having these has really helped me envision the finished project - Makes me almost excited to get started with the looong painting process to come!

Percolating Project

I think we've finally recovered from the big flooring project, and it's time to tackle the next biggie: Kitchen cabinets.

Rather then spending 15-40k on putting in new ones (I actually like the shape of the ones we have and they're pretty sturdy), the plan is to put in some elbow grease with sanding, priming, painting, and popping on some hardware.

Testing hardware sizes with paper scraps. So chic, I know.

This arrived on our door last night, and it promises to make the whole tedious process SO much more palatable:

Wagner Flexio 570 HVLP Paint Sprayer

It has great reviews, so I'm hoping it works like a charm. And as for hardware, I found an awesome site with bargain basement prices in MyKnobs.com. These haven't been ordered yet, but they coordinate with the handles of our appliances for a nice tie-in (and can't beat the price):

Now all that's left to do is... start. Heeeere we go!

Table-Crazy

Guys... I fell in love this last weekend. His name is Calvert, and I met him at Pottery Barn.

image

My mother-in-law and I found him on a random stop-in, and after a few pictures and a lo-o-ot of drooling, I made The Pitch to the other half. Cast iron! Working crank to change the height! Not under-$20-Ikea-quality! Luckily Nate was all in, and we were back in the store with a few saved up gift cards in tow that evening.

image

The only bummer: So many people love Calvert he's backordered and won't be our new kitchen table until October. But, as they say, true love waits eh? I'll live on photos and my copy of the purchase receipt until then.

...Yep, I took a video in the store. I was that crazy person.

Future-Kitchen Glimpsin'

More trim painting! I know you were waiting for it. On the edge of your seat too, I'm sure.

Okay, it's a far from thrilling process, but the impact of such a little change is making me happier in the here and now, and super excited to see the process completed. So I guess we can call this the in-between, motivating-me-to-keep-going portion of the program? Sure.

This time the windowsill behind the kitchen sink and the trim above the pantry were overhauled. The sink sill may have looked okay (minus the ugly color), but get up close and personal and it was one big ol' mess.

I did the same sand-degloss-prime-paint system I used before, and presto change-o, smooth and clean. As for the trim underneath it - I'm foregoing painting that in the hopes that it will be extra motivating for us to get our backsplash on someday soon.

The pantry trim got the same treatment, plus a little bonus of a quick gold-to-silver spray paint makeover for the door knob. It's kind of a stop-gap: Not perfect and probably not durable enough for long-term use, but I don't want to buy a random knob prior to getting our kitchen cabinet hardware. Just happy it's not uber-brassy gold anymore (it was the only thing in the kitchen that was).

Like I said, these make me so excited to jump on the rest of the kitchen cabinet overhaul project - As tedious and annoying as it will be. A little glimpse of good things to come at the end of the tunnel!