finishin' the kitchen

I'll finally have some pictures of the finished kitchen for you guys in the next couple weeks. We're going tomorrow to buy the bead board for the back splash from Home Depot. Then we'll work on getting it put into place.

But to hold you over until the final reveal of the kitchen being completely finished (on one side! still gotta work on the floor to ceiling cabinets and window seat as mentioned here) I figured I'd go ahead and show you the process of painting the cabinets from white to navy blue.

This is what they looked like originally, before the paint. You can also see the old countertops in this picture too.



One thing I learned thanks to internet searching is to put a pushpin at all four corners of the cabinet doors before painting so that they don't stick to whatever you lay them on, for example news paper or plastic sheets or whatever you choose to use.






First I primed them with KILZ primer. I did two coats of primer, after cleaning them. Most people use a special cleaner before painting cabinets but I didn't have anything like that, so I just used Windex and paper towels. This is after two coats of primer.



It says on the can to let it dry for 30 minutes in between each coat but I waited about an hour in between, just to be sure it was dry. Then I started painting with the color I picked Deep Blue Sea by Behr. This is after one coat I think. I did three.



This is after I finished painting the final coat of the blue. It was still wet in this picture, which is why it's so shiny.



Annnd this is the finished product. I figured I'd go ahead and show you the new counter tops too. If you look at the walls behind the sink area, under the top cabinets, which I also painted a light grey color & the wall behind the stove, that is where the bead board will be going. I'll probably be painting that white.



Here is a wider view of the kitchen. The bead board will be behind the fridge & oven as well.



We got the counter at Ikea, of course. You can check it out on their website here. The countertops are also a greyish silver color. They match everything so perfectly. I was originally going to do a dark wood countertop but once I saw these, I changed my mind instantly because the color was perfect! I'm really happy with these countertops. They are SO EASY to keep clean!! I'm very happy with them.

If you have any questions about this process at all, feel free to ask me about it!

missing in action

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I spent my week pretty chill with no home improvement projects going on right now. We had plans on going to the Habitat For Humanity restore this past week to look for tall cabinets and a bench but the day got away from us and we didn't get to go. We decided to stay home and play with the kids outside instead.

This is what we wanna put in our kitchen. Two floor to ceiling cabinets & a window bench. I can't wait till it's done!



Paul & I recently got the idea to start watching Mad Men, since we've always heard great things about it. It only took us a few days to make it to Season 4. I guess you can say, the hype is real, it's a greeeaaat show! I'm really looking forward to getting completely caught up & watching this season. I started DVRing it when it started a couple weeks ago, because I knew we'd catch up. If you haven't seen it, I high recommended it. If you have Netflix, it's even easier to watch it, which is what we did. Thanks Netflix! ;)

Other than that, we took Gracie to the Aquarium on Thursday while Jordan was in school. She's been asking us everyday for a couple weeks when we were going to take her again, so we decided on Tuesday we'd go. She had such a blast and like most of the kids that were there that day, she didn't wanna leave when it was time to go.



The best part about the Aquarium for the kids is the mini outside water park. It has a giant pirate ship that the kids can climb all over with a little water slide and lots of random water spots all around so the kids and run around and get cooled off. The kids love it!

Today is my cleaning day. The kids are with their grandparents for the weekend, like usual, which I appreciate because that means I can get everything put together for the next week. I gotta get all the laundry done, house cleaned & all that good stuff. I'll of course be doing all of this while the Yankees game is on. You don't think I'd miss a Yankees game do you? Not me! ;) Have a great weekend!

busy birthday week

Another new layout! I like it, like it. ;)

Phew, this week really flew by, didn't it? I had plans on making a post on my birthday but my day and really my week just kinda got away from me. On Sunday, after my last post, my amazing niece Taylor came to visit me for a couple days during her Spring Break for my birthday.

We're silly together. Love!



Monday we went to get pedicures together with Gracie of course, while Jordan was in school (his Spring Break was the week before).



I got a pretty tealish blue color by Sephora & Tay got hot pink, I think it was O.P.I. It's her favorite color. I also got my hair cut a couple days before Taylor came to visit. It's a little shorter than I originally wanted but it's really growing on me (figuratively speaking). I figure it's only going to grow, right? So, in a month or so it will be perfect length.



Other than that, on the evening of my birthday Paul took me to see 21 Jump Street. It was such a great funny movie! I spotted Johnny Depp looong before most people did. I spotted him within' minutes of the film starting, even tho he was hidden in the back. You can't hide my Johnny from me, people! I love him too much. hahha



After the movie we headed to Carrabba's for dinner. Our waiter was a ball of fun, let me tell you. From the moment we sat down, he was making us laugh & was super playful the entire time. I had shrimp fettucini alfredo, which was so yummy! Paul had steak, like a typical man. Overall it was an aaaamazing night out with my man. Aaand when we got home, both of the kids were asleep! I think Taylor has magic powers or something because I can't even get my kids to sleep that quick! They must of had a lot of fun while mom & dad were away. :)



Yesterday I was home alone again because Jordan went to Opening Day with my MIL to watch the Yankees vs. Rays game. As you can see above, I got all decked out in my Yankees gear. Sadly my Yankees didn't win, but it was only game 1! We've got 161 more games to go. No worries here! I'm a Yankees fan, I know we'll see the playoffs in October. ;) I'm really looking forward to Yankees Opening Day at Yankee Stadium next week. That's something to be excited about... at least in my little world.

That's all for now! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend, Easter & a great week!

so fresh & so clean

Yesterday I finally decided it was time to clean & rearrange the living room. Everything had been in the same spot since I painted, added molding around the windows & bought all brand new everything from Ikea, two months ago. So, it was definitely due. I'm one of those I have to rearrange a room after a certain period of time or I go crazy people. I get it from my mother. But, I'm sure you can tell by all of my rearranging posts, ie: Gracie's room & my bedroom.

I moved the sofa to the window side of the room, flipped the rug (because I think it looks better this way) & swapped the sofa table for the stand that was under the tv before. Both Paul & I like it so much more this way! I don't know why I was so worried I wouldn't.


Can you tell which movie I was watching when I took these pictures? Winner gets a prize. ;)


I didn't really do anything to the dining area, just cleaned it up & added a couple things to the shelves. No big deal.


Check out the view from the door. Since I moved the big Yankee boys art to my bedroom, I had a big blank spot on this wall. The bookshelf & dvd shelf definitely get rid of any awkward open spaces. I like it! I still have plans on painting the dvd shelf black, sometime in the future. It used to belong to my grandmother, I believe.


I got a pretty fun idea last night while Paul & I were watching Midnight in Paris (great movie! Check it out!). I thought it would be fun for you guys to see my point of view. So, as I sat in my usual spot on the sofa, in the corner, I took a couple pictures of my view. :)

Hi Niko!


Wide shot. See that bag? My E.A.T letters are in the bag. A project for the kitchen! You'll see those soon!


And a creeper shot of hubs on the laptop, sitting next to me. He said I couldn't take a full picture of him, so you get his hands... his beautiful hands. hahhhaha He's playing The Sims Social, our favorite Facebook game. :)


Welp. That's it for today. I'll be back tomorrow with my BIRTHDAY POST! I'll be 27 tomorrow! I'll also have pictures of my new haircut. :) Oh yeah, I put up a new layout on Friday night. Whatcha think?