Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Painting kitchen cupboards is NOT fun. . .

. . .but it will be sooo worth it in the end.  I've decided to finally undertake the task of refinishing our kitchen cupboards AGAIN.  I did it once a year or so after we purchased our home (14 years ago) and it hasn't been long enough for me to forget what a daunting job it is.  I'm not doing anything fancy; just repainting them white and changing out the hardware.  But still. . .it's a process.

Remove hinges, remove handles, sand front/back of doors, sand base of cabinets,  1 coat primer, 2 coats primer (plenty of drying time in between each coat), apply paint, apply second coat of paint if needed (of course, I'm probably going to need two), let dry A LOT because you don't want to affix the new hardware and screw up all your paint job, hang doors.  See?   I told you.  It's A LOT!

This time around, I decided to work in sections instead of removing all of the hardware from my 36 cupboards and drawers, sanding everything, painting everything, etc.  You see, my fab hubby works 50 hours a week and I'm the DIY person in the family so I'm pretty much on my own with this project.  Plus, I'm a control freak when it comes to projects like this so I'm perfectly happy to go it alone.  So today, I started with an upper bank of three cupboards and am going to finish the job completely before moving on to another section.  I think this is going to be a good system for me because I don't have enough work space to do all of the doors/drawers at the same time and I don't have enough extra room to store everything that has to come out of the cabinets in order to paint without getting dishes all yucky.

Here's what ground zero looks like today. . .can you see the Oil Rubbed Bronze bin pull I tried out on the drawer?  That's what's going on all of the drawers and matching pulls will go on the doors. 


Holding zone. . .No family dinners at this table until the trio of cabinets are done.

Below is the "Before."  Not hideous by any means but there are lots of scuff marks you can't see in this photo.  We also currently have chrome pulls with white porcelain centers.  Cute for the mid 90's but not so cute now.


Stay tuned for more kitchen updates and the "After" (if I ever get there).  Wish me luck!


Please come back and visit soon.

If you like this post, I hope you will consider following my blog!


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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

My vintage dish collection has grown. . .

I've had a passion for vintage dishes for many years.  My favorites are those adorned with roses (preferably pink) and little bits of gold.  Faded paint and a little chip never stopped me from falling in love with a piece.  In fact, it endears me to them even more.  I love knowing a piece was used by others in its lifetime.  And I don't just let my pretty dishes sit on a shelf to be admired from afar, I actually use them on a daily basis. Dad isn't a big fan of me serving his little boy on girly dishes so I bought a couple in more "manlier" colors.  Yellow roses are manly, right?

Being the thrifty gal that I am, I never pay a lot for any of my vintage dishes.  The most I paid for any of these shown here is $12 (for the second one pictured).  Some stores I visited were asking twice the price for similar plates.  I think I paid $10 for one other and the rest are around $5 or less.  I even picked up a couple for $1.39 at the Salvation Army thrift store.  Yesterday, I hit several antique stores in Old Town Clovis and found quite a bit for not a lot of money.  I did find several pieces that were quite beautiful but they were out of my budget so on the shelf they stayed.  Here's what I came home with. . .

*  If you want to see a great close-up on the photos, right click and select "open link in new tab" or "open link in new window" then click on the photo until it reaches it original size.


10" serving bowl with roses, faded pink paint and lovely trims of gold

9" serving dish/plate (my favorite find)  I love the colors, the gold accents and all of the raised detail!
 
7" plate with pink wildflowers and gold designs

7" plate with purple flowers and raised detail

7" plate with yellow and faded pink roses.  Very "manly" if I say so myself.

I got four of these little 5 1/2" plates for $10.  If you come for a visit, I'll probably serve you a muffin on one of these.

When I found this little beauty, she didn't have a price tag.  The lovely person at the counter said, "Oh I don't know.  How about $3?"  Ummm let me think. . . .YESSSSSSSSS!

Small French dessert plate covered in pastel roses, chartreuse leaves, and scalloped gold trim.  I think this one is my second favorite find from yesterday.  I can't wait to eat off of it.

Celery/relish dish

This little cutie is only 3 1/3" tall.  It was love at first sight.  When I saw the lilacs and shiny gold filigree trim, I think I actually gasped out loud.  It has a little cut-out in the lid for a spoon.  Not sure what this was originally used for. . .maybe honey?  Did I mention I only paid $2?  I know!


3" diameter open sugar bowl (for cubes).  I'll probably use her to hold spare change.

This $2 darling is out of my usual palette of pinks and purples but I couldn't resist her sweetness.  Very cottage-y dontcha think?

$2 violet tea cup

$1 saucer filled with violets.  Doesn't match the cup but do you think I mind?

Everything from here on down were already in my collection.  I haven't done a post about my collection since 2009 so these were acquired sometime between 2009 and 2012.


This was one of my $1.39 thrift store finds.  It's Norwegian and reads "Give us this day our daily bread."

Another pink floral and gold accent dinner plate.  Another $1.39 find.  Score!

Sweet and simple dinner plate.  I got two of these for $4.

I picked up this beauty for about $5 on etsy.  The same design is on the other side as well.  She's a whopping 5" high (that's big for a sugar bowl).  I keep dry creamer for my coffee in it.

As you can see, we use this little floral creamer to hold chalk.

9" plate with lots of faded charm and a very sweet scalloped edge

Another time worn plate - 9"

This serving plate takes my breath away.

My favorite coffee cup.  Only problem is you can't pop it in the microwave to reheat it since it has gold trim.

Thanks so much for letting me share my collection with you.  It was fun!

Please come back and visit soon.

If you like this post, I hope you will consider following my blog.


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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

What's blooming - April 2012

For those of you who are new here, this is a photo of the front of my house.  It will help you orient yourself when I'm talking about where the plants and flowers are located in my front garden.  Feel free to click on photos to enlarge.  I've blocked out partial address info for privacy.

 



Front garden in bloom. . .

Lots of camellias (done blooming), ferns and azaleas taking over the shady part of the front garden to the left of our front door.


Calla Lily

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Gertrude Jekyll climbing rose (David Austin) lives directly to the left of the garage.


These roses live on the right side of the garage.  They get lots of morning sun.




Just around the corner from Gertrude Jekyll (on the south facing wall of the garage) is this flower bed highlighted by Sophy's Rose (David Austin English Rose).  A purple lilac not yet in bloom is behind and a Kimberlina rose is just out of view to the right.


 Our new welcome mat!


Back garden is blooming too. . .
Janet (David Austin English Rose)

More of Janet

. . . and one more Janet

The Alnwick Rose (David Austin English Rose)

Golden Celebration (David Austin English Rose)

Golden Celebration  (David Austin English Rose))

 Bearded Iris


 Brilliant Pink Iceberg rose


Lavender

Dutch Iris

Geranium

Salvia

Snapdragons

Verbena

Winchester Cathedral (David Austin English Rose)


Please come back and visit soon.

If you like this post, I hope you will consider following my blog!



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 Sharing my garden at: It all Started with Paint's Mission-possible-link-party: The Great Outdoors
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