Household Happenings

Hello!  It feels like a lifetime ago since I've posted...

A lot has been happening here, some blog worthy and some not so much.

Our baby has been sick this week...poor guy spent the better part of two days not being able to keep anything down.  A trip to the vet and hundreds of dollars later, we still don't really know what caused it.  I am happy to report though that he is now eating and drinking again, so we are hoping that whatever it was has passed.

The last few weeks has seen a few projects get completed here.

I talked McG into just repairing the popcorn ceiling in the kitchen instead of drywalling over it.  I know, some of you are now shaking your heads thinking WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT??? Here's my reasoning...We have lived in this house since August of 2014 and since even before moving in, we were doing projects here.  We have been in continuous project mode since we moved in. Drywalling the kitchen ceiling was a huge project that I felt we didn't really need to tackle.  Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of popcorn ceilings.  I think that they suck the light out of a house, but with that being said, repairing and painting the ceiling was a huge cost savings not to mention work savings.  With new drywall comes sanding and DUST and I didn't want to have to clean the whole house during this process and I wanted to make things easier for McG.  He works his butt off all day and then comes home and spends most of his nights and weekends working here on the house, and drywalling over the popcorn ceiling would have added a few weekends of work to the list that I didn't really feel was justified.

We didn't realize how yellowed the ceiling was until we had the kitchen cabinets painted...then it really looked awful.

The BEFORE/AFTER really tells the tale of how much the ceiling needed to be painted. We used Sherwin Williams Showcase Interior Flat ceiling paint in Ultra White.  It came pre-mixed and was on sale when I purchased it for 33% off.  I bought 3 gallons for under $100 and we painted the kitchen ceiling, living room ceiling and the ceiling in the hallway since they all connect.

Here's the patch job we did when we moved the light to be centered over the island.  It's not an exact match, but $13 for a can of spray popcorn paint was a whole lot cheaper and a lot less work than re-drywalling the ceiling.

And now that the ceiling is painted it's not nearly as noticeable.

We have been working at a slower pace after the holidays.  McG's garage is not heated, but he has ordered a heater that should be in next week.  He wants to get most of what's left on our to-do list knocked off before the nice weather comes back in the spring.  We are hoping to be able to spend more weekends relaxing and enjoying the house and yard this summer.

There are not too many BIG projects left on the list, just some painting and trim work in the living room and hallway, and then some painting in the main bathroom and changing out some of the fixtures in there.  I'm sure more projects will pop up as we go, as they always do, but I think we are in the homestretch!

Cheryl

First Project of the New Year - Adding a New Kitchen Island

Well January is well underway and with that we are continuing to work on finishing up the kitchen.

Last week we purchased a new island for the kitchen at Costco.  I gave you a sneak peek of the island on Facebook last week.  We bought the Whalen Industrial Metal and Wood Workbench.

Sunday morning McG took apart the old island and split it into two cabinets and we moved them on either side of the picture window by the dining table.  Here's a quick pic I took with my phone...sorry for the grainy appearance.  We still have to paint the base of the cabinet.

Here's the inspiration we had in mind when we purchased the island.  An open bottomed island with a more industrial look.  A statement piece for the kitchen.

The island was fairly easy to put together and McG did all the work on this one - he deserves the credit.

Some of the photos were taken at night, so I apologize for the photos, but I was able to get a few today while the sun was out as well.

I added some baskets to the bottom to hold some cutting boards, and mason jars and an industrial looking basket to hold my potatoes.

Our existing bar stools look good with the island and we will be keeping them for now.  You can see half of the old island in the background of this picture.

We are enjoying the new island and the contrast it brings to the white kitchen.  What do you think of the new island?  Is it something you might like in your home?  We'd love to hear from you!!

Cheryl

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