Happy to be Flush!

You might be noticing a theme with the blog the last week.... Offending fans and lights are being replaced.


Here is another case that has been corrected. You see, the orginally fan in our kitchen prodded over 18 inches from the ceiling. It always made me feel like it was caving in on me. I know this sounds silly especially since I am a on the shorter side of life, but it has always bothered me. Case in point below....

I also was not a "fan" of the leaf design on the fan blades. I like streamlined unadorned items, and this just wasn't my style.

I needed to keep a ceiling fan in this room because it is practical for this space. You see, this room gets very steamy when the evening sun streams in, and the fan is a great option to cool things down.
I hit up Lumens.com for my new fan replacement. I have been obessing over the Concept II Flush 52 Ceiling Fan with Optional Light. I have been in love with this fan for some months now, but the rub is that it did not come in the black finish I wanted. It is avialble in ORB (oil rubbed bronze) with taupe, but upon speaking with the customer service reps at Lumens (they are fab) I realized that the ORB was much more medium brown than the dark brown/black I was seeking. The price tag was a bit steep at about $300 to not get what I wanted. Therefore, I keep shopping since the ORB was not an option, and I did not want the brushed nickel finish because we have so much stainless steel appliances. However, I kept coming back to the Concept II fan. It was the look I wanted exactly. Then I did something unexpected, I changed my mind. I ordered the fan in the brushed nickel finish, and I am so happy I did.

It looks perfect!

Here is a view of the kitchen with all the appliances with it. I think the finish of the fan is a nice compliment, and is not an over use of the stainless steel/ brushed nickel finish.

I am so happy to be flush! No longer is the fan caving in on me!  I am also pleased to report that I was able to sell the white beauty on Craigslist too! 

Hardware Switch...Instant Update

We love our kitchen cabinents, but we were not a huge fan of the birdcage hardware that it was finished with when we purchased it.  It drove me nuts that the hardware often was not straight (illustrated below on the left, just slightly crooked).  All the doors, and drawers had the birdcage knobs on them.  The drawers offered a whole different problem for us.  They were at just the right height that our pant pockets would get stuck on them if we got close enough to the hardware.  After ripping several pairs of lounge pants, I decided we needed a change.

As you know I forgot to take lots of the "before" shots.... This below pic was taken when I was painting the kitchen as evidenced by the paint can on the left. 

 

Initially we were going to go with a knob and bin pull option, but laziness set in (fear really).  All the drawers already had the hardware holes drilled in them (perfect and centered).  I bought one of those hardware guides, but I could not find one that would allow us to drill holes at the same level the existing holes were (ie the guide was about 3 inches above where we needed the holes to be).  I knew we could have made our own, but I was really nervous about screwing up the cabinent drawers since they would be expensive to replace. 

Therefore, we decided it would be easier to just change everything out to the same knob option.  All our appliances in the kitchen are stainless steel so I wanted to go with something different to avoid that matchy, matchy thing.  We have lots of black accents in the kitchen.  I browsed all the hardware stores around us, and found the below beauty online at The Great Indoors.  It's called Hickory Hardware Period Brass Solid Brass Knob 1 1/4"- black nickel. 

It took less than an hour to swap out the hardware, and was pretty painless. 

I just love the new look.  No more crooked hardware, and our pants no longer have to be fearful of the kitchen.

It's Getting Hot in Here....

Again, I am stricken with my over ambition of not taking pictures from the beginning of my project.  We will have to use our imagination for a minute, imagine the walls and ceiling are olive green in the picture you are viewing.  Perhaps it will not be hard to imagine since you can't see the wall paint all that well because of the glaring sun coming in from the sliding glass door.  The door you are viewing faces southwest so it gets all the hot evening sun.  Initially I was thinking that we would leave the window uncovered since it faces the backyard which is relatively private.  However, the heat, and a few break-ins in our neighborhood last spring and summer caused me to change my game plan.

Pic #1

Pic #2

I struggled with an appropriate window treatment choice for this door. I had two purposes I was hoping to fix: 1-create privacy so burglars do not have a big picture window to glare into the house, and 2- a choice that would help insulate this room from the daily evening heat-up. There was one other concern- I did not want curtain panels that would go behind the garbage can. I strive to keep things clean, but the garbage area in one's kitchen is not known to be a super clean area.  I thought about relocating the garbage can do a different spot in the kitchen, but there was another reasonable option.  Finally, I did not want to go with traditional vertical blinds because I am just not a fan of that look.

Surprisingly, I did find a vertical option at JcPenny's that fit my needs. I stumbled upon the stylish Linden Street Cotton Duck Thermal panel System. I thought this was the perfect solution to my problems. It provides the thermal protection against the heat, provides privacy if needed, but can be slide back and forth if needed. I struggled with selecting the right color. I was between cream, desert khaki, and the chocolate options. I like lighter window treatments, but was worried that the cream would get dirty since the panels are within inches of the trash can. The desert khaki was nice, but it just didn't go well with the Bittersweet Stem paint color. I kept gravitating to the chocolate, but worried it would be too dark, and make my very sunny kitchen cave like.
After much thought, I pulled the trigger on purchasing the cream panel system.  I couldn't be happier with my choice.  This panel system is a wonderful solution to my needs.  Although I would have preferred to keep the windows open, I think this is the next best answer.  It looks wonderful in my kitchen.

I apologize the pictures are so dark, but I forgot to take shots this afternoon.  So what do you think?  Have you come up with any creative solutions to cover your sliding glass doors?  Do you have window treatments on the windows that face your backyard?

Earsing the Past Can be Daunting

I finally tackled a project I have wanted to complete since last March when I painted our kitchen. You see, I was a bit of a novice when I painted our kitchen and did not realize I should have painted the molding BEFORE I painted the kitchen walls. It could have been easy peasy, but I sometimes like to do things the hard way. Not so.... I should have planned better.

 This is the best pic I have of the before color of the kitchen.... It was taken right after I had 10 inches cut off my hair to donate to Pantene's Great Length Program...

At any rate, when we purchased our home in May of 2008, I immediately had a love hate relationship with the very dark olive green color our kitchen was at the time; seemed more like a cave than a kitchen to me. It took me a few months to find the right paint color. Our granite countertops were very neutral with lots of creams, khakis, browns, and a bit of black specks. Therefore, I choose to paint the walls Bittersweet Stem by Sherwin Williams. After finishing two coats of primer, and two coats of paint color, I was in love with my new kitchen, and never wanted to paint again.

Then, I saw it.... The past was staring me in the eye all over the kitchen. The old owners did an awful job when it came to protecting the molding during their painting projects. Depending on where you were, you could see shades of olive green, country blue and bright yellow shining on the dingy white molding. I have quite the eye for detail which has turned into a curse at times for me. The paint “vomit” was driving me nuts, but I was a bit intimidated with taping off the molding, and repainting it. I didn't want to harm the walls that I worked so hard to paint. So I waited, and stewed, and waited some more until I could not handle it anymore......

Evidence Pic #1

Evidence Pic #2

Evidence Pic #3

Well, the wait is over. This past weekend I got the confidence to get the job done. I hit up Lowe's and purchased some Frog tape (I was giddy to try it since its praise has been all over blogland). Initially I thought about free handing my molding project, but I didn't trust that my hand could be that steady.

Anyhoo, I sanded down the parts of the molding where paint had chipped, and filled in some areas that were a bit dented with some wood filler. Then, I spent some quality time taping off the walls where the molding met the wall, and were the molding met the wood floor. It seemed like this took forever, but in all honestly, it took about 1.5 hours.

Once the tape was up, I got to painting. I used Benjamin Moore’s Decorators White in semi-gloss. I applied three coats of paint just to be sure that I was able to cover that olive green paint up. After two coats, it looked like it was covered, but I wanted to be sure because I did not want to have to do this project again.

I am allayed with the results. The molding looks so crisp and clean, and I am so happy to be rid of the past. My husband was a bit skeptical of the worthiness of this project, but once it was complete and all cleaned up, he realized that the crisp white molding was the final touch for the room. Needless to say, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief in the kitchen because I finally got this major project checked off.

Although, I think I created a bit of a monster now….. Now I keep thinking, perhaps I should repaint all of the molding in the house. Next up, the foyer and main hall walkways…..

My opinion on Frog tape…. Not sure if it is worth the extra money. All and all, I didn’t see much of a different between blue painter’s tape vs my use of Frog tape. The semi-gloss paint bleed through in about 4-5 locations on the wall that I will need to touch-up. Therefore, I am just not sure about it….