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Friday, October 29, 2010

2 sides of Kitchen completed, 1 to go!

So I decided to go ahead and post pics of the last side of the kitchen that needs to be finished. There are things here that are going to be changed as well. Funny how as you are doing things in a remodel, you will think of something else and say "UGH! That is not looking right, or it needs to have such and such added." I am just grateful we are doing all of this ourselves as I would drive a contractor NUTS!

Okay, first pic is how this side had looked when we first bought the house. One small window for the entire kitchen. Not much lighting at all. Cabinets and counter tops were made out of used hardwood flooring. Let me tell you, I did not want to even make a sandwich on those counters knowing at one time FEET walked on them. Eeeewww?


How the kitchen looks this morning. What I am changing is that the table/counter will be cut down a bit in length so an 18" base cabinet with drawers can go in. Above that and next to the refrigerator will be a wine rack. Both cabinets of course are from Ikea.





I have a couple of chairs I found on Ebay that were a steal. 25.00 each and they are cast iron and very heavy. I found this adorable fabric online and paid only 5.00 for it. It goes PERFECTLY with the color scheme in the kitchen. This is where I sit with my laptop. I am going back and forth whether I should spray paint them a white or not. Opinions?

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Slowly getting done with kitchen.. Before and Afters

The doorway to the left of the refrigerator originally led into the master bedroom. However, I wanted more wall space for the kitchen area so I had my husband close it up. Then I designed a wall to separate the LR from the kitchen. If we had not closed off that doorway, the kitchen wall would have only been about 7 and a half feet wide. Now, it is 11 feet. That wallpaper was a royal PAIN in my doopah to get off! See the nice square brown thing over the antique armoire? Yeah, well I have a matching set of those in my LR for attic entrance. I do not like it at all. Hubby is currently planning on where he is going to install a pull down ladder in the house so I can close these things up.

Above pic. This was taken after my husband and son had built the dividing wall to separate the LR from the kitchen and right before the flooring was going to go in. The cabinets and counter tops were made out of used hardwood flooring. Ick! There was only the one tiny window over the sink area, so this room was quite dark.
Above pic. How the kitchen looks today, though not fully completed. I will be updating my blog with pictures of the right side by the sink area within a couple of weeks. We are currently mudding the wall around the door, the bigger window over the sink, and need to finish the tiling. I have found a woman in WV that makes custom clocks, so pretty soon I am going to have a 30" clock hanging over the shelves on the left side of the oven that will definitely compliment the decor. I am thinking maybe something like wispy grass to place on top of the pot rack instead of what I have on there now. Pretty much everything was bought at Ikea from the shelves, cabinets, dishes, and the china cabinets on the left side. The rugs I got on clearance from Crate and Barrel.
Above pic. These are 4 Liatorp bookcases from Ikea. You can choose different door fronts for them. They are only about 15" deep which helped keep the kitchen from looking too closed in. These hold A LOT of stuff! I have one for my pantry items keeping the paper goods, etc down below where they are not seen. I still had space on each side of these so I bought the Bladet vases (Ikea) and the dried branches they sold as well.

Below are the glass tiles I found online. They are called miniature subways named Candy Turquoise and are iridescent. Hopefully one day when the lighting is optimal, I will get a better picture since the ones I have taken so far of the kitchen do not do these justice at all!

Below is a picture of the bottom shelf on the right side of the oven. Underneath the shelves on both sides, I have a spice rack that holds really heavy beefy jars (bought also at Ikea) that holds my most commonly used things. Coffee beans, flour, soup beans, garlic powder, etc. The next pic is of the shelves on the left side. These are called Ekby Jarpen (Ikea) The vases on the top I bought from Ikea as well.The ironstone dishes I have bought on Ebay. You can get some great deals off of that site.


Below pic is another shot of the kitchen with the backdoor open.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Tree Coat Closet from Ikea products


I believe it was back in August that I found this picture online (above) that I thought would be the perfect solution for an alcove space I have in my living room. Since the original coat closet was removed to put an entrance in for the master bedroom, we had no place to hang coats when guests drop by to visit. I searched on the Ikea site for items they sell that would work. I found that the line Liatorp had a couple of things that would be perfect. I just added some paneling, MDF board and coat hooks, and whalla! Total cost for everything was $500.00.