Last week I helped my sister redo her entire kitchen and here I am, a week and a half later finally writing a post about it. I’m residing in one of my favorite spots to write this… what I call “my little beach house.” 
The circumstances are just right to escape to this haven down here. The weather is a little rainy and the boys are playing Nintendo baseball with their cousins…
They hardly noticed me as I scurried about the house getting some Saturday morning chores done. They did glance up blankly when I told them that I’m heading to the cabin down by the pond and the only reason they can come down is if it’s a life or death situation. (yes, I can be that type of mom.)
Hubby is playing softball, if they didn’t get rained out, that is. I imagine they probably played through the downpours. Maybe I’ll remind him of that next time I want him to clean out spouting or something and he spots one dark cloud on the horizon.
So, with everyone occupied with their own things, I get to have a most peaceful time at my little retreat. The only sounds are the splash of a fish or frog once in a while and the squeak of a frog. A bit ago I heard a Kingfisher’s call as he flew overhead. Following are a few pics from my perch since I had my trusty camera by my side anyway. If you want to read more about “my beach house” click here:My little beach house
I love just being surrounded by our beach memories, even though I’m not actually at the beach, it almost feels as though I am…
The open window beside me with a breeze drifting through…
Anyway, back to the subject…
It had been awhile since I’d done any makeovers so I had quite an enjoyable time last week. What made it even more fun was the fact that my mom, my sis & her girls, and my boys helped too! It’s amazing how much more can be done when there are more hands at work! Here are some “before” pics of the kitchen:
Note the orangish glowing cupboards…so common with stained oak.
The dining area…
Literally everything got a coat or two of paint. The cupboard doors and drawers were sprayed outside on the driveway…
The trim and cupboards were painted with “bistro white” paint by Valspar. I’ve always wanted to try the paintable wallpaper from Lowes that looks like beadboard so my sister offered to be my guinea pig and we added that underneath the chair rail.
This picture was taken before it was painted. The directions said to wait 24 hours before painting. That also got a coat of bistro white. It was fairly simple to apply, a self adhesive backing. It was very important to really smooth it out so there would be no air bubbles.
The only thing that hindered us a little was the weather. A nasty storm tore through the area, uprooting trees and causing power outages. We ended up running for the basement in the middle of painting, as we heard trees crash down. The electric was off for a few days but thankfully we had generators to power our appliances and lights.
So, after the walls, ceiling, trim, cabinets and a few pieces of furniture getting coats of paint, here is the result…
It hardly looks like the same kitchen, does it!?
I would trade kitchens in a heartbeat. It’s such a bright, cheery place. The gray on the walls is “filtered shade” also from Valspar.
For the cabinet by the table I used the same gray as the walls for the back, then I mixed white and just a drop of gray for the rest. It gives it a nice white gray color.
I had made this bench & shelf a few years ago, looking off of Pottery Barns’ set. It was also a dark red and looks quite fresh with bistro white paint. The decorations weren’t all up when I took these pics. She was going to add a few cushions on the bench and some décor on the shelf.
This was one of the few kitchens I did that got no distressing. It was very quick and easy and I love the clean look!
It’s amazing how a room can go from this…
to this… (in a short amount of time for not a lot of money)…
It makes me think about getting rid of the red in my kitchen!
Thanks for visiting!
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