My Last Week

If it hasn’t become clear yet, I love projects. I love taking ordinary, or ugly, things and making them pretty. Kevin’s house needs a lot of work done to it, because he is really busy and the house is from the late 70s. Actually, the house is as old as I am, both built in 1977. The original owners decided it would be cool to have every piece of wood in the house an ugly “smoker yellow” color. We’re talking every door, closet door, drawer, and cabinet this dingy color.



A few months ago, Kevin and I painted all the doors and drawers in the kitchen white. The color really brightened up the room and I actually like being in there now.

My project over the last week was the dining room/bar. The dining room is basically done; the walls are a nice shade of brown, with a dark brown accent wall. However, the bar area needed some major work. There was that ugly yellowish color all over the doors.



Kevin and I decided we wanted something dark to go with the theme of the room. We went to an actual paint store and talked to a professional. We decided on a cherry stain, but didn’t want to do all the work. We were recommended an awesome paint, which was more of a gel, that would cover anything and look like a stain. The paint took about 8 hours to dry. I did one coat per day to ensure it would dry completely without smudges.



The finished product is absolutely amazing, I love it. Kevin loves it. The roommates love it. I feel really good about this project and I look forward to doing many more. With this house, there are a lot more areas to paint and transform and with this girl it will get done.









Doesn't that just look so much better?

Kitchen Project

I love projects, they make me happy. I love the challenge of starting something new, making changes, and being proud of the finished product. Home improvement projects are some of the best, because you are taking something you don’t like and figuring out how to make it better. Picking out colors, tiles, carpets, appliances, and so on can be a lot of hassle or a lot of fun.

I have never had a house before, but whenever I go to other people’s homes, I am always thinking of things I would do differently. I now have a Kevin, who owns a home, which needs a lot of work and I’m not afraid to tell him. He is a great guy and knows his home needs some work, but he needs a little motivation…which is where I come in. I have already re-organized most of the house so that it is more “user friendly”.

Our latest adventure actually started when Kevin blew out one of the switches on his stovetop. From there we decided if we were going to buy a new stove top we should upgrade to a nice glass stove top. Since the whole kitchen is circa 1970, we decided we should upgrade the rest of room as well. We have to start small because home improvements cost money. All the doors and cabinets in the kitchen are a very ugly yellowish-greenish color, and that needs to go first.





We started small with the just the island where the glass stove top would be going. We spent the day removing all the doors and drawers from the island and painting them. First, we sanded them all down and cleaned up all the years of crap that was gooped on them. Next, we gave them a primer coat of Killz to cover up the old paint and muck we didn’t get to come off. Finally, when the Killz dried we added one coat of white paint. The difference was shocking when we looked from the completed island to the old yellowy cabinets along the wall. The white really brightens up the kitchen and we have only done a small portion.



It was a very productive day for us and we have only just begun. Kevin plans on re-doing all the counter tops with black granite tile and the floors with hardwood. We still have to do the rest of the cabinets in the kitchen so that they all match. It’s a large project, but I can’t wait to see the full finished result, it will look amazing.

If you would like to see more pictures and/or follow our progression click on the link and prepare to be amazed.
More Pictures