I was B-U-S-Y yesterday painting… ALL day long… and I’m actually getting there… I do have one side of my kitchen cabinets painted but was wanting to wait and show it to you when it was all “prettyfied” but I think I’ll let you see it so you believe me when I say I’ve been busy… not that you wouldn’t believe me…
Let me just tell you, painting kitchen cabinets from the raw wood is no picnic… there is SO much sanding and prep work that has to be done and you think you are never going to get finished… but I am slowly getting there… It’s “my” baby…as my hubby says… so I’m doing it all by myself… except when Cindy was here… she got me motivated…
See the cabinets have been up for 2 years but not painted… sad to say… life got in the way.
Okay to make this quick… here is my kitchen the day we bought the house… it was an 1892 fixer upper, and we have done our fair share of fixing it up…oh my goodness, have we…
The lady we bought the house from used it for her piano studio and had every kind of angel, and fairy, and glittery elfs, and disco balls… you name it she had it ALL over the house… (my hubby says now, “no wonder we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into when we bought this house… we couldn’t SEE anything in it to know what kind of shape it was in!”)
Then this was the day we got to move in… (2004) the kitchen had plastic aqua colored tiles all over the kitchen… and glossy sealed pine cabinets that were horrible… I mean warped and moldy and splintered…
Since 2004 till 2 years ago, we lived with it looking like this… our stove on top of the countertop… and a menagerie of things…
We were sure we could make it look wonderful and we are just now beginning to see the fruits of our labor come to pass… we took down the soffits up near the ceiling that were all the way around the kitchen…
We closed in 2 large windows that faced into my sewing room. (It was a porch added onto the house and they just left the windows there.)
When we took down the soffits, we discovered 126 year old planks and Cindy talked me into leaving them just as they are…
We bought new unfinished oak cabinets and had a couple of friends of ours put them in… my hubby was just recovering from his bladder cancer surgery…
This was the first cabinet to go up…
…and then this happened…
Which turned into this…
This is what the cabinets on the small wall looked like before…with our new countertop laid on top…
…and now… YAY! I am thrilled… did you hear me screaming??? Even with all the junk on the countertops, I just had to show you…
This is the other side… primed 2 coats and waiting for the top coat… the doors are almost done and ready to put on…
I love the Snowbound color next to my Agreeable Gray paint…
Okay, I’m finished…with the post for today…
You won’t want to miss tomorrow’s post… 4 little girls and 4 little dolls!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
What fun to see pictures of the progress of your kitchen! I am really torn about painting your cabinets–much as I love a white kitchen (or at least very light), I also love the color of the wood cabinets before you painted them, and might have seriously considered just using a clear finish on them. But, again, I also like white or very pale cupboards, so it would have been a really difficult choice for me!
I remember when you talked about making those curtains, and again, about the backsplash…
It was nice to see your mom in one of the pictures, too.
HI Charlotte,
Let me tell you, I was in the minority on the white cabinets… Kristoffer and my hubby both wanted them stained and Rebecca did too, but she knew I had always wanted a white kitchen…
Yes, momma was in one of the pics and I wish SO much that she could see them now… she always loved a project and would have been in the middle of it “somehow”…
Thanks Charlotte,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a transformation to your kitchen, Jeanne! I could not believe that first picture! Where did that woman do her cooking? You have done such a wonderful job in making the kitchenYOUR kitchen, and it now looks so clean, streamlined and fresh! Makes you wan to go in the kitchen and cook, right? I remember a lot of tose pictures through the years, when you picked out cabinets, curtains, even that clock on the wall, which I believe you bought at Hobby Lobby!
The last 3 pictures sum it all up, even though it took a long time, it was well worth it. My sister is currently going through a kitchen renovation on an older house from the 20’s and it is not going well. Things that are supposed to have come, have been delayed, due to the weather, and she has been making do with no stove and no cabinets for over a month now. Kitchens will give you the most in pay back time in satisfaction when you remodel, but it sure is a very inconvenient thing to go through boefore it is done!
HI Linda,
Like I mentioned, this was her piano studio and she mostly just gave lessons here… they lived in the house beside us…that our friends bought… She sometimes used this as a guest house when they had company come it.
I can’t wait to get it finished now…it’s been the biggest project I’ve ever tackled by myself… well, my hubby has been helping… doing dishes, laundry, sometimes cooking, and occasionally he has to use his caulk gun for something… why just today he did! :o)
Yes, you remembered correctly… I did get that clock at Hobby Lobby and momma got one just like it for Christmas one year from me… she LOVED it too…
Oh, your poor sister.. .what an awful time to be doing renovations with the weather and the shipping the way it is… I feel sorry for her but hope she gets it done soon…
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
Looks SO good Jeanne! You’ve been working so hard & it’s relentless painting door after door! I’m so proud of you & your kitchen is gonna be so bright & fresh! Proud of you!😘 and don’t forget about that beautiful ceiling! wish I was there helping you but NOW we’re getting your snow!❄️
HI Cindy,
I’m quitting for the day… I got the frames painted the first coat of the Snowbound and the doors painted the backside of the Snowbound… When I get these 5 doors up, it will really start to look nice, I think… Well, I’m already in love with it, but want to get going and get it finished…
I hope you don’t get too much snow… today was the first day we’ve gotten mail since last Saturday…
George just ventured out… someone had a water leak and he was going to try and help them out…
Love you!
Me
Wow!!! What a transformation.. your “baby” is beautiful!
Thanks Shara,
YES… isn’t she wonderful??? I’m in love!
Blessings, Jeanne
What an amazing transformation. All of those details coming together so well. The ceiling is striking now. Love it. The white cabinets are perfect, and leaving the natural vintage wood was a genius idea. And all of the storage? What a feast. Seeing the photos again and all that you, George, friends, and family did is quite amazing. Definitely need to gather those photos and do an online coffee table book. They are easy to do. It would be a great memory as well as something that would remain with the house for the future. Maybe you need to do a book for the sewing room remodel as well. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your progress.
I was hoping to hear on the news that those without power would have it back, but doesn’t look that way. And now I’ve heard that water must be boiled in some areas, if there is water at all. Going to take awhile to get this weather mess under control. Thinking of those in the cold. Take care please.
Thank you Joy,
I think the white cabinets will highlight the ceiling too… and Chandi! :o)
I would love to put all our house projects pictures in a book and be able to look at it sitting down in a chair… maybe I could tackle that sometime…
Yes, my sewing room, and the floors, and Rebecca’s room, and the 2 bathrooms, and many others that aren’t quite so glamourous…
We warmed up to the mid 20’s today but it’s still 12 with the windchill factored in… Pretty chilly out there…and George just got a call to help with a water leak…
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
That looks wonderful. My cabinets were a dark, dark finish when I bought my house, and there was a wallpapered furr down. I took out the furr down and sanded the cabinets and painted them white. I have never regretted it, but it is a lot of work. I can tell you have already done a lot of the work. By the way, I’m glad you mentioned that the first picture was from when someone else owned the house. I was a little overwhelmed by all that stuff.
HI Carolyn,
I bet when you took the furr down out it really opened things up and then when you painted them white, it must have looked amazing!
We were a little overwhelmed by the stuff in her house too… She had a closet FULL of prom dresses and my sewing room was so full of stacks of music we couldn’t even go in it…
It was pretty much a disaster of a house… we didn’t even have it inspected because we knew it would fail…
But it’s our home now and it’s getting better ever time I open up that paint can… :o)
Thanks Carolyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Nice transformation! My impression is the piano teacher did not live there so she could festoon the kitchen the way she did.
HI Julia,
The lady lived in the house when her kids were little, but when they got bigger they built a house behind us and lived there… Our house was just her piano studio where she gave piano and harp lessons…
The kitchen was usable, but I’m not sure if she did…
Thanks,
Blessings, Jeanne
Joy’s idea of an online coffee table book or books is a great idea, though a hard copy of the same would be a nice addition.
I wondered about the first picture and was happy that all the clutter was not yours to store. Your kitchen looks prettier and prettier — and the storage space is truly enviable. You deserve all the good things — you and George have worked hard for them.
When you open your curtains,how much snow do you have now? Ours was almost gone yesterday — this morning we have about 8 inches and the gray sky is now turning blue. It’s very bright and cheerful and cold.
HI Marilyn,
I really would like to make a book with all our home and yard projects in it… I have SO many pictures and really need to save them some other way than just on the computer…
It’s been so dreadfully cold that none of the snow has melted… I’m guessing we still have 10 inches on the ground… We got more last night, but it was probably only 1/2″ or so…
It’s supposed to get up to 50 on Tuesday, so maybe some of it will melt… I did see some icicles dripping today but the snow is all crusty and hard… it’s like a cake with old frosting… kind of hard…
We did have blue skies today but the wind chill never got above 12 so not much happened on the ground…
Be safe…
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, I am excited about the 4 little girls and dolls. What could that mean? New outfits I hope!
Your kitchen certainly has been transformed. Oh my goodness, you were so brave to take on the task of fixing it up. Joanna and Chip Gaines could not have done better. I like the crisp white look of the cabinets.
Thank you Dorothy,
I am just getting ready to start of tomorrow’s post… you’ll have to wait… It will be enjoyable!
Chip and Joanna would have been FASTER than me… I am slow at painting, but it’s getting done as I have time… a little painting, a little sanding, a little playing, a little doll sewing, a little cobblering, a little cooking, a little cleaning, etc… it’s getting done…
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
You have done a lot of work well done. It looks fantastic.
Dad and I moved into our house in Medway St in 2005. It was a lovely spot overlooking a very pretty part of the Avon River. The garden was lovely too. Unfortunately the same couldn’t be said about the inside of the house. especially the kitchen. It was the original 1950’s kitchen incredibly poky and inconvenient. The food cupboard in particular was horrible. It had air vents to the outside and was very narrow but very deep so food would gravitate to the back and I wouldn’t be able to get to it without pulling everything out. In late 2009 we decided to have a new kitchen put in. It was great, I had a great pantry and lots of storage. it was still poky but we made the best use of what we had. The tiling was finally finished in early 2010. In September we had our first earthquake. No power or water for three days but dad was great about water he had filled all the empty milk bottles for a long time so we had hot drinks and and cooked food as we were able to use the gas hob that was on a 9kg gas bottle. Then 22nd Feb 2011 we had the really big earthquake (even though it was smaller on the Richter scale than the September one, it was much more destructive) and we had to move out of our house never to return (to live anyway, we did manage to get our stuff out). In June of that year the area was Red Zoned which meant it was unsuitable for building. The house was insured but not the land so the insurance company paid out for the house and the government purchased the land from us. All the Red Zoned area is now Crown land. Dad loved that house and he never really settled in this house. Personally I think he loved where it was rather than the house, this area is ordinary but fairly safe but the house is much nicer and a bit bigger but he never saw it like that. It will be ten years on 22nd since our lives changed forever. I know that sounds dramatic but it is true. It is certainly true of the families of the 185 people who died. Most in one building, a relatively new building that collapsed completely.
Sorry didn’t mean to be so maudling.
Saw pictures on TV last night of the snow in Texas. I don’t associate snow with that State I think it is pretty unusual around Houston area, would that be right? We have 12C this morning which is and improvement on the last two mornings. Dan the Weatherman told us last night on TV that it would be 26C today but my phone says 21C so summer is dragging its heels a bit if the phone is right! Anyway take care everyone and try to stay warm
HI Anne,
Oh, what a sad story about the house that your dad loved so much… and just when you had gotten things the way you wanted… that’s why we are concerned about getting our house reroofed… we don’t want to have done all this work on the inside and have our roof leak and ruin everything…
Yes, the snow in Texas is quite unusual… and then all the aftermath from it… what a mess those people down there are having… Cold and wet aren’t my friends…
Hope your summer weather gets there soon for you… then you can share flower pictures with us, as we deal with our snow…
Blessings, Jeanne
I forgot to say what a pleasant surprise it was to see your mother in your kitchen — that one definitely goes in the book.
Thanks Marilyn,
I had to put that one in there… she’s part of the kitchen… she gave me the money to buy them… :o)
Blessings, Jeanne