Hi everyone,
Just a quick reminder first, to let you know the outfit I made to fit the 10″ Boneka dolls, “Denim and Doggie Fun”, is ending this evening. You can find it on Ebay by clicking the picture at the right side bar, or you can click HERE. I hope some little Boneka sweetie gets on her momma’s computer and decides she wants to have it! :o)
I just knew you’d love to see Danette’s doll dresses she made…and of course, hers! I’ll have to gather up all the pictures I can find of where I made matchy/matchy dresses for ladies and their daughters mostly…
My sisters and their hubbies are coming Wednesday so there was no dolly time for me today… it was House Cleaning 101! Some things had been put on the back burner and today I took them off!
I have been wanting to hem my living room curtains that were “puddling” or as my hubby called them “gathering dust.” When I turned them up to hem them just above the floor, they were pretty dusty…
A while back our dishwasher quit working and we weren’t in a big hurry to buy another one, as it’s just the two of us most of the time, and we mostly just do the dishes by hand when we are done eating. When my hubby said he wasn’t all that eager to pay $300-400 or more for another one, I said, “Well, maybe we could just put some more drawers in that spot!” Kind of kidding, but not really! He said, “Well, that would certainly save me a lot of trouble putting in a new dishwasher.”
So, ladies, wasn’t that a clear indication that it was A-OK for me to go buy some new unfinished drawers to match the rest of my cabinets? That’s what I thought too! So I went the next day and sure enough, they had a 24″ wide set of 4 drawers base cabinets…but the price had doubled since we bought the cabinets a few years ago. I still think it was cheaper than a dishwasher and I LOVE drawers in my kitchen. I wanted all drawers on the bottom of my kitchen cabinets… There are only a few cabinets that have doors on the bottom. The opening for the dishwasher was 24″ so it only made sense to buy them while they could still be found. My hubby took the dishwasher out a while back, and we’ve just been living with the base cabinet in the section, but with a thick piece of fabric covering the unfinished wood so it wouldn’t get anything on it.
So since I have “nothing better to do” (ha!) with my sisters coming, I decided I would get the drawers and frames primed and maybe painted! That’s been my big project today… actually I started last night on priming the frames, but today I did the drawers.
The blue tape is just to remind us there is wet paint there by the sink.
The drawers are on saw horses down the hall and in the sitting room. I’ve gotten 2 coats of primer on them so far…
Then I wanted to get one more thing done. When we were on the 100 mile yard sale a few weeks ago, I bought this very pretty picture of some birds. The birds are painted on glass, then sandwiched behind another piece of glass, and it makes them sort of look 3-D. I loved them the moment I saw them, and my hubby very graciously helped me hang them in the kitchen. We have an under-the-counter light and of all the places in our house where we “tried out” the bird picture, it looked the very best under this light. My kitchen was the perfect spot for my new favorite picture. There is a narrow space between the upper cabinets but it was too narrow to fish the cord with the plug on the end so he is going to cut off the plug, fish the cord up between the cabinets, put on a new plug and plug in the light on the where he put in a new outlet. What a handyman!! I think I’ll keep him!
I just snapped a few quick pictures for you to see…
Well, I hate to run, but I need to get to bed, so I can get up tomorrow and “do more stuff!” :o)
See you tomorrow, or maybe tonight at the “Dolly Finish Line!”
Blessings, Jeanne
What a great idea, to add some more drawers where your dishwasher was!! And, of course, I’m sure the plumbing is still behind there, so some future owner of the house can remove the drawers and add a dishwasher without too much trouble, if they want to. I prefer the extra storage place, though. (Of course, I’m also not cooking for six people every day!!)
Your bird picture is just lovely, and yes, I think you did find the perfect spot for it!!
I have an update for you: When I got to the hospital this afternoon, Ron was AWAKE and sitting up in bed!! And we actually had a conversation! He’s still sleeping a lot, but he was awake most of the time I was there!
Then later this afternoon, Sammy (from Ron’s adult family home) called; he had spent a good chunk of the afternoon there, arriving shortly after I did, and after I left, a physical therapist came in and Got. Ron. Up!!! And not just in a chair, but actually standing with a walker around him, and had him take a few steps in place!! Also his lab tests are largely back in the normal ranges now!
Thank you all so much for your prayers on our behalf. They are much appreciated. Now if we can just get him to eat. Right now, nothing tastes good to him, which is probably the pneumonia.
(And, yes, I am taking care of myself. I left early today because I had a massage!)
That’s so great about Ron, Charlotte! 🙏
Your picture is looking nice there, Jeanne 🙂 When my parents built their house, they got to choose a free pantry or a free dishwasher to go along with all their cabinets. My mother decided on the pantry since she had so many available dishwashers (us kids) already. I think we were disappointed. Hehe. My husband is actually installing a pantry in our kitchen as I type. I am lucky he is handy, too 🙂 Hope you all have a great day! Tomorrow starts our adventure on the way to my brother’s wedding in MN.
I am trying to shorten Rose’s dress and Marion is working on hers.
Well, for resale, not having a dishwasher is a no go. There are only two of us here, but we don’t run the dishwasher everyday. Usually every two days or when it is full. You would be amazed at how many dishes/glasses are used. Running all of that hot water to do dishes by hand to sanitize them, really raises the gas/electric bill too. Having a water saving dishwasher model is also necessary here as hand washing uses a ton of water. You know, drought area. But, if you don’t mind washing and drying dishes, the storage space is nice. I personally can’t stand the dirty dish mess in the sink or on the counter drying. When cooking, I clean up as I go so there is usually only a pan/pot to wash after eating. The rest goes into the dishwasher. 🙂 The drawers do look lovely, and I’m sure they will come in handy though.
Glad to hear Ron, is making progress on his rehab and that Charlotte, was able to fit in a massage for herself. Way to go. 🙂
Did George, get that trailer all done for your sister’s stay? I would love to see how it turned out.
Here, we’re in for a hot one. Need to get out and water the beds early. Then, I hope to get my week 2 Sew Along project done. Lots of hand sewing involved on this one. We’ll see how it goes as we have errands etc. to do as well.
Keep cool everyone.
I think I could second Joy’s comment about the dishwasher and save a lot of writing but I like to write so here goes. When we bought our house in 1990 it had no dishwasher. The woman before us had a portable and I did not feel like tripping over that every day since the only place for it was in the walkway, not to mention hooking it up every time I needed to do dishes. So we decided we would put one in. We found after we had signed on the dotted line that putting in a dishwasher would be impossible without a total kitchen remodel.
Our home was built in 1945 and the counters were not made to accommodate
something like that. And the layout of the kitchen made it difficult to figure out where to put it.
Thirty years later, with the proceeds from my auto accident, we put in our new kitchen – with a dishwasher, and I’m not giving it up for anything. It was a logistical task to figure out how to turn a 1945 kitchen into a modern delight, but hubby is good at that sort of thing. Because of the windows we had to keep the same configuration, u-shaped but that’s my favorite kitchen design anyway.
With the wider counter the dishwasher fit in the left side of the “u” but with the door opened it is right next to the sink making loading simple.
Normally we wash the dishes every third day and by that time, as Joy said, it is full. I also like the fact that it sanitizes my dishes. I make sure everything that needs to be washed is in it and turn it on. David empties it in the morning. But when I love it most is on a day when we have family here for a meal. On Memorial Day I decided to use regular plates because cutting brisket on paper plates would not work too well. Since our family keeps expanding, it didn’t take long to realize I was going to have to do two loads that day. I always wash my pots and pans and things that might rust but everything else goes in the dishwasher and I’m good at maximizing the space.
I grew up without a dishwasher (actually that would be me and my three sisters) but had one until we moved here. My daughter is so adamant about having a dishwasher (she grew up without one) that she has a mini dishwasher in her tiny home. My sister also insisted on one in her beach house in Delaware. As for drawers, I too love drawers and my kitchen is loaded with them. Son Sean prefers door cabinets but drawers allow me to find things fast and nothing gets lost in the dark recesses. Even my new pantry is mostly drawers.
I just spent the last three days dressing my dolly girls for summer. I actually found a few that need some summer attire so I need to get back to sewing asap.
Barbara, our house was built in 1949, so we ran into the same problems as you in the kitchen. When we first bought the place in 1975, it wasn’t long until I opted for a mini dishwasher and lost a section of cabinets. Then, when we remodeled again years later, we were able to move the peninsula enough to fit in a standard dishwasher. Then, I regained the former space for pots/pans etc. I’ve never missed the space where we moved the dishwasher which barely fits. That wasn’t all we did as we closed off one door, moved one over, and added another that leads directly from the kitchen to the entryway. It’s a tight kitchen, but has worked for us for years. Jeanne’s kitchen belongs on the cover of a magazine. Her remodel is lovely. 🙂
When we bought our house there were so many tiny hallways David called it the rabbit warren. We took most of them out, actually turning one of them into a closet for David. Buying an older home as Jeanne can also attest to is an eyeopener when you need to remodel. So many surprises. I agree that Jeanne’s kitchen is amazing, mostly because she did so much of the work herself. The thought of doing her cabinets alone is overwhelming and beyond my expertise. And if she can live without a dishwasher in lieu of more drawers, well as someone said, the plumbing is still there if down the line anyone wants to reclaim the area for a dishwasher. They’re more ahead of the game than we were when we bought this house.
This is turning out to be a dishwasher blog, Jeanne! Old as I am, we always had a dishwasher! Well, ot always, but I was 6 years old when we got ours, and I remember it opened from the top.. The dishwasher detergent we used was called Electrasol, ut they have now changed the name to Finish, which I am sure rings a bell to those who have dishwashers. I cannot live without a dishwasher! Even with just the two of us, I use it everyday.
Your drawers are nice, but what I love is doors with pull out shelves. I have several of those in my kitchen, and love them, since I can get to the back of the shelves without bending down and can easily see everything.
I love your little picture and the place where you put it! It’s nice to have a piece of art in the kitchen, and you found the perfect place!
We too are getting ready for some over 90 degree weather. Father’s Day will be a hot one, 98 degrees! Not a fan of that heat!
We never had a dishwasher when I was growing up but when I was in high school our neighbors across the street got one. Their daughter was a friend of my sisters and when Cheryl would come to dinner afterward she and my sister would put the dirty dishes in a box and take them to her house and use the dishwasher. I never heard how her parents felt about that.