Kitchen reno: week 5

Happy Tuesday friends!

I have just a few moments to spare today before school starts back tomorrow,

BUT

I wanted to give you a quick update on our kitchen progress-

In last week's update, I mentioned we picked out a new door.

We originally set out to find one similar to the old one that was broken and didn't lock without a key, however, Lowe's was out of that particular door and since we weren't willing to go home door-less, we picked a different type and I'm

LOVIN' IT!

A new door may not be a big deal to some, but when you've been living with a 50+ year old door with broken glass and a bad paint job, it makes a world of difference.

See those locks?

They're gawgeousssss.

And, there's no more slammage

 (that's a word)

and, I can see small kiddos on the other side now since the glass goes all the way down. I can also see the playground in the backyard.

Ok...I think you get my point.

I love the door.

Moving on.

Since Sean, the drywall guy, was coming on Monday, we had to say goodbye to the last remaining section of our cabinets.

And the sink.

And the dishwasher.

Here's hoping that our new sink is here before we go through 200 plates, 86 bowls, 150 spoons, forks, and knives, and 200 cups. That's not too much to ask-

right?

A few of the hubs friends came over to help with this last bit of demo,

and to watch his big honkin' tv.

Eliza wanted to help as well...

And as you can see,

no plumbers crack here, folks.

Bye bye kitchen from the 60's!

the hubs is directing his workers.

With a drumstick.

And just like that-

it was gone with the wind...

Since there are several plugs in the kitchen that do absolutely nothing, the hubs took to the walls with a sharpie to let Sean know which ones to keep and which ones to cover.

Each of the plugs/switches will also be going from black to white-

Here's one last look at the paneled kitchen on Sunday night.

(Pre-drywall)

And here's Sean on Monday morning,

working his drywall magic.

Instead of stripping everything down to the studs, he's installing 1/2" drywall over the panelling. It meant a heckuva lot less demo for us and will still result in a beautiful panel-less kitchen.

Here's what the nekkid laundry wall looked like before:

And now after:

No more washer & dryer in the kitchen!

Well, technically, it's still in there, but now it will have its own little closet.

so.much.better.

The hubs and the dad finished framing the laundry closet last night-

so lucky to have such handy men in the family.

We've literally saved thousands of dollars by doing all of the demo/framing ourselves. And when I say, "ourselves", I of course mean the hubs and the dad.

Now the laundry closet is completely framed, wired for a light, and ready for more drywall:

So, that's our kitchen news for now. Our cabinets were shipped yesterday which will put them here before the end of the week. In the meantime, there's lots of muddin' and paintin' to be done.

AND,

our school starts back tomorrow.

Can't wait to stay up all night painting and go straight into work.

That's gonna rock.

AND,

The Help opens tomorrow night,

which means I'll need to see it tomorrow night.

Coffee is my BFF.

I had 6 cups yesterday.

Yup, 6.

AND...

I ALMOST FORGOT-

What did you think of Design Star?

Cathy is a ridiculous person.

She covered every single square inch of space in that kitchen with a vase or a bowl full of STUFF.

Ridiculous.

I was sad to see Tyler go-

What are your thoughts on last night's episode?

Do tell....

I'll be back tomorrow (if I haven't keeled over) with some back to school pics for you. I have a big 1st grader now, ya know. Also planning to share a new etsy shop that a friend of mine just opened.

Until then-

have a great day!

how to make an easy-shmeezy pillow cover

Happy Monday friends! Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

I'm finally getting around to posting  a tutorial for the pillow covers I made for our playroom sofa a few weeks back, and since I didn't take pictures while I was making those, I thought I'd demonstrate with the lovely black and white chevron ones that I made for a recent giveaway.

(I'll be making 18" x 18" pillow covers, FYI, so this will have to be tweaked a bit for other sizes)

1. Start with a piece of fabric that's 19"x 42" Fold over the ends of each side one-half inch to an inch, and press-

which will look like this:

2. Sew these edges down to make them secure-

3. Place the fabric face up on your work surface-

and fold one half over about 12" inches-

Now fold the other side over until it measures 18" all the way across-

4. Pin all the way down both sides-

5. Stitch a 1/2" seam down both sides

6. Flip right-side-out, and you are D-O-N-E

I was, of course, making two at the same time-

nope, make that 3...

Still working on changing up our master bedroom, so this one will live in there.

Now wasn't that the easiest pillow cover EVAH?

Let me know if any of you whip these up yourself- I'd love to see pics.

As for the chevrons-

they're headed to the giveaway winner, all gussied up in some pretty wrapping...

I'll be back soon with a doozy of a kitchen update.

We are now sinkless,

and dishwasher-less.

Picture me rinsing out spaghettios in the tub...

I kid.

Have a wonderful Monday!

I've linked this post with:

Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A 2 Z,

Weekend Wrap Up at Tatertots and Jello,

A winner and some salvaged goods

Just picked a winner via random.org

AND...

Congrats to commenter #2-

Jessica

I've sent you an e-mail, Jessica!

CONGRATS!

And- since the giveaway was to celebrate 100,000 pageviews (currently at 105,443) I have to once again thank YOU, the readers, for continuing to tune in. I am truly grateful!

***

I have to share with you locals something that's going on at one of my fave places. All of you may recall me mourning the loss of our town's Hobby Lobby after it was destroyed by a tornado. Both businesses beside the hob lob (Big Lots & Tuesday Morning) were also destroyed. Today, all of the items that weren't completely ruined in the storm were sold in the parking lot of hob lob for 75% off. After a call from my mum telling me about it, I drove as fast as the speed limit would allow (which is 5 over, right?) and I began looking through the

HUGE MOUNDS OF STUFF.

I didn't take many pictures as I was so busy trying to grab anything & everything I thought I could use, but here's a few to give you some kind of idea-

books from Tuesday Morning,

quilts, comforters, sheets sets from Tuesday Morning,

Kitchen stuff, and...

more kitchen stuff.

As you can see, the Tuesday Morning stuff was in the front.

Hob Lob's stuff was in the center and very hard to get to as there were no aisles.

Just piles and piles and piles...

Here's what I came home with:

3 pretty silver sparkly vase/candle thingies that will look great in our new master bedroom.

(how's that for a description?)

a cool vintage looking glass bottle or vase & some glass prep bowls with lids

To give you an idea of how much these items were-

The Tuesday Morning price had been $4.99, so at 75% off, it was just $1.25.

I'm so good at math.

A Tommy Bahama quilt ($15), a set of 600 thread count Queen sheets ($15) & a t-shirt for O ($1.75)

A drum shade light fixture that's gonna look hawt hangin' above our new kitchen table.

The price?

It started out at $200, which is exactly what we paid for the drum shade fixture in the girls' nursery,

BUT,

take 75% off of  $80 and what you have, my friends, is a drum shade fixture that costs $20.

Boom.

Yes, the box was pretty disgusting...

But the shade itself?

It was perfect!

All the hardware & instructions were still there as well!

Plus a little dirt and debri and whatnot.

Also got a honkin huge grapevine wreath.

Shout-out to the friend I made in the parking lot who climbed on top of mountains of stuff to grab us both some wreaths!

And while all of those deals were great, none can compare to this-

That, my friends, is a patookis-load of fabric.

On the roll.

Yards and yards and yards of cowboy goodness.

I mean,

yards and yards and yards...

That cowboy awesomeness will soon be adorning the windows in our dining room. I've been looking for drapes/fabric since we moved in almost 3 years ago, and this? Never woulda thought I'd pick cowboys, but it was love at first sight.

In a parking lot surrounded by mounds of dusty goods and debri-

I saw the cowboys.

They happen to have the exact shade of green in them as the walls in the room (Behr asparagus) AND, those horses look to be the same shade as our dark furniture.

See?

Pay no attention to that hamper in the dining room please.

Kitchen renovation still going strong...

Well that's the news that is the news for now I guess. They'd planned to reopen the parking lot at 9:00 this morning, BUT,

it poured rain last night which means there's now a parking lot of SAGGY DRENCHED goods that may never go to a good home now.

If you DO go to see, if perhaps, not ALL of it's soggy and ruined, you must have cash and cash only. There are no registers, or credit card sliders or bags. Just people with solo cups who are there to locate price tags and collect your money.

Who knows, I may go back out there myself just to see what's left.

Today also happens to be my first day back to school (just teachers, no students) so hopefully I'll have some pictures of my newly decorated classroom to show you soon.

Hope all of you have a wonderful Friday!

 

The Help

Have you read it?

I finished it yesterday and can't quit thinking about it.

Things that take place in the book (in the 50's and 60's) seem so unthinkable to me, not having been alive then, and yet...

things like that really happened.

I recommend you read it.

It will make you think.

It might also make your insides hurt,

it did mine.

It may also make you cry,

I did.

I'd like to think that if I had lived during these times, I'd have been brave like Skeeter. You bet your sweet bippy I'll be at the theatre to see this when it opens next week. I only hope the film sticks closely to the book. I've seen too many movies alter the original stories in the books they're based on.

If you've read this, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Did you despise Hilly as much as I did?

I've never wanted to punch a fictional character in the face before...

***

Don't forget-

Today's the LAST day to enter to win 2 chevron pillow covers!

Leave a comment with your favorite movie HERE,

and good luck!

I'll choose a winner on random.org tonight!