We’re Getting There! A #SlowHome Kitchen Update

 

Well, we aren’t done with our kitchen yet, but we are getting so much closer!

To get proper perspective, let’s do a little recap, shall we?

October 2014

This is what the kitchen looked like when we moved in mid-October.

Vinyl flooring, dark cabinets, blue countertops…  A good size kitchen in need of a little love and an update.

November 2014:

The first thing we did was take all the lower cabinets and appliances out, and then laid and whitewashed the floors.

Then this is how the kitchen remained for months, while we got through Christmas, and a very wet winter, debated  whether or not we would re-use and paint the cabinets we had, or buy all new.

February 2015:

It took a while but we finally made a decision, and  we eventually ordered new (on sale of course,) cabinets from a big box store.

We went with mostly bottoms cabinets, one small upper cabinet,  and a pantry, deciding to do open shelving in the majority of the kitchen.

I know that there are drawbacks to having a lot of open shelving, but I just want this kitchen to feel as light and airy as possible, and I knew that bringing in full upper cabinets would cause the kitchen to feel smaller and cramped.

March 2015: 

The next decision we had to make was regarding the backsplash and the planked wall. What materials to use, how high to take the planking, and on which walls.

At some point in March, after much debating and mulling over all our options, we decided to plank the entire back wall and  only  plank 1/3 of the side walls. We used with unfinished pine flooring, fastened upside down (so you can see the grooves) to help change-up the texture a bit from the floor. The decision to use the flooring fit our budget perfectly, as it was  all leftover and already paid for. Whoo hoo!

 

Which brings us to this week.

April 2015:

(And now you know that I am not kidding when I say we have embraced the #SlowHome philosophy of DIY. )

This week we painted and sealed all the planked walls. I did consider briefly leaving the natural wood because it was so warm and lovely. But in the end it began to look like a log cabin, and while I might be slightly more in love with natural wood right now than usual, the log cabin look is not what I am going for.

So we painted the walls using a leftover can of paint from the last house (again, already paid for! Whoo hoo!)

The color is Divine Horizon from Target, but I had it color matched, and mixed, in a Kilz base at Home Depot.

It reads a lot more green in this room than it did in the cottage, but that has everything to do with lighting. I think once we get the flourescent lights vamoosed and the new lights put it, the color will calm down a bit.

 

We sealed the walls with this polyurethane to make them easier to clean and more kitchen-functional, where there is always water, grease, and splatters. At least in my kitchens. Overall I like this product, except that because it goes on so thick, it can leave yellow-ish patches if you don’t get it spread out just right.  But I love how durable it feels.

 

 

Another thing we have accomplished this week is that Sweet Man built this amazing window frame. I adore how big it is, and the clean lines. It looks even better than I had imagined it would when I showed him what I wanted.

Now I am jonesing to have the rest of the windows in the house done. But that is not a high priority at the moment.

 

 

I found these huge brackets at the antique show this weekend for $15 a piece. I wasn’t sure how we would use them but I couldn’t pass them up.

I blame Joanna Gaines for this.

Currently we are contemplating ways to turn them into our range hood cover, if we can figure out the dimensions, and how to secure them. I think we have come up with a plan, but I will have to wait and see.

Right now we  is all about getting the countertops done…  Sweet Man is installing them today, but of course I am still taking my sweet time deciding on the finish- do I want dark stained countertops (they are wood,) or natural… Decisions, decisions…

So there you have it friends! A little #SlowHome kitchen update for you.

And remember:

 

 

XO friends!