Junk and Disorderly

On our way back from my cousin's swim in the islands, we passed an "antique" store named "Junk and Disorderly." We had to stop.

I came out with these beauties :)

I was looking for something a bit more contemporary, but at $12 each these beat the price of any others I liked by over $100. It's hard to find an affordable bar stool that has a back AND swivels (Matt's must-have list). I haven't decided how to fix them up yet. I'm contemplating painting them a bright color or staining them either with a dark stain or weathered one. Any suggestions?

I also found this for the hallway! Paint and new fabric on the seat to come!

Hope you had a great Labor Day Weekend! We attended a fabulous wedding down in Maryland so I have lots of catching up to do but more posts will come eventually :)

xo!

DIY Chalkboard

I love chalkboard walls. When we started our renovation I thought I would want an entire wall in our kitchen painted with chalkboard paint. Then I realized I really only had one wall of color in the kitchen...so I had to reconsider.

Of course I went to Pinterest and looked around for some things...

A smaller, framed chalkboard area? This was a serious option for a while.

A chalkboard door? Hm. Old doors are expensive.

Then I saw this chalkboard out of an old window. My mom mentioned that we had some old original windows from our camp at the lake I could use.

It needed some major love.

Ick.

First, the glass had to go.

Then we were left with the frame.

My mom cleaned it up, sanded off some of the white paint, and then finished it with this.

It looked great!

I was in charge of going to Lowes and getting luon pieces to fit inside the frame. It was harder than it sounds. I lucked out and found a nice salesperson willing to cut them for me in the store.

I read online that luon is a good option because it is much smoother than most plywood. It's cheap too. I brought those home and painted them with chalkboard paint.

A warning about chalkboard paint. I'm not sure if some brands are better than others but I had some trouble with it. I was also painting in the direct sun, a no-no. It came out a bit bubbly so we tried painting the other side of the board in the shade. It was only a little better but you can't really tell from a distance so I decided to deal with it.

Next we cleaned up the hardware. It was beautiful but RUSTY.

First we cleaned them with dish soap, then soaked them in hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. After that we scrubbed them with steel wool. The ones on the right had been soaked.

They didn't come out completely clean, but they were much improved!

The finished product!

I had to wait a few weeks to hang it up in the kitchen, but it's finally ready to show!

xo!

Progress

We have made some progress on the house. Mom and I worked in the yard and removed almost all of those damn acorns as well as the leaves. We spent the last 3 days painting the guest room (I'll post pics soon). Matt scraped the outside windowsill (painfully) and re-painted and it looks great.

The carpet is up and the wood is here!

Oh I love it. It's 4 1/4" red oak. I'll post on my decision making process at some point.

It's currently resting in the house and accommodating to the temperature/humidity. That's why it's so important to get the basement under control.

The kitchen is out!

Hooray! It took 3 guys about 5 hours to get it all out. They took EVERYTHING. Including the kitchen sink. Hehe. No kidding - they took cabinets, counters, oven, stove, and hood. Whew. Then they gave me $500. Oh happy day.

This is all that's left.

My poor Mom. We have no kitchen. She was hoping to stay here a few days and then get out to the lake. I already told you about why we can't get to the lake. We're stuck with this as our new kitchen breakfast area.

What else?

Our room is painted. I like it. We still need to hang pictures, window treatments, etc. but here is a sneak peak.

Spring is finally starting to arrive.

Whew. We're making progress. One step at a time.

Kitchen Update

Hooray hooray! We ordered our kitchen cabinets last week!!! Here is a rough picture of what it's going to look like when standing in the dining room, with the exception of a few changes made last minute (the counter will cover the cabinetry on the peninsula too).

Ahhhh space. It's going to feel so good when that wall comes down.

Other than ordering the cabinets, we made our first kitchen purchases.

The hood - we had to have the dimensions so we could order the right sized cabinetry above it. I love it.

This clock - I bought it at IKEA (more on my trip to IKEA later).

The next step is to finalize the countertops.

I'm in love with soapstone. Who wouldn't love it? Just LOOK! (Found here.)

I'm also in love with butcher block countertops from IKEA. Check these out. I'd like to use those on the 2 separate countertops and soapstone around the sink, etc.

I also have to consider lighting. Who knew that so many decisions would need to be made?

I love the industrial look of these pendants from Barn Light Electric. I love almost anything from Barn Light Electric!

Or perhaps something like this? Too bad Matt thinks they look like restaurant heat lamps. Oh well.

Good thing we both love these pendants from Pottery Barn.....Check them out here.

I also love that chalkboard wall.

We have many decisions down, many more to go. I'm taking it one step at a time.