50 Shades No More?

I can’t believe what I’m about to say. Please brace yourselves; this could be shocking. Ok here it is – I think I’m over gray. I know. It’s absurd. Please let me clarify.  I guess a more accurate statement would be, I’m over the grays in my house. Truthfully, I just think they are the wrong shade. I got caught up in the moment – new house, blank walls, a love of gray and a desire to try to find my style and BAM – I wound up slapping every shade of gray I could find. The shades of gray I once loved are now reading too blue, too cool, and downright non-inspirational. I guess it was bound to happen. Two+ years is a good run. In the words of Heidi Klum, “One day you’re in, the next you’re out”. It’s been real, blue/gray.

Lately I’ve been drawn to warmer, more neutral colors. However, I’m not ready to go cold turkey on my beloved gray. So, in an effort to gradually ease out of this blue/gray phase, I figured I’d make the shift to greige. Enter Silver Drop by Behr.

Now I know that you are thinking. Lindsay, that’s another gray. Ok, it is, but it isn’t. To me, it reads less blue and more…neutral (for lack of a better word). If I can get my main man on board, I’d like to use this color in the living room, dining room and kitchen. Is that too much? Eh, I don’t know, all the rooms connect anyways.  Looks like a trip to the paint store is in our near future. God, I hate painting. 

Xoxo,

Lindsay

Progress Report

I guess I sort of left you hanging. Of course that’s implying I actually have an audience. Is anyone out there? Bueller?

This past weekend was filled to the brim with family, friends, last minute kitchen chaos and chocolate. (The Easter Bunny was quite generous this year.) On Saturday we celebrated Josh’s 13^th birthday a bit early with a trip to Launch Trampoline park, a homemade burger bar, ultimate Frisbee and of course, ice cream cake. It was one of his best birthdays to date. 

Sunday was another jam packed day. We hosted Easter at our house.

Not sure what we were thinking. Next time I offer to host a major holiday during a house project, please remind me of Easter 2014, the time I almost died trying to get everything together. I love a good party, but this one just felt rushed. Jay and I scrambled to get the kitchen in presentable condition. I’m not sure how we pulled it off between work, Josh, Amelia and other commitments of the week, but we did. We were able to finish painting the door trim and hung all the doors and drawers. We even picked out hardware though we were only able to attach the knobs. Those beautiful cup pulls will just have to wait. I desperately wanted to paint the walls and I even considered trying to tile the Tuesday before Easter, but thank goodness I got some sense knocked into me. So where are we now?

Kitchen Makeover To-Do List

Paint cabinets

Choose and install hardware (almost there!)

Paint door trim

Repair and paint window trim

Paint pantry door and pocket door

Tile

Paint the walls

Over the sink light (it’s ordered, but not due till May 26)

Order window treatment

I’d say it’s coming along nicely. I’m still cleaning up the Easter mess otherwise I’d snap a few progress pics. Hope to take some this weekend to share.

Xoxo,

Lindsay

Wood Lovers Beware

We’ve wanted a kitchen update since the day we moved in. If it weren’t for our tight timeline we may have tackled this project prior to moving, but, as they say, hindsight is 20/20 and quite frankly, we are a fly by the seat of your pants, never planning kind of couple. So, here we are today in the midst of the makeover, lacrosse season and impending holidays and birthdays that are quietly whispering “hurry up” in our ears.

I’ve always dreamed of a white kitchen – crisp, clean and airy with white cabinets, Calcutta granite, subway tile and stainless steel appliances, oh my! Unfortunately, the previous owners had a different dream. A dream of oak cabinets, dark granite with hints of green, brown and white, and black and white appliances. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking their dream, it’s just not our jam. We’ve received a few comments wondering why we’d touch a perfectly good kitchen. In short, life is too short to live with a kitchen that you don’t love. Period. And with that people, let’s take a look around.

Here’s how the kitchen looked when we first moved in. (Excuse the crappy photos.)

And here are some photos from about a month ago. Other than a new fridge, dishwasher and a microwave, not much has changed. The cabinets are still brown, the granite is still dark and the window is still bare (I’m sure there’s a neighborhood petition going around just begging for us to get shades, curtains or something! I meannn...)

Let's take a closer look at the counter.

So what are our plans? You saw the mood board in the previous post, but here’s a little more detail. First, I’ll say we have no intention of changing the granite. As much as I’d love to replace it with something lighter, I cannot for the life of me justify getting rid of a perfectly good piece of granite. Plus, it’s just not in the budget. So in the words of Tim Gunn, “Make it work”! The cabinets, trim and pantry door will be painted Alabaster by Sherwin Williams, the walls will be a greige (gray/beige) color called Irish Mist by Behr, the salmon colored backsplash will be tiled over with white subway tile and tinted grout, the scallop over the sink will be removed and the crown molding above the scallop will be cut and used to cap off the ends of the cabinets over the sink. We will also be changing out the fluorescent light above the sink with something more sleek and modern, changing the overhead fan and adding window treatments. Unfortunately, new floors are not in the foreseeable future, but I do plan on adding some type of jute rug in front of the sink.

Update: As of today, the cabinets are painted and we are in the midst of finishing up the doors and drawers. 

Xoxo,

Lindsay

Kitchen Mood Board

For the past three weeks, Jay and I have been working on our kitchen makeover. We’ve certainly experienced our fair share of ups, downs, gray hairs and tears, but what DIY doesn’t? We finally put the last coat of paint on our cabinets the other night. (Can I get an AMEN?!) We still have our doors and drawers to sand and paint, but I’m calling today a mini victory. In honor of this glorious day, I’ve put together a mood board to help us keep our eye on the prize and our stamina alive.

1. Irish Mist by Behr for the walls

2. Subway tile with tinted gray grout

3. Tortoise bamboo shade

4. Eldridge Pendant light from Ballard Designs

5 & 6. Satin nickel knobs and cup pulls

7. Alabaster by Sherwin Williams for the cabinets (The above swatch does not do this color justice. After weeks of searching for the perfect white, I think I've finally found it!)

Xoxo,

Lindsay