Kitchen Update....

 Not long ago I shared with you my excitement over 

Finally getting granite counter tops.

 Except for our island

where the sink is, these 2 spots are

all we have for counter space,

not much I know.  We didn't put

granite on the island, my husband has 

a different plan for that area.

To be shared at a later date!

But, we really needed a back splash behind

our stove.  My husband is the main cook Head Chef

in our Home and there are lots of splashes going on.

 So, he finally found the time to get to the back splash.

We have had it for about a year, just haven't had the time

to get it up.

So, he decided to just do it and pulled out the 

appliances and went to work.

 We love the colors in the tiles....

they're glass and he had to make some cuts

he got a few little shards in his fingers

but, he was okay.

 We went behind the fridge just a little bit.

Makes it look like we did the whole wall.

 I know you see it too....

those white outlets gotta go.

 Much better!

Have you ever priced outlets?

I mean nice, not the cheap plastic covers.

Not cheap.....

these are bronzed metal 

looks much better....

Don't you agree?

 Now, my white extension has to go.

(notice the brown one waiting)

But, the fridge has to be pulled out.

So I have to wait....

until he has time to do that for me!

The fridge is heavy and fits tight in it's space.

We're Really happy with how it turned out.

Adds a lot to our kitchen....

we think anyway!

Stay tuned for the island....

it may be awhile though, so you'll have to be

patient just like me!

Thanks for stopping!

Have a Great weekend!

Our oldest is Graduating from

College tomorrow!

Yeah!

Finally....

we've lived here in our Home

since Aug. 2000!

We've literally hated our kitchen counter tops

that long!

We disliked our appliances at the time as well.

So we have gradually,

as budget would allow

replaced all of those.

 This is what we have lived with for the past....

almost 12 yrs.  White, textured, wood trimmed....

VERY hard to keep clean!!!

 We stumbled upon a 

GREAT deal that we just couldn't pass up.

And the time was right....

budget wise.  

So we finally did it!

 We got granite!

Now I know that there is much discussion in blogland

to granite or not....

is granite IN

OR

is it OUT?

 Well, for us....

It is DEFINITELY in....

 and we couldn't be happier....

Or more PROUD!

Because we did it ourselves!

 LOVE

love this....

Sorry, but I we Do!

Would you rather have this....

textured...

white...

dated...

hard to clean... 

laminent...

OR....

This....

brown, black granite!

Installed by yourselves....

saving all of that money?

Either way....

we love it and are very

proud and feel very 

fortunate that we

Finally....

were able to afford what we wanted!

(I should add here that if you have a Menard's in your area, check the kitchen & bath sale ad)

Next up....

back splash!

Happy Valentine's Day....

I thought I'd share with you what my

Valentine got me!

If you remember just a couple weeks ago,

we repainted our kitchen.  And I showed you

the pictures and talked about how the next

thing "hopefully" to come was a new microwave

and backsplash to finish off the room.

 Here is the before.

Old....at least 12 yrs old, microwave.

That believe me when I say was showing it's age!

 Also notice the above empty space.  That was

done by the previous owners. 

 We could only guess

what they had in mind and

 why they didn't finish it.

But, up until now, it was just not high on

 our priority list to fix!

But this weekend....

 my husband decided to tackle that

ugly eyesore in the kitchen.

 So he built a cupboard space.



 Attached it to the other cupboard space above

and to the wall, so he could .....

 Put up my brand new microwave!

I was sooo excited, I could hardly wait.

This microwave required it to be

 mounted to the cupboard above.

Well, since we had none,

that meant he had to build one.

So I waited and waited all day for

the glue and the stain

and the poly-urethane to dry. 

Do you ever get that excited over

something like this?  I do! Silly I know!

But, it's True Love to me!

I had to take Mal and a friend to

the next town to a movie

(Justin Bieber)

And he said when I got back we

would put in the microwave.

But...true to my husband's way,

he had it in (with Tom's help) and

 ready for me when I

got Home!  All decorated and everything!

And silly me, got all excited about this....

 Ha, ha....I just had to

 take a picture of each word!

I love it!

That's how badly we needed a new microwave!

 So here is the view....

Next, the backsplash!

This is THE BEST Valentine's gift for me!

I LOVE YOU Honey!

Thanks!

My Grown-up Kitchen Re-do....

Last weekend, hubby and I decided it was time to paint the kitchen!

After all, we hadn't painted it in about 9 years.

We liked the color....

lots of people seemed to, but you know how it is

when you just need to freshen things up a bit.

It was time to rid the kitchen of all of my

cheffy stuff.  I had already

started doing so last year.

By removing the chef pictures

 that hung along the

big wall of our kitchen and adding a hutch.

Which we both love, but,

because of the size of the room

with 11 ft. ceilings, the hutch seems too small.

But, for now it works!

~Before~

For some reason, I could only find this

 old picture with the chef pic's.

So pictures were removed....

and many holes were patched....

and the painting began....

Am I going to like this?

Oh My....

What am I doing?

We started painting at about 7:30 a.m.

and finished at about 3:30 p.m.

Not bad considering all the odd wall spaces

to be painted.  But, I was in charge of doing

 all the cutting in and edging. 

Hubby did all the rolling. 

We worked well together for the most part!



~After~



These pictures are alittle dark. 

I didn't think I needed the lights on. 

It's not a sunny gloomy day!

As for my new kitchen....I am loving it!

We hung just a few pieces from before.

The wine holders on the wall are new....

3 years ago from Ikea, but never got hung.

Of course my Chef statue and my bread board

were definitely invited back!

Hubby spray painted my 3 tier plate stand

black for me, it was gold.

I bought 3 tannish colored plates

to compliment it and loaded it with

fresh fruit!

Next plan is to replace the old white microwave

with the matching stainless steel to go with

our fridge, oven and dishwasher.

The pot rack was re-hung.

And an old steamship menu was framed

and hung above the pot rack.

It's in french....

our french son is the only one in

the house that can read it!

I started collecting dish towels and such

about a year or so ago, with colors I  dreamt

of having in my grown-up kitchen. I knew I

wanted to do something in the

brown, mocha and carmel colors. 

But, still have some fun colors in there

to use as accents.  This towel is one of them.

I bought it at World Market.  Love the colors!

Our next project in the kitchen is to do

a tile back splash behind our

stove and microwave.

I picked this up yesterday at Lowe's. 

We both love it and it looks great with the color

we chose and the cabinets!

I picked this up at Pottery Barn

in the clearance area.

It was originally $29.00....

I paid $9.00!

Not bad and the colors match and the

peacock ties in with our dining room!

These faux plants are all over the Pottery Barn

store.  They are on table tops and under cloches.

This one was in the clearance area because the

terra cotta pot had broken and it was just the

plant in the styrofoam.  With pot it was

$12.00....without pot $3.97.

I had a pot!

 This is the color we painted our kitchen.

It's called Peat Moss

and it's Valspar paint I believe. 

It takes on different shades in my kitchen

as the natural light changes

or the light fixtures are turned on. 

 I am very happy with the turn out

and have gotten lots of thumbs up from

the family.  Now the bathroom off the kitchen

needs updating too!  Hmmm.....

what color will I choose?

The Votes Are In....

Thanks to all who gave me their opinion....stick to my heart on this one!

I spent a good portion of the day yesterday, cleaning my new hutch with some Murphy's Oil soap and touching it up in the few rough spots with Old English.

It brought out even more beauty!

And then I started adding things here and there to make it fit even more perfectly in my Home!

~When In Doubt, Simply, Add More Wine~

Touche'

I found this blackboard at a grocery store sale, they were going out of business, so I picked this up for $15.00. It's printed on both sides and is massive. It will hang somewhere on this wall,

but for now it looks cool just leaning there.

Thanks again for all the great advice and have a Fabulous rest of your weekend!

New Year....

New kitchen sink!

Yep, that's what I wanted for Christmas and that's what I got. Odd I know, but I'm happy! Now we have to decide on a faucet. The sink is stainless steel. My appliances are stainless steel also, but my lighting in the kitchen is this, what they call "Tuscan" bronze finish. I really like it and the ceiling light above our kitchen island, which is where my sink is, is in the bronze finish.

So I am leaning toward bronze for the faucet, something like this....

my second choice would be, of course, a stainless faucet something like this....

but I'm thinking that is way too much stainless for me! I have seen in magazines stainless sinks with the bronze finish faucets, so that is probably what we will go with. Any of you out there with a stainless sink and a bronze faucet? I 'd love to hear if you are pleased with the look or not!

It's All Because of This Guy.....

I saw him in a warehouse type of shop about 5 years ago and I had to have him. Because of him I have a theme in my kitchen. He keeps an eye out for whatever happens in this area of our home.

The Chef!

We love him! He holds little coffee beans in his frying pan and a candle that glows during the evening hours. Adds a bit of ambience!

Pierre'!! Oui, Oui!!

This guy hangs out by our phone next to our window seat.

These guys do a fine job watching over the pots and pans. Typical chefs though....they don't wash them! The poor guy on the shelf looks a bit strained doesn't he! He should be holding something....oops!

This guy watches everything that goes into the Dining Room, to make sure it is perfecto!! (Shh...don't tell him he is really a candle.) The shelf was purchased at T.J. Maxx and is acutally hung upside down. The bottom...actually top, is black and white little tiles. Because black and white is part of my color scheme I wanted to be able to see it....too bad you can't in this picture! Sorry!

I even have a wire chef over the door into my laundry room. Can you tell I like chefs yet??

Okay, this might be the last picture......of chefs anyway!

These 4 pictures were purchased, I believe, at Marshall's about 4 years ago. Of course I couldn't resist buying all 4 of them to take up the size of that wall. So far it has worked for me.... I think anyway! They are the main focal point of my kitchen from the 3 rooms that are viewed from the kitchen. Hope you enjoyed a tour of my chef themed kitchen! What theme if any do you have in your kitchen? Leave me a comment, I would love to hear about your home! Thanks for stopping!