I love decorating and painting and D.I.Y. I am not afraid to try anything and not too proud to admit when I am not particularly good at it! But I do know I love to paint. That has to be the most bang for your buck when it comes to a make over.
Well here we go. Before and after shots of what I accomplished on this last trip.
First project: Update the kitchen.
Tile Project
The kitchen had the standard 70s wallpaper. I vinyl blue and white floral pattern.
First I removed the blue tiles and then did some patch repair with wall plaster.
I picked out a square 12x12 ceramic tile with the little bitty squares so I could easily cut with scissors and not have to bother with a wet saw. I laid the mastic and put the tile in place.
One side done! Easy as pie! Notice how I cut out the tile around the outlet without removing the plate. I know cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater! Good thing I love pumpkin!
On around the window and on to the other side. Grout, seal and wipe clean! Notice I even cut the molding to frame out the window! Whew. I am not good with angles!
Project One Finished! I love the look and the tile really made the cabinets look decent so I won't need to replace them, just a little updating with knobs and hinges and they will do for now. Note to self: need to come up with something better over the microwave!
Project Two: Paint
I went with Whisper Grey (Olympus) for the walls in the kitchen and the living room. I love the way the grey makes the white pop. I need to finish all the molding at the top with just plain white. That will be the last thing when I am done painting everything else.
Then my contrast color to bring all the grey, stone, and woodwork (posts on those projects later) together and to warm up the rooms I chose Corner Baker (Valspar). I LOVE it! It really goes well with the greens in the furniture and pictures that I currently have in there for now!
Wall in common kitchen area pass through to den and patio.
View of pass through/dining room to front living room painted in grey.
Front room contrast wall. Love the hunter green against the color!
Next Project: Declutter
I love to decorate and sometimes get carried away. In the bathrooms there is this wallpaper that is red, white and blue and I got carried away with the whole theme. So much so that I got sick of it very quickly. Note to self: less is best!
So here is the before and the after of the bathroom toned down. Next trip I plan to paint it grey. I also want to replace the sink with one made out of half of a wine barrel.
Before
Before 
Before 
After
After
I removed a lot of the nic nacs and replaced the valance over the tub. Simple and so much better!
We bought the redwood bender board and will put it vertically on this wall. That will complete the wood, stone and paint projects!
Here is the slats I bought and put them in the yard to get weathered until I get out there again hopefully in March!
Until next time!
