Changes

They say change is inevitable. Things are either advancing or retreating, improving or deteriorating, Over this past summer it was sometimes hard to tell the difference. When last you saw my home the kitchen cabinets were half painted, the base boards were removed to replace the flooring.  You can see some of the disaster zone here.

Fortunately, we’ve been making some progress.

I’m most excited about the change to new flooring. In the photo below we had moved everything but the large furniture out. This is a Brazilian Oak that is a rich, dark brown. You may be wondering why a person with a small-ish home would choose dark flooring since lighter flooring is supposed to make your space look bigger.

Every color and texture evokes a feeling. If I had wanted a rustic, farmhouse look, I might have chosen a lighter, hand scraped wood. But throughout my home, I want a balance between rustic and elegant, a collected look that reflects a cozy atmosphere. Hence, dark smooth flooring.

The second change that made a big difference was painting the kitchen cabinets in two tones. This process took a lot longer than I expected. The process for the lower cabinets went smoothly.

But the upper cabinets became a headache.  It just confirmed that using a quality primer is vital. The primer used on the lower cabinets was a Sherwin Williams primer tinted dark. It was smooth and painting the final color was quick and easy.

Unfortunately, we used a cheap primer on the uppers because we already had a white primer. It dried too quickly and left a rough surface. We had to sand everything down and try again, still not using the expensive primer, resulting in more sanding. Finally, we just painted the cabinets with several coats of paint.

I love the color on the uppers. It is “Cottonballs” by Benjamin Moore, but we had it mixed at Sherwin Williams. It is a bright, cottage-y white that is creamy, but not yellow-ish. The island is also painted “Cottonballs”.

You can see that our island is backed by bead board. My husband converted this former dresser into the island by adding little legs and cladding the back with the bead board. It still needs some trim work which we’ll add when the top is replaced. The strange board on top is a place holder until I can replace it and the rest of the cabinets with a quartz counter top. That project, however, is farther down the to-do list.

That same bead board is used in our new “drop zone”, which I will show you next week. So be on the look out for my favorite project we’ve done so far.

Finally, the next change over the last few weeks is that I “retired” from my office administrator job. Working at my church was a great experience, and of course having a job in the community of faith was such a blessing. Beginning last December I felt there were other things I needed to focus on at this stage in my life although I wasn’t sure exactly what that would be. It took a long time to decide to leave. I really hope I can focus more on this blog and painting. And one more thing.

That brings me to the most recent change. We found out we’re going to be grandparents in the Spring and I expect I’ll want to devote quite a bit of time to visiting him or her.

Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll join me for the next post next week.