The Kitchen Reveal {Apt. 2}

I bet most of you didn't even know we were working on the kitchen. I had you fooled with the bedroom to-do list. We are still working on the bedroom but are back to the planning stages. (more on that in another post) So, without making you wait any longer, I present our new kitchen!

I am always surprised at the impact of paint. It really can transform a room, changing the entire vibe. The wall color is Caribe by Behr. It's the same gallon of paint I have used in our two previous kitchens. We used it the first time on cabinets in our North Carolina duplex almost a year ago. We used it again as wall paint in our first apartment.

Here is a reminder of what the kitchen looked like before we painted.

The room was definitely drab and almost gross looking. The cabinets are old and broken in a lot of places. Of course the appliances are old, but they work pretty well. When we moved to this apartment I wasn't sure I wanted to paint the walls again. I liked the blue but I thought I had too much of it going on in other places. I do know that I will not use this color again in our next kitchen. But the longer we lived here the more and more I hated the kitchen. It had to change. As soon as I got a little bit of paint up I knew it was the right decision. The color might be a bit young and doesn't flow with the rest of the house. But I don't really care :)

We recently added the shelf to give us a little bit more space to store regularly used appliances. The shelf as well as the magnetic knife strips are from Ikea.

We added another magnetic strip that holds spices. There is also a spice rack. Next to the stove we have a bar that holds utensils and other cooking supplies. This has cleared up the little counter top space we have.

  

The lighting is still terrible in here, but there is really nothing we can do about it. We're not going to replace the flourescent lighting.

For now we have no new plans for the kitchen. It functions well enough and is finally easy on the eyes.

 Jordan and I had a long weekend together and we were able to tackle another project. Just waiting on the finishing touches. Stay tuned!

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A Look Back At 2012

First off, am I the only one who is still writing 2010 instead of 2012? What is the matter with me?! 2013 is going to be difficult to get used to.

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The number one post of the year is still the kitchen change in our old house. It's the number one post on my blog! :)

New Kitchen Layout

Y'all seem to really have a thing for my kitchens! 2012 brought about a move for us. All the way from North Carolina to Indiana. Number two post of the year is of our first apartment's kitchen.

Indiana House : First Look {Kitchen}

After I showed you our new kitchen I finally got my act together and did a house tour. 

Indiana House Tour

Back to our North Carolina duplex for the fourth top post of the year. After changing the layout on the kitchen we finally finished painting the cabinets. I say finished, but we really only did one side of the room. We never got around to the other side because we up and moved the next month!

Cabinet Reveal

Something completely un-house related comes in at number five. I picked out family outfits for an upcoming photo shoot. It was a lot of fun going through our closets and finding coordinating outfits. The best part is I didn't have to buy a single piece.

Picking Out Family Photo Outfits

And here it is in action!

(slightly different due to the weather)

Keeping up with the clothing a WIW is coming in at number six. I'm always surprised at the top outfits.

What I Wore

Another WIW is a close seventh.

What I Wore

A more recent post comes in at number eight. I copied an abstract painting from Tanya at Dans le Townhouse

DIY Canvas Art

Another kitchen post is my number nine post of the year. You all gave such positive feedback that I was able to update it enough to have my number one post!

The Kitchen Redesign {list}

The last of the top ten posts of the year is yet again another kitchen post. (This has really motivated me to finish my current kitchen!)

Small Kitchen Update {New Apartment}

It was a lot of fun looking back through this past year. Hard to believe we've moved twice! Overall it was a pretty great year. Jordan has been promoted twice since he started working for Target a little over a year ago. I've been able to find a job I really like as well. Our sweet little is now in Ballet Class and is writing her name like a champ. Kitty is still here, and didn't get fleas. I can't wait to see what's in store for us in 2013! I have a feeling it's going to be a pretty amazing year.

Small Kitchen Updates {New Apartment}

We are finally getting around to fixing up our house. I mean, more than just unpacking boxes and piling things on the floor. This time around we're slow going. I'm working more and Jordan has just been promoted. (Team Lead!!) There is also a lot more going on, family wise. Our Indiana family sure is a lot of fun. It seems like at least once a week we are all getting together for something. It's wonderful and we feel very fortunate to have them this close in our lives again. (we really miss you Nina and Poppy though. looking forward to November)

The kitchen was the first thing we unpacked. There is nothing worse than having a non functioning kitchen. I mean, besides a non functioning bathroom, but that's easier to fix. In between carrying hundreds of boxes I put away all of the essential items. Fast forward four weeks, and it would look pretty much the same. I finally got my butt in gear after we visited my Mother in Law's antique store. We walked away with a few awesome items. One thing was this set of vintage canisters that she had painted and then added old Van Gogh photos. They are the coolest things ever. She's going to kill me for talking about them :) But, they were the first thing I really noticed when I visited their house, six years ago. When I saw them in her shop, I was sad that she was getting rid of them. Luckily they're still in the family. :) :)

I added a few more items to really make the kitchen work better. They just happen to look pretty too. I have a list of things I'd like to add to the kitchen to really make it pop.

We moved our Ikea island to create another "L" shape. Though this time we're not using the coffee bar.

While at her store we also picked up this great butcher block table. It was one they had had before and Jordan really wanted it :) It's the perfect size for our petite kitchen. The only problem with this layout is that the butcher block is a smidge too tall and blocks the drawers. We have to open them from the opposite side. Not a huge deal. I'll probably put risers under the cart.

In addition to the furniture, I hung up a few of our pretties from Ikea. ** I really miss Ikea.... I haven't been to one in about 8!!!! months... But, we get to go next week!!!!** There are a few items that I never got around to hanging up. They didn't work in our last apartment.

Apt 2

Apt 1

The biggest difference between the two apartments is the cabinets. They are older, and not quite as nice, but they are taller. it gives me just enough space to hang things from the backsplash.

It also creates more counter space. Which is ideal when it comes to cooking. I have almost everything I need within reach and still have a place for plates/ produce. 

And, because everyone loves a good before and after, I'll give you a few photos of comparison between the two kitchens.

Apt 2

Apt 1

Apt 2

Apt 1

*For more info on Apt 1*

I know the new kitchen doesn't look as awesome as the old kitchen, yet. But I have lots of plans. You have to remember, we've only been here for about a month.

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Indiana House Tour

I've given you two {first looks} at the apartment so far. First being the kitchen  and then the living room . I thought about continuing this through every room of the house, but a grand tour won out. I had a push to get the house put together in time for my dad's visit. I took pictures of the apartment then, but most of them were blurry. Not sure what's been going on with my camera, but almost every picture I take is blurry and has an extreme blue tent to it. I guess the camera is on it's way out. I've had it for almost four years now.... My new (ish now) camera is nice but has to be on a tripod or the pictures will be blurry as well. Maybe I just have really shaky hands? :/ Anyway, he stayed for a few days and then I needed a couple more days to get everything put back together. The in laws came for a visit on Memorial day so I had an extra clean house. I decided to snap a few more pictures (and then several more to make sure they weren't blurry)

Though the apartment is far from being completed, I would say most spaces are about 50% of the way done, here is a look into our new apartment!

This is the view as you first walk in the door. Kid at the table and all :) To the extreme right of the door, and behind, is the foyer. I haven't had a chance to work on this part of the room yet. In another picture you will get to see the space better. Also in the right is my office. Right now I only have a desk and shelf set up. On the far wall is the library.

To the left of the door is the other half of the library. I love being able to sit in my rocker and look at the bookcases. This wall also houses our not-yet-done gallery wall. In the corner is the living room.

I've already showed a lot of pictures of the living room. The only change is the added curtains. They were the same ones used in our old living room.  So I'm not going to dwell in this area. Please, pay no mind to the boxes behind the couch. We are on the hunt for a sofa table, but in the mean time the boxes are holding up our surround sound.

Wide view of most of the areas previously mentioned. From left to right :: library, office, foyer, library cont., living room. The mirror turned sideways will be the start of the foyer. The pictures and shelf will be next to that and will flow into my office area.

This is a better shot, though still not a good one, of the corner between the library and office. This is the view from the end of the couch.

Moving on. Behind the couch and past the library wall is the dining room. This area hold our stand alone pantry and coffee bar. This picture says progress because in our old house we didn't have room for a dining room table. After we moved we started looking for one, and had a really hard time finding one. Right before my dad visited we bought a table and then found one chair. He went out the next day he was here and bought us a new (to us) table with four matching chairs!! (he's awesome) So the old table and lone chair made their way out to the porch. Which worked out because we didn't have anything out there.

This is the new set. Excuse the ladder.... But I can finally reach all the way to the ceiling. Things are getting done around here! The window, which is our door to the patio, is still bare. I only had one set of panels. Since Ikea is not right around the corner >:( it will have to stay bare for a bit longer. I really like the look of the chairs. I haven't decided if I will let them be or try to paint them. Jordan is still against painting wood. So we'll see.

This is the view from the kitchen. I didn't realize how small the space was until we got a full dining set in there. Granted, it's small because we added the stand alone pantry and coffee bar. But we had to. There is no counter space and the built in pantry has three, yes three, shelves. Two of which I couldn't reach very well. And the reason for that is because the bottom part of the pantry had to be covered up to hold the dishwasher. Which was okay at first, but the thing doesn't work. So it's just taking up a lot of space.

You've seen the kitchen before. But you haven't seen it fully painted. Well, almost fully painted. There is one long wall that I haven't tackled yet. I didn't pull the stove or fridge out so there is an awkward line around them.

I haven't shown this side in a while. Added a magnetic strip and moved the knife block over. The kitchen is small, but it has potential.

Down the hall, first door on the right, is the main bath. I really liked the shower curtain when I was in the store, but once I got it home I realized how grungy it made the whole room feel. I guess I assumed the walls were white, when they are in fact cream. I'm thinking about painting it, but a charcoal color. The towels don't match either. We're getting there :)

Jordan's office is on the left, and is the first bedroom. It's a little ways past the bathroom. The hallway is pretty long. Just one quick picture.

At the end of the hall and to the left is Story's bedroom. It is slightly larger than Jordan's office. Her room is still a mess, even though this is the cleanest it's been since we moved in.

I had curtains up but she decided to pull on them and the entire rod came out of the wall.

Her gallery wall is in the beginning stage. I have several more frames I would like to add. The shelves are the same from her old room. They have special books, books that she isn't big enough for, and lots of special items. The shoe poking out on the right is from the wedding. Her Aunt Mary made the three stuffed animals.

Her room has the biggest closet! It's twice as deep as the others. The reason her room is still a mess is because in the move we had to leave behind a lot of stuff. Her storage system being one of them. She has the cube system from Target. I've thought about buying them again, but I don't want to spend another $60. I have big plans for her room though.

 

At the end of the hall and to the right is the master bedroom. It's pretty much gigantic. There is so much room, I don't know what to do with it. 

This room has had the least amount of work put into it. I need to buy a few more pieces to really fill the room in. Also in the bedroom is a fairly sized half bath. I don't have any pictures of it. Mainly because it has all of the dirty clothes and more boxes. Once I get it all cleared out it will have a good amount of room in it as well.

Here is a view from the end of the hall towards the living room. Hall closet on the immediate left. Half of it is for storage, boxes that still need to be unpacked, and random items. The other half houses the litter box. The shelf on top has all of our holiday decorations. Jordan's office is on the immediate right. Bathroom next door on the left and the last, small, door on  the left is the built in pantry.

There is so much I would like to do, in every room of the house. I would say the kitchen is the closest to being done, and I still have an entire wall to paint. I keep forgetting this fact, but we've only been in the house for about six weeks. :)


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I Have A Thing For Shelves

Hello. My name is Faith, and I am a shelf-aholic. I have to put a shelf on every available wall in any house I'm in. Here are a few examples ::

seen here

seen here

seen here

And on several other walls I never got a chance to take pictures of. 

I knew when we moved in to our new apartment that we would have storage issues. Though the house is technically bigger, meaning it has more livable space, we lost several square footage of storage. Remember our attic?

seen here

It did get a little bit cleaner. A little bit. The attic wasn't huge by any means but it gave us a place to put things we didn't want out. Things like seasonal items, furniture we didn't want anymore, boxes we saved for our move (we saved some boxes for 2 years) luggage, toys, seasonal clothes, etc... You get the idea. It gave us a great spot to put all of those things. Because, out of site, out of mind. When we moved we had to decide what to do with all of that junk. Most of it we got rid of it, but some of it we had to keep.

Which brings be back to my shelf addiction. We did a bit of a closet switch-aroo (which I will show soon, but it is no where photo ready) We have a decent sized hallway closet and an extremely small built in pantry. 

I should also mention, in the old house we had a screened in front porch. We are not ones to use an outdoor space, so it didn't really effect us that much, but it did give us a place to put the cat litter box. Since we don't have a screened in outdoor space at the new house we had to put the litter box somewhere. So, half of the hallway closet is a cat room. The other half is a storage closet. We only have Christmas items in there now. The tiny built in pantry is now a weird linen closet. But will only stay weird until I can work out some storage for the 2 :) bathrooms we have. The pantry items have all been moved into our own standing pantry.

(old house)

The pantry is in the dining nook next to the coffee bar. 

Okay, back to the shelves. We put some shelves up in the kitchen!

The shelves are the sames one in our old kitchen. We have 3 more, but I don't know where I'm going to put them yet.  The cork globe and canvas are gifts from my Step Mom. Magazine vase is from Home Goods. Everything else is thrifted. 

Because nothing stays the same. The plate was from my Mother in Law's antique shop. if you're ever in Cambridge City, Indiana check out Hole In The Wall antiques. It's on historic Highway 40 and has some of the coolest stuff :)

Adding those shelves have started a snowball effect in other places of the house. I've started painting the rest of the kitchen, styled the book cases, and even started on a gallery wall.

I have a lot to get done this week. I hope I can get several other rooms at least photo ready. Of course nothing is completed. We've only been here for less than 3 weeks.