My Design On A Dime

Heaven to Betsy...Look What We "Did" Now!

I guess you wonder where I have been since my last post.  Well, I can tell you right now. I've been in the paint bucket!

All last winter I poured over design magazines and internet sites looking for just the right kitchen makeover that would pop right out and smack me in the head.  I never did find the exact one but I had a lot of inspiration from Kirstie Alley's .

Having a 1941 Saltbox home with a not-so-spacious corridor kitchen made my job that much worse.  However, since I did have some nice hand made wooden cabinets with beadboard doors that had not been painted in 15 years (and showed it), I decided to start there.  The top cabinets were originally white and had turned a greasy off white/yellow.  The lower cabinets had been white, then red and finally a hunter green.  Paint rubbing off after cleaning and scrubbing many times had produced a hodge podge of all these colors.

I decided on a bright white enamel for the cabinets.  The countertops were already white formica as were the backsplashes.  Many days went into this job.  First the doors had to be taken down and hardware removed.  My little Black & Decker automatic screwdriver was a lifesaver.  Doors were taken to the back screen porch where every table was utilized to lay them all out.  All were washed and allowed to dry, then sanded, primed, sanded, primed again, sanded again, and painted two coats.  What a job and this was done on both sides!

While this was being done, I was busy inside doing the same thing to the upper and lower base cabinets, doors and baseboards.  When all was reinstalled, I knew that I could not give up (like many of my projects) and started to look for a color for the kitchen walls.  Because of the vintage black hardware on the cabinets, I looked for something black and white in curtain fabric and found the perfect black and white toile valances by Thomasville.  My favorite color is green and I even considered lime green but then found the perfect apple green color (actually called Peaceful Pines by Do-It-Best).  The walls were painted two coats...actually the first coat being the primer.  After the walls, I went on to paint the ceiling with a white ceiling paint.  I know..I know..I did it backwards but the ceiling needed a repair job where water had leaked from the bathroom shower from the story above and I saved it until last.

The microwave had always taken up valuable counter space, so I found a microwave cabinet from IKEA with almost the same beadboard front as my own cabinets to hang on the wall above the stove.  A new microwave by Emerson with a browning feature completed the look.

A new ceiling fan by Hunter and another new light fixture added a modern but antique touch. Collections of my own in greens, blues, aquas and reds were not to be thrown out and I think they make nice accent touches. 

Design on a Dime?  We think so.  We may not have made it for less than $500.00 but totalling about $650.00 is not bad.

A tiring summer project but so worth it.  Now back to having fun and selling vintage clothing...

Hope you enjoy seeing the slide show of the completed kitchen and a couple of before photos.

Comments

[Chris]

I remember that :) Much better than "Design On A Dime" I would say. Very classy blog, Linda. I just found it and will definitely be back :)