DIY Stair Banister Makeover Using Gel Stain

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Creating an Open Kitchen and Dining Room

Il n’existait pas de point de terminaison à l’écoute sur http://api.microsofttranslator.com/v1/Soap.svc pouvant accepter le message. Ceci est souvent dû à une adresse ou une action SOAP incorrecte. S’il est présent, voir l’élément InnerException pour plus d’informations.
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Grey and white Kitchen Makeover

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If you’re looking to give your kitchen a facelift and some style, grey and white are the colors to choose! They’re clean and contemporary and take well to whatever other colors you love to decorate with.  Our guest today shared her breakfast nook with us awhile back, and now she’s here to share the rest of her gorgeous grey and white kitchen makeover:

Scroll down to learn more about Deme’s kitchen.

When you’re choosing a grey for the kitchen, just about anything goes! You choose what you love, based on your style and the lighting and design of your space. 

You can go lighter like Mom and Her Drill shared here:

Or a little bit darker like Shanty 2 Chic’s gorgeous kitchen:

Or even to charcoal like this gorgeous kitchen (Style At Home via DecorPad).

But no matter what shade you choose, the updates can take your kitchen from blah to BEAUTIFUL! See how Deme painted and updated her kitchen to end up with a gorgeous grey and white kitchen.

Hey there!  I’m Deme and I’m so excited to be hanging out at Remodelaholic today!  I blog over at House For Five where we share bits of our life as a family of five, and our learn-as-we-go adventures in DIY home improvement.   After renting 5 homes in 6 years, we’re so thankful for a place we can get our hands dirty and make our own!  Our 1968 house has great bones, was well maintained and is wrapped in wallpaper from every decade.  We’re slowly peeling the wallpaper off the walls (and out of our hair) as we make it home.

Today, I am beyond thrilled that I even have a completed kitchen to share with you because there were moments of this makeover that I thought we might be living with primed cabinets, no cabinets doors, and a corroded sink for the rest of our days.  This summer we made the push to finish the job that has lingered in various stages for almost a year.  We could not be happier with our like-new grey and white kitchen!

 We were lucky ducks to have our breakfast nook featured here at Remodelaholic last year.   

It was all happy and bright and fresh and done.  Until you panned out and turned around to see the rest of the kitchen…

Sorry for burning your eyeballs there.  I should have warned you.  This picture is actually after the 1st phase (of three) where we had replaced the ancient appliances, pealed the tooty fruity wall paper border, and updated the breakfast nook. We also took out that enormous light box and had recessed lights installed.-Swap out the hardware
-Replace the back splash

This kitchen was completely redone in the early 80's, so the cabinets were a high quality oak and still in great shape.  I knew without a doubt, the best way to freshen up the kitchen on our tiny budget was by painting the cabinets.

I’ve always loved a fresh white kitchen, and started painting the upper cabinets first in a semi-gloss Swiss Coffee by Valspar.  I googled several how-to’s and stuck with the same basic steps that I follow when spray painting wood furniture.

Clean – Sand – Prime – Paint – Sand between coatsThese cabinets were in great shape but had their fair share of built-up gunk, especially on the doors near the stove.  My best weapon for getting it all off quickly was simply a damp microfiber cloth (scrubbers on one side, soft of the other). After they were clean and dry I gave them a good sanding to smooth out any imperfections and to give the primer a nice surface to grip onto.  After wiping off the dust from sanding, I started painting.  It took two coats of primer and two coats of paint with another round of touch ups to get the right coverage. Some people may prefer to cut in with a brush and use a foam roller designed for doors and cabinets for the larger surface areas, but after giving that a shot, I found that I preferred using my favorite Wooster Shortcut brush for the whole job. 

Remodelaholic note: You can find this brush at your local hardware store or here on Amazon. 

The key to getting a smooth finish was thin coats of paint to avoid drips/streaks, and lightly sanding in between coats with a super fine grit sandpaper (most are even marked as “in between coats” in the hardware store).  It requires patience, which runs in short supply around here, but the end result is worth it.

By the time I finished the uppers, the desert summer hit and it was too hot to paint.  Which gave me a couple of months to think about doing something different with the lower cabinets.  Dang Pinterest.  I really loved the two-tone look with light uppers and dark lowers, but was too chicken. I was so close to playing it safe and going all white, but finally showed the hubs some pics of two-toned cabinets.  “Tell me your honest opinion….”. 

And darn if that man doesn’t surprise me.  “If you’re going to do it, don’t go half way.  Go darker.  Even if it’s a color.”  Say whaaat?  No wait, don’t say anything else.  One gallon of dark grey paint was purchased the next day (Ocean Storm by Valspar in semi-gloss).  

This time I was sure to get a paint with built in primer.  I skipped the primer and all it took was 2 coats of paint and another round of touch-ups.  Win!

I don’t even know how to describe how happy I am with the grey choice.  It completely makes the kitchen, and is perfect for our family with 3 kids under 6 years old.  The dirt and fingerprints are much less noticeable.

We also painted that small strip of wall below the ceiling the same Swiss Coffee white as the upper cabinets (but in an eggshell finish). Taking the white on the cabinets all the way up to the ceiling, visually extended the cabinets giving the room some extra visual height.

Having both dark and light cabinets to consider made the hardware choice a little more difficult.  The appliances are stainless and the faucet a darker slate, so I wanted something that would relate to both.  I brought home all sorts of samples….nickel, brass, iron, bronze, polished, brushed….and in the end landed on the very first one I picked up from Lowe’s in a polished pewter. 

 Since the old hardware on the doors was a pull with two holes, we simply put the knobs in the top hole and filled the bottom one with wood putty.   Once it was dry, and after a little sanding and paint, the hole disappeared.  You can also glue a wood dowel in the hole to limit the amount of putty you need to use and the shrinking that can happen when it dries.  If you find the putty receded further into the hole when it dried, then just apply a little more and sand it down to level with the door surface once it’s dry.

The hardware reads lighter on the grey cabinets and darker on the white, and changes in different light throughout the day.  It wasn’t too modern for the traditional roots of this kitchen but unique enough to feel updated and fresh.

Replace the Backsplash

We saw these tiles at Costco about 8 months ago.  We knew we weren’t ready to install them yet, but at $18 for 5 square feet in a color we couldn’t resist, they came home with us.

We ended up having to shift gears to finish our master bedroom update to meet a deadline and out of town guests were on their way with our kitchen very much in mid-reno.

I knew we couldn’t finish the floors in our master and the tile work in time, so we enlisted the help of a friend-of-a-friend contractor.  After seeing Tim work his magic, I realized that was one DIY task I was glad to have in the hands of a professional.  With all those intricate cuts, it would have taken me weeks…months….maybe years to finish.

And man, were they a game changer!  They completely lightened up the room.

Replace the Range Hood

You can see the old bone colored range hood in the pic above.  There was grease.  A lot of it.  And we’ll just leave it at that.  Fortunately, the hood was a standard size, so my husband swapped it out while I was out running errands one day (no pics!).   Once it was installed, we had this empty space behind the stove…

 

We thought we had just enough tile to do this area, but it was all the scrap bits and pieces.  We feared we might be short (or die a slow death of piecing together the tile jigsaw puzzle) and with Costco all sold out, we decided to do something different…

A coat of primer followed by three coats of chalkboard paint and we had ourselves a perfect spot to jot down recipes, cooking reminders (start the crockpot at 1pm!), or even leave notes for each other. It’s so nice to be able to read the ingredients from across the kitchen instead of squinting and fumbling with a recipe card. 

 

Address the Sink/Faucet

 Gross and frustrating.  That was our sink.  The old faucet handles were starting to corrode even under the plastic handles.  The shallow sink/standard low-arc faucet combo was the bane of my large dish washing existence.  Every pot and pan was just a pain to wash, and water inevitably ended up all over the counter.  

 I’m certain I heard cheering when this baby finally came out…

We scraped all the old caulk off the counter top with a knife and razor blade, made sure the surface was clean and dry, then used new caulk to seal and set the new deep white sink in place.

So. much. better.

Figuring out the plumbing was like a puzzle of pipe pieces that required multiple trips to the hardware store, and my 6’4? husband to squeeze himself into a comically small space.  I’m pretty sure he’s still traumatized from it. Thankfully, when it came time to install the faucet, it was smooth sailing!

This Pasadena faucet by Pfister came with a handy install tool that made it easy to tighten those parts in hard to reach places.

The faucet is in a slate finish, which we ADORE.  It’s darker than stainless and slightly more matte.  The faucet has a high arc and pull down sprayer with different stream/spray modes, two of the most important features to us.  Vanna here, will demonstrate.

And more importantly it has a smudge-resistant finish that has lived up to it’s name!  All I have to do is wipe off any drops of water and she looks as good as new.  Washing dishes is a whole lot more enjoyable!

We also used a couple of deep coffee mugs to make a portable herb garden.  We just filled the bottom with a layer of small pebbles and transferred some small potted herbs to them.  They’re perfect for starting seeds too!

Organize a Coffee Station

Throughout most of this kitchen makeover, the space looked very mid-construction zone.  We lived without cabinet doors for a long time while I procrasti-painted, and it gave us the chance to experiment with open shelving.  I love the look of open shelves, but I don’t love the dust. But one open shelf in the right spot, I could handle.

We ended up leaving off three doors – the two small ones above the microwave and the large cabinet door next to it – and we painted the insets the same dark grey as the lower cabinets. 

The gold striped baskets (spray painted over their original orange and green) hold our tea.  The large coffee jar houses our grounds and the bowl next to it has our filters and scoop.  Mugs and yummy goodness live on the bottom shelf.

Having all our coffee making/drinking necessities in one accessible spot makes things so easy and that much more enjoyable.  It’s also right between the sink and the fridge so we don’t have to run all over the kitchen for water to start the pot and creamer to fill our cups. 

A few colorful accessories later and we could finally stick a fork in er! 

How about a final before and after?

As an added bonus, the breakfast nook no longer looks out of place. 

The cost breakdown for this kitchen update looks like this (with the exception of the back splash tile everything home improvement related came from Lowe’s – with an extra 10% off with our military discount)…

Labor for back splash (demo/tile/grout) – $120Accessories & miscellaneous supplies – $42

Shortly after we finished this phase of our kitchen reno, we got news that we would be relocating to Ohio for my husband’s work.  I had just recently been able to let go of that crippling “what if a buyer doesn’t like this someday” fear, and actually did what I really wanted in this space.  Hopefully, there’s a buyer out there that loves it as much as we do!  In between now and then, we’re going to soak up every minute we have in this happy space.

*The 3rd phase of this kitchen reno was supposed to address counter tops and flooring, but we’ll just have to leave that for the new home owners

P.S.  Is it wrong to rip out a faucet and take it with you when you move?  How about a back splash?

 Deme, we love it! And we can’t wait to see what you do in a new home with a blank slate

Visit Deme over at House For Five to see all of her creative ideas and her cute family. 

Wanting more gray and white kitchen inspiration? Check out 25 more gray and white kitchens over at Tipsaholic.

Weddings911-Should you Have a Holiday Weekend Wedding?

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It sounds like a great idea; your family will all be together anyway right? And, most of them have to travel to the gathering spot regardless.

So, why not? Well, as with most things there are pros and cons. I think once you know what they are; you will be able to make a good decision as to whether a holiday wedding will work for you.

Let's look at the pros first. Decorating for a holiday wedding can be relatively easy and inexpensive, especially if your venue is already lavishly decorated. Just go with the colors and theme and you are set. You might need to coordinate with the florist working at the venue to get on the same page, but this is fairly easy.

Since your friends and family love getting together during the holidays — it's the perfect time for a wedding-based family reunion. You might have a family member plan for activities or meals that are not wedding related. This can give everyone time to connect before or after the wedding with a holiday brunch, spa day, beach bonfire, or even Movie Night.

Since many holidays fall on weekdays you might be able to save more $$ by having your wedding on a Friday or Monday. Many venues will offer a discount for choosing a low volume day.

This sounds promising so far, but we still have the list of cons to talk through.

If you have a lot of invited guests that will need to fly, this can be a major setback. Holiday travel is always more expensive and if you are thinking of a winter wedding, air travel can have serious weather delays and cancellations.

Your last-minute wedding preparations might end up taking a backseat to your friends' and family's holiday parties and planning.

For the rest of your life, you'll face scheduling conflicts on every anniversary, such as holiday parties, kids' activities, work related events and so on.

A wedding on a major holiday may make your guests have to choose between your wedding and celebrating the holidays with other family members. Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas are non-negotiable in many families.

Another problem with a December wedding is that you are choosing a time of year when people are already spending lots of cash; they may be hesitant to spend more for a wedding gift or pay for travel expenses.

With a summer holiday wedding: Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day, the roads and airports are busy. Resorts are crowded, restaurants have long waits, and generally things are busier than normal.

Depending on which month you get married, you may have to cut short or postpone your honeymoon in order to not miss a special holiday with your family.

This is by no means a complete list, but will give you some food for thought. Just keep in mind that the location can make or break the event just as much as the date can. Choosing a beach wedding on 4th of July could be a disaster. But, a 4th of July wedding in a secluded mountain resort could be amazing.

The best advice to is plan well, and anticipate the pros and cons of each holiday and location, as nothing is worse than a wedding gone wrong.

HAVE A WEDDING QUESTION? Send questions to weddings911@ idoidoweddingplanning.com Alene Gamel is a Master Bridal Consultant and owns Alabama-based I Do, I Do! Wedding Planning

Huntsville bridal fair this weekend is sponsored by Modern Brides boutique, features 103 vendors

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The Celebrations Bridal Event has 103 booths of wedding professionals so that brides and grooms could plan their entire wedding in one day(File)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – January kicks off wedding-planning season in earnest. This weekend, local brides-to-be have an opportunity to browse more than 100 vendors at the Celebrations Bridal Event.

The bridal fair will be Jan. 5 in the North Hall of the Von Braun Center, from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“The Celebrations Bridal Event has 103 booths of wedding professionals so that brides and grooms could plan their entire wedding in one day,” said Pat Morgan of Modern Brides, a Huntsville bridal boutique. 

“We have every category covered, from venues, cakes, catering, photographers, video, lighting, rentals, vintage rentals, gowns, tuxes, makeup artist, hairstylist, musicians, invitations, honeymoons and gift registries.”

A continuous fashion show begins at 1 p.m., sponsored by Modern Brides of Huntsville. Hundreds of door prizes will be given away by vendors. Admission is $5 at the door.

More information is available on the Celebrations Bridal Event Facebook page or from Modern Brides at www.modernbridesinc.com.

'Honey, I blew up the wedding venue' and other stupid excuses men make to avoid women (Column by Kelly Kazek)

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Hold on to your super-hero underpants before you start calling me a man hater ... again. Would you marry a man after he was arrested for calling police on your big day to report there was a bomb in the wedding hall?

That’s a decision Liverpool bride Amy Williams is mulling after she arrived at St. George’s Hall in her gown, all set to unite with her honey in wedded bliss, only to find police and emergency crews on hand searching for a bomb, according to The Daily Mail. Turns out, her sweetie, Neil McArdle, didn’t do it because he was afraid of commitment. No, he was afraid of his bride-to-be’s reaction when she learned he had forgotten to book the hall for their ceremony, probably the only item on his wedding to-do list other than “show up.”

Now, McArdle faces jail time and, six months later, Williams still hasn’t decided if she wants to share a ball-and-chain with him. But McArdle isn’t the only man in the news this month for doing something exceptionally stupid to avoid a woman’s wrath.

I have to tread lightly with this column topic after I hurt some male readers’ feelings with a statement I made in a recent column. I quite innocently tossed out the comment “Men are pigs” in reference to guys who peruse airbrushed hotties in nudie magazines and set off a flurry of responses from some delicate male egos.

One commenter, I suppose by way of awkward apples-to-Brussels-sprouts-type comparison, asked if I would be offended if he called women (bleeps) or (bleeps) or even (bleeeeeeeps).

Nah. Even though anyone could tell by the (bleeps) the words are offensive – whereas the word “pigs” does not even require italics, much less parentheses – I know they don’t apply to me, so I don’t take them personally.

But today I’m going to discuss some men who are – there’s no other way to put it – nimrods.

Hold on to your super-hero underpants before you start calling me a man hater … again. I happen to like people of the male persuasion, one in particular. Besides, I’m not saying there isn’t a reason these men acted like nimrods, and the reason just might be their women.

See? How’s that for fair and balanced reporting?

Any-hoo, it turns out this was a second strike for McArdle, who had apparently also failed at planning a wedding for Williams the previous year. According to The Daily Mail, he’s unemployed. What was he doing all day that prevented him from calling the venue and ordering up a simple wedding ceremony?

But here’s where I place some of the blame on the bride. Any woman knows not to let a man “help” with the wedding. If she does, she might end up with Seussian wedding vows like these by Marty Blase on About.com:

Yes, I'll love her when we're fit,

And when we're hurt, and when we're sick,

And I will love her when we're rich

And I will love her in a ditch

And I will love through good and bad,

And I will love when glad or sad,

And I will have, and I will hold

Ten years from now a thousandfold,

Yes, I will love for my whole life

This lovely woman as my wife!

Read Blase’s rhyming vows in their entirety here.

But the award for Stupid Man Trick of the Month So Far goes to Rogelio Andaverde of Texas, whose motives were pure – he wanted to go out for a few beers with friends – but his execution was arrest-worthy.

Afraid of his wife’s reaction – notice a theme here? – rather than tell her what he was up to, Andaverde faked his own kidnapping. Yes, according to a report on MySanAntonio.com, two masked men with guns “forced” Andaverde into a car as his wife watched at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1.

He returned home Thursday afternoon after having his fun – and after a helicopter and a slew of deputies spent hours searching for him. After his arrest, Andaverde was released on $5,000 bond, but I’m guessing not before he begged to be kept in jail … and out of reach of his wife.

Because if she would be mad about a few beers, just think how she’ll feel now that the neighbors, and the rest of the world, know the lengths he’ll go to get out of the house.

I bet masked men with guns are looking pretty good right about now.

I’m just sayin.’

Kelly Kazek's humor columns appear regularly on al.com and in The Huntsville Times, The Birmingham News and The Press-Register in Mobile. Call her at 256-701-0576 or find her on Facebook.

Weddings911-on to 2014

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Welcome 2014! As the wedding season is winding down and we are faced with the coming of a new year, I usually like to think back to where I have been and where I want to go.

In thinking about the brides I have worked with this year, I feel very blessed to have met such wonderful women. These are women that are intelligent, beautiful, caring, and loving. Each has a story to tell; some sad, some happy, even heartbreaking, and some that are pure joy. But they all have the same thread running through them, they have found love!

The business of weddings is all about love. Finding it, sharing it, and treasuring it. I believe that we are made for this. That love is the one thing that we can't always define, but we know when we feel it. And, once we have it, we want to share it. It bubbles out of our very being.

Working with a couple that is truly in love is such a joy. I can see it in their eyes, their body language, their tenderness, and care towards each other. All year I am working towards the fulfillment of the dream: Love discovered, realized, and consecrated. This is what makes my job so special!

Those of us in the wedding industry know what I am talking about, we are dream makers; we get to witness that pure love transformed from a sweet dream into the reality of a new family. This is sacred ground, and we get to share in it week after week.

This is not always an easy task I will admit. It is easy for all of us to forget this is about love and commitment, and get lost in the details. There are layouts, and timelines to be made, food, linens, vendors, and music to be chosen. Not to mention all the logistics and etiquette that must be dealt with as well.

So now, before we begin another year of new love, engagements, and weddings, lets refocus on what is true, pure and right. I want to encourage all those who work alongside of me to keep in mind the reason for all of this.

It is our job, not only to provide excellent service and the highest degree of professionalism, but also to do so knowing that we are becoming a part of a family's most precious memory. It is our honor as well as our duty to do our job to the utmost of our ability.

And what a job we have! We have had many near disasters, weather issues, put out fires, (literally and figuratively), resolved family crises, and had to think out of the box many, many times to resolve the un-resolvable. Through it all, our bride's have had celebrations of love that are incredibly beautiful, meaningful and memorable, never knowing the sacrifices made behind the scenes that went far beyond the call of duty on your part.

And to our darling brides, thank you for sharing so much love, excitement, joy and beauty with your team. I'm wishing Logan, Rachel, Ansley, Amy, Sarah, Rebecca, Stephanie, Lindsay, Nicole, Brandi, Jennifer, Michelle O, Michelle A, Laci, Robin, Virginia, and Liora a 2014 that is filled with every blessing!

HAVE A WEDDING QUESTION? Send questions to weddings911@ idoidoweddingplanning.com Alene Gamel is a Master Bridal Consultant and owns Alabama-based I Do, I Do! Wedding Planning