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Fixin’ Up the Kitchen

I painted the kitchen!

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Not sure if you remember what it looked like before…but the walls and ceiling (like in every other room of the house) were a very yellowy beige. A grossly glossy yellowy beige.

I’ve been desperate to paint since we moved in, but we’re taking it slow because
1. Painting all 1600+ square feet of our home is getting expensive
2. It’s hard work. Especially the ceilings.

And I’m so glad this is done! Only the half bath, Justin’s office, the living room and the dining room to go…oh dear.

Anyway. More pictures.

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This window lets in so much light and give me lots of space for my plants and bottles (don’t judge me).

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The travertine backsplash is kinda traditional, but the long, rectangular shape of the tiles makes it feel casual and clean.

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So this post totally doesn’t help explain the layout, but this shot was taken from the dining room as you enter the kitchen and looks through to the living room.

Hopefully I’ll do a house tour sometime 🙂

The colors are: Indulgent Mocha on the walls and Swiss Coffee on the ceiling. I still need to reprint the trim and baseboards – those will be pure white. We use Behr low vac paint in non- glossy finishes. Like eggshell. I’m so over glossy walls 😉

We’re also finishing up the guest room and full bath. So there’s more to come!

A Fan of the Fan

So, if I show you something, do you promise you won’t judge/be grossed out?

Here it goes…

That, my friends, is the wall of our full bath.

I know. I know. Gross.

Our older home has 1.5 bathrooms. And, go figure, only the half-bath has a fan in it. Ya, ’cause running the sink makes it super steamy in there.

Our full bath is original to the home and though it’s been beautifully upgraded with travertine and granite, a boob light manned the spot of an ever-so-necessary fan. Ugh. Gross.

It’s been on my radar ever since we bought the place and my dream is now a reality! My husband tackled the old plaster ceiling and installed a bathroom fan from Home Depot for $20ish.

We chose a high powered fan over a quiet fan, but I think it was a good choice. And the bathroom is no longer McSteamy after a shower (Did you catch that Grey’s Anatomy reference? Yes? Then we can be friends :)). The days of showering in the winter with the window open are over! And, now I can paint!

Well, after I wash down those gross walls 🙁

To be continued!

Christmas List

I can’t believe it’s already December. And Christmas is only a few weeks away. The traffic is backing up within 5 miles of the mall, festive music’s on the radio, my office Christmas party has come and gone…and Broadacre Coffee is serving the best peppermint mocha in town. Sounds like it’s time to post a Christmas list!

 

1. A navy duffel coat – I like the length of duffle coats and the brown details, which make them easy to transition from casual to dressy. This one from Nordstrom’s Juniors’ department (B.P.) is my fav and the fur is detachable.

2. A pair of Big Star jeans – I used to love the Remy’s, but they only come in low rise now…Maybe the Alex mid rise skinnies in Olympia Dark. This company is also eco-friendly and the jeans are manufactured in California. It’s a win-win to me!

3. Troopa boots – During the wet winters in Northern California, I love to wear boots. I hike in them, work in them and wear Uggs around the house. These lace-up Troopa boots from Steve Madden are super cute, and the zipper on the side is really convenient.

4. A brass shower head – OK, this one may surprise you, but…we really need a new shower head. Our full bath’s best feature is a resurfaced claw foot tub with antique brass facet, surround and a white porcelain shower head. I can’t imagine ever replacing the tub, but the shower head dumps water on the showeree. Waste of water and coldness ensue. But, porcelain and/or brass shower heads are not easy to find. Overstock.com is wonderful though and they have a great selection of brass shower heads. I like this one!

5. Bamboo Roman shades – We’ve been wanting to replace the ummm…well-used metal blinds in our dining room for some time, but because we have so many windows, window coverings for our sunny bungalow have always been way out of our price range (21 windows in all)! Enter JC Penny with these affordable and multi-sized (we need a 59″, 47″ and two 35″) Roman shades that would offer a much-needed facelift to a room we have yet to make many changes to.

6. ALÄNG ceiling lamp (One 14in and one 18in) – Our home suffers from the plague of the boob-lights and broken ceiling fans. I kid you not. We’ve gotten rid of one boob light and two of the fans, but there are still several more that need replacing. This new ceiling light from Ikea would be great in our kitchen (where most of the lighting is recessed, but there is one boob light {why?!}) and the larger version would be perfect in the guest room (which is currently home to a broken ceiling fan).

Just a few ideas. Making it super easy for JBoat and my mother this year by posting my list on the world-wide web 😉