Kitchen Sneak Peek...

I finally have my computer (and Internet!) at the new house, so I can get back to blogging. I have finished one wall of the kitchen, so here's a little peek ...

This is the wall when we first saw it:

And here is the new and improved edition:

I had seen some new French country cabinets at Lowe's that had me literally drooling. Until I figured up what it would cost for a whole kitchen. The more I thought about it, the more I thought maybe I could just do it myself, and besides a gallon of paint was more in my price range. So I took an old cabinet door and practiced on it first, then with much fear and trembling, I took on the whole project.

I love how it turned out! A little paint, a dab of glaze, and new counter tops make a huge difference. I took out two of the door panels for display cabinets, but I still haven't gotten the glass for them. The rest of the kitchen is a lot more labor intense. Here, let me show it to you...

See that island? That's a dumb place for a stove. So we took it out. It's gone. Forever. See that dark door on the right? That's a laundry room. It's gone. Not just the doors, but the whole wall is gone. That's the new home for the stove. (No, I haven't given up doing laundry, the house has a second laundry room.) So once it's all done, the kitchen cabinets will go from the sliding doors all the way around the corner of the next wall. Oh, and see that desk all the way to the left? It's gone too. I am so happy that I married such a handy man! I just say, "Babe, let's move the stove from this spot to that spot over there, take out this wall and that wall, redo the flooring where we ripped out the walls, add new cabinets all around the stove....." He then dives in to a discourse about how you can't just "put" a stove where you jolly well want it, and that he is NOT a cabinet maker, and just who do I think he is anyway??!! But then he does it, not without a little fussing here and there, but he does it, and he always does a great job. He had to install new power in the spot for the stove, and it works! The man can do anything he tries to do. He's about to learn how to lay laminate flooring, and you know what? I think he's looking forward to it. One time we had a house that only had one bathroom...in the basement. I decided to turn a bedroom upstairs into another bathroom and he did it! He had never "plumbed" in his life but he installed a complete beautiful bathroom where there had never been one before. Anyway, back to the house. I wanted to show you the sliding glass doors now:
I wanted some toile drapes to hang up, but the only ones I could find were VERY expensive. So when I saw these hanging up at Goodwill, I knew there must be a God, and He must really love me. They are extremely heavy, thermal, insulated, lined drapes, they are the perfect size, and I got them for mere pocket change. I was thrilled. (I've never been a big fan of those long vertical blinds.) And one more thing, see those cute little iron bistro chairs? Do not be fooled by their charms. Those are wickedly mean little creatures. You sit on the microfiber seats, then you get up to push in your chair, and as soon as you touch the metal, ZAP they shock the living daylights out of you. So now I'm off to recover the seats with clear vinyl...