Happy Halloween!! I’ve been all over the place working on things for my One Room Challenge kitchen project! I still have a ton to do. Eeek! I’ll be stretching the the length of time I have to do this project to the limit and shooting the kitchen on a Saturday next week. I’m going to need the weekend to round out some of my projects. Plus I got sick so I’ve slowed down the last couple of days. Let me fill you in with what I have in completed though…
I’ve been painting my china turned pantry cabinet. Remember when I first got her here? I dreamed of painting her black and pink to add some real pizazz to the space. This was my inspiration from DeVol, the British kitchen designers who casually break the internet with each image they release.
Last week it was looking like this in the kitchen. While I kind of liked the oak against the green trim, it didn’t work as well with the fir floors and overall, needed a revamp and to lose that terrible hardware.
My cabinet is starting to get there… slowly but surely. It will never be a DeVol — it is a 1980’s cabinet after all — but I think it’s already looking so much more sophisticated! I’m still painting the doors, but I’m beginning to see it take shape. I tried using a foam roller to paint, but I always forget how poorly that works with dark paint and heavy wood grain — and this cabinet has a very heavy, deep wood grain! Three coats of rolled paint later and I followed up with a fourth coat done with a paint brush. Finally got that full coverage. Ugh. It looks GORGEOUS if I do say so myself though. I LOVE the way it’s turning out and can’t wait to get the doors on! For hardware, I’m debating either matte black that will disappear or a faux brass from Home Depot. I’d love to do unlacquered brass, but I’m out of the hardware I used on the rest of the kitchen!
This week I also finally painted the kitchen window above the stove, but it needs a second coat. It’s time consuming to paint windows and I have to break out my tiny painters brush to get all the nooks and crannies without getting the metal/plastic operation covered in paint! I’m pretty sure they’re going to be painted shut, since it’s far too cold to open the windows right now! Then once this is complete, I’ll need to touch up the wall paint before I can install my sconce. Oh boy, oh boy I can’t wait to install that sconce! Also, countertops are looking fine!!
I added this panel to the stairs way back when and I want to pick up another stair tread I can cut 1.5″ sections off and stain a contrasting color to extend the stair treads slightly, covering the panel edge. It’s complicated to expain. Basically, I have PLANS on PLANS ON MORE PLANS.
I really was hoping to be able to sand and refinish the interior of this cabinet to be black, since the white now seems off to me (gosh darn it why didn’t I just paint it black to begin with?!). Now, I’m not sure I’ll have time! It’s not that it looks bad, it just could look more dramatic and exciting in black.
I did manage to complete building this shelf to hold my pots and pans though! It is looking excellent! I’m going to write a whole tutorial on this, because it was simple and not too expensive and I’m super pleased with the result. Also my copper hanging fruit basket really takes the cake!
Overall, this space is just such a far cry from where it started. I’m so pleased with this progress, especially considering the biggest changes in this space have been made with just a simple coat of paint! Gerdie looks particularly cute in here too.
So I have a thousand things to do in here before I style and photograph this space. I’ve been working on it non top, applying a layer of sealer to this cabinet, then priming the doors, then painting the window while that dries, etc. But tonight, rather than doing any of that, I curled up on my chair in the living room and drank 3 cups of rooibos tea to nurse my ever so slightly sore throat which I’m hoping will go away over night. Because I can’t finish this if I get truly sick! Time to power through. Wish me luck?
Don’t forget to check out the other One Room Challenge participants here!
Land of Laurel 