Hearth of the Home

I'm so excited- as of about an hour ago, we have new cabinets!!  They're still in boxes, though... in the dining room... and the kitchen... and one outside because the box couldn't fit through the door.  BUT, this means that we're closer to having a new functioning (and oh so pretty) kitchen, so I'll take it! As I've been spinning my wheels (or so it feels) on this kitchen renovation, my parents have been busy checking items off of their own to do list.  They've been in their new house for just shy of a year and have been working on putting their stamp on it.  Normally my mom is the instigator of projects (since she's as addicted to reading design blogs as I am and we all know how dangerous that can be), but one project that they both were equally gung ho about doing was their fireplace hearth.

As you can see, the surround is beautiful, but was definitely an add on to the original fire place.  The surround didn't even extend to the floor and was 'camouflaged' with ill-fitting trim.   It was like sophisticated cottage meets hunting lodge, and not in any good opposites-attract kind of way.

And isn't that top stone just beautiful?  That was Dad's favorite part.  Of course, by "favorite" I mean he wanted to take a sledge hammer to it.  Luckily, though, my parent's definitely had a vision of how to make the fire place look like one cohesive unit that had no more identity crisis.

And Voila!  Now they have a fireplace that looks original and cohesive.  Quite the transformation!

Scroll back up and look at the befores.  I dare you.  You'll be amazed at the difference.  Even having seen it in person, I had forgotten how weird it looked when it started.  The finished result is pretty stellar in my opinion- it fits the room perfectly!

What do you think of my parents' fireplace transformation?

Get The Paint Ready

My house is officially in a state of chaos for the next few weeks.  I'm almost done with my work on the Zombie Closet and the upper cabinets are in the midst of being packed up and taken down.  I already got a call from Kraftmaid today to confirm my cabinet delivery a week from today between the hours of 7:30 and 10:30 am (squeeeeeee!!!).  Barely-functioning kitchen cabinets are almost a thing of the past!!!  I wonder what it'll be like to have a kitchen that works exactly like we need it to..... Daydreaming aside, some of you already saw on facebook/instagram that I'm up to my old furniture adoption habits again.  Cuz our house can totally fit more furniture... (read: our house can't fit any more furniture, but I'm gonna try anyway).  I went to the thrift store with Mom to donate some items, and this guy just called to me.

Isn't the wood fretwork dreamy?  It's like the Michael Bublé of china cabinets.

And since I don't already have enough unfinished projects, let's add this one to the list- this puppy's getting painted.  (note to self: get to finishing projects already!)  As you can probably tell in the pics, the wood isn't in amazing condition, so I'll have no qualms painting it.  Replacing those fake brass '80s knobs won't be a tough decision either.

Now I just need to settle on a color.  White's a bit too shabby-chic/beachy for my room so I'm thinking of either a medium gray or a light mint (or maybe even both- who's with me?)

What's your vote?

Conquering Zombies & DIY

I've got DIY ADD again.  Bad blogger!  I'm actively working on 5 not so little projects and haven't finished a single one yet.  The biggest one of that is, of course, the kitchen.  A week from today, the countertops are getting uninstalled (to be reinstalled later), and a week from Wednesday, the cabinets get delivered!  Unfortunately the cabinets will have to sit around for a few days to a week before getting installed (by the pros), but I'm hoping that'll give me the time to paint the empty room and ceiling. This week is for the prep work.  Prep includes removing the uppers and soffit, removing the venting from the stove hood (which will be replaced with new smaller ducts), sanding and prepping the walls, and making the "zombie closet" smaller.

Why yes, I did say "zombie closet."  It's a cabinet with 3 doors that open up to a cavity above the basement stairs.

I think Hubby named this space when we first saw the house with our realtor.  He commented that he felt like a zombie was going to grab him if he reached it.  Although a bit melodramatic, the name stuck. The previous owner used it as a pantry, but it was more important for us to have a dishwasher and tuck the fridge into this corner.  For the past almost 3 years, the zombie closet has sat unused behind fridge.  The reason I'm revisiting it now is that the top door and trim is in the way of my new cabinets.  Not cool, zombie closet.

With the new cabinets, there will be a cabinet above the fridge as well as a pantry cabinet next to it (meaning that this whole mess will soon be hidden!).  My original thought was just to drywall over the in-the-way zombie closet, but there's a hardwired light in there, and I also can't justify closing off storage space in this tiny house.  Instead my solution is to make the upper door smaller so that it hides completely behind the fridge.

I started by removing the doors and trim pieces so I could devise my plan and start reframing the door.

Since I don't move the fridge very often, I had totally forgotten how large this storage space was.  With our lack of an attic and our basement slowly filling up, I think this would be the perfect spot to store Christmas decorations that I only need to get at once a year.   Once I decided that, it helped me determine the new size for the door.  I'm keeping the door as large as possible that will still hide behind the fridge, meaning the new door will be approximately 24" x 24".

I only got as far as the planning and framing yesterday, though (and thankfully didn't get attacked by any undead monsters).  The new size is all framed out where the finish molding will be hidden behind the fridge and won't be in the way of the new cabinets.

Today's agenda includes patchworking drywall onto my new frame and cutting down and replacing the finish trim around where the new door will be.

Did I mention how excited I am for these new cabinets?  Do you have any cubbies in your house that you've given weird names?  It can't just be us.