Summer Projects

A while ago, I wrote about my parents visiting. I have since decided that I need my mother to move out here and become my personal designer. Whenever she visits, she is always looking for things that could be changed or improved and I welcome it because she has an amazing eye when it comes to that stuff and I....I just do not. Hence the reason she needs to move out here. :-)


For instance, our bookshelves (a set) used to be as seen in the picture below -- straight across one of the living room walls.


But mom came and suggested that they would make a nice and cozy little corner if I would move one to the opposite wall. And she was right! It is now a cozy little corner!

This was just the beginning. From there, she suggested changes to the the items kept in our entertainment center, ways to change pictures around, and pictures to add to the walls. We've been here now for 4 summers....and it was high time to change things up a bit so I took her suggestions and ran with them. But her moment of genius came when she considered our kitchen.

When Dave first looked at our house (we're renting)....and then called me to give a report, he hummed the "Jettson's" theme song....you know ..... "Meet George Jettson...". I didn't know what to think and then I saw the house. It is a sweet little house and I've grown to love it. However, it was built in 1954 and I would be surprised if there have been any true updates or improvements made since 1954. The kitchen is the best example of this. And the bane of our existence...when it concerns the kitchen...is the floor. It is horrid...it is ugly...I don't think it was even stylish in '54. It is just an eyesore. It is linoleum and it is atrocious! Truly. See the picture below.

It is two different colors of yellow (2 yellows that I'm sure are not around anymore and haven't been since at least the 1970s's) and a cream. It is horrid.

There is NOTHING that we can do with the floor. We're renting and we're not going to sink a ton of money into a new floor. So, we're stuck with it....but mom started to brainstorm ways that we could work with the floor. She went home, went to Home Depot and found a paint swatch that amazingly matched our floor. She then went to her Design Consultant friend at Home Depot and asked what colors we could use given the color of the floor. A week later, she sent me two options: A blueish gray or a Taupe. We decided on the taupe...and I found my summer project!!!!

Here are some pictures of what our kitchen looked like prior to the makeover.

And now....voila! The taupe color is like a coffee with cream color -- really nice! All of the trim is a cream color. I moved out the dog crates, changed the pictures and reclaimed my Grandmother's desk that Dave had commandeered to use for his plants.



I even did the door out into the Florida room....

and the big wall.
The whole time I was painting, I felt like I was back on a mission trip with my youth group from my old church. Hot outside = check. Very humid = check. Green FUMC volleyball shirt = check. :-) The only things missing were my sister, my friend Natalie, and the FUMC water igloo!!

Mom's genius didn't end at paint colors. She was so inspired by the potential our kitchen had that she suggested we do new curtains and suggested that a toile pattern would be lovely. Agreed! So, I got the fabric and the dimensions of the windows and sent off everything to her. I never learned how to sew. Mom tried to teach both me and my sister one summer and I have a pillow to show for my efforts but it got hard and I gave up. I now wish I had more time to learn how to sew because I could do really neat projects....like my mom did for me. After traipsing about Europe with my dad for 3 weeks, she returned and cranked out my curtains. Below is one of the completed cafe curtains.

Dave went off to his annual chant conference and when he came home, he voiced what I had been thinking for some time -- the cupboards needed a fresh coat of paint as well. I had initially refrained from doing the cupboards but after a call to Home Depot, I took my trusty paint brush in hand and painted them the same color as the trim. The picture below illustrates the new color (on the left) and the old color (on the right).

The new paint on the cupboards has made a huge difference! The kitchen just seems brighter and fresher. It is a completely new kitchen!!! Thank you mom for your great idea!!!!! Dave and I are just thrilled with the new space!

With the kitchen done, I am now setting my sights on new curtains for the living/dining room area and some shades on those windows. While the rest of the house is in dire need of new paint, just like the kitchen, I am not even going to attempt it. The rocket scientists who were here before us.....in 60 years, we're only the 3rd people to live in the house.....painted over wallpaper. AHHHH!!!!! Not only do I not have the time or patience or money to deal with that but some of the wallpaper is starting to separate from the walls and I am just not in the mood to fix dry wall or plaster or whatever is under there. So, when you see the blue flowers bleeding through the paint in the dining room, just pretend that there is a nice gray/blue paint on the walls and then walk into the kitchen and see the lovely new paint job and we'll all call it a day! :-)