My Kitchen Makeover: White Painted Cabinets

Hi all!  I am super excited to share this post with you all! 

For years I've been dreaming of having white painted cabinets in my kitchen.  I finally did it and now I LOVE MY NEW KITCHEN!

It's so light, bright and clean looking and I love that!

 Here are the before photos:

and this here is what my kitchen looks like now:

I hired a professional to spray the doors and I painted all the rest in Farmhouse Paint in Creamy Linen color. We color matched the creamy linen color for the doors and cabinet faces. I would have preferred to hire the entire thing out and have everything sprayed, but it was a bit too expensive, so I chose to go this route.

Because I wanted a cleaner look in my kitchen, and we weren't changing our backsplash, I had my husband cut a board that fits perfectly inside the square tile area behind my cooktop.  I painted it with chalkboard paint and then I painted the established year on it. This is the year that my husband and I got married.

If you want to see more of that kitchen command center on the side of my fridge, you can find the post here.

The island lights are from Lowes.  The barstools are from Pier One. (You can find the links at the bottom of this post.) I totally lucked out on the bar stools. I found 2 that had some damage on them and I got them for more than 75% off!! I was so super excited about this deal!

Those adorable large mason jars on the counter are from Walmart.  I filled them with flour, sugar and powdered sugar. I love the look of these!!

The topiary is from Ikea.

I also made the "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" sign.

I may still add a burlap roman style curtain.

Here are the before and after photo's side by side:

It's amazing what some paint, new bar stools and light fixtures can do to change the look of a space.

I love. love. love the new look in my kitchen! The brightness just makes me happy and this kitchen is definitely more me!

Here is the source list:

Wall Color - Sherwin Williams Tony Taupe

Cabinet Color - Farmhouse Paint Creamy Linen

Hanging Island Lights - Lowes

Bar Stools - Pier One

Arrow - Posh + Tattered

Rugs - Overstock

Wood Signs - Painted by me

Large Mason Jars - Walmart

Topiary - Ikea

May you be a little inspired!

Until next time,
DaNita 
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View more of my Most Recent Projects HERE.
 

Fixer Upper Coffee Bar (Contributor Post)

My parents are building a new house and my mom wanted to incorporate her old coffee station in the breakfast nook. The coffee station is a smaller set up and she had a long wall that needed to be filled. I immediately thought of the coffee bar on Fixer Upper (I believe it's on season two) that had blue cabinets, chalkboard and long floating shelves. My parents loved the idea so we decided to go for it!

Here's a picture of the Fixer Upper coffee bar.

(source)

They installed custom wood cabinets, but my dad really liked the idea of having a pop of color, so we sanded and painted over them with Farmhouse Paint. I've never painted cabinets so I was a little nervous, but they turned out great! If you are local to Battle Ground, Washington, Posh + Tattered carries Farmhouse paint it in their shop. I've tried many paints and it's my favorite so far.

Sorry about the low quality pictures, I had just snapped them with my phone as we were going along.

My brother painted the chalkboard wall and Tyler built the floating shelves. Taylor at @_katherine_taylor_ wrote all the quotes with chalk markers and she does awesome work! 

This was a big project to take on, but it is definitely the focal point in their new house. If you can imagine, there are windows lined along the side wall with a beautiful mountain view. I'm sure there will be delicious coffee and wonderful memories made for years to come! 

As always, thanks for stopping by and see you next month.

Jodi

"Hello! My name is Jodi from The Whispering Pines.  I love to decorate, refurbish old furniture, create small crafts and come up with unique party ideas. I also have a knack for organizing and enjoy experimenting with new recipes. My style is rustic with a touch of farmhouse. If you ask my husband, I could live in antique shops and home decor stores. I love being inspired by others and hope, you too, can gather a little inspiration for your home!" 

An Organized Refrigerator

Maintaining an organized refrigerator hasn’t always been my strong suit. Think about it, how many times are you in and out of your fridge each day?  For us, I would guess at least 10, making it that much more difficult to keep it in order. I recently did a complete overhaul of refrigerator and it was also the perfect opportunity to pull everything out and give all the shelves and drawers a thorough scrub down. All in all, it took about 45 minutes. For such an easy task, it has made a giant impact! This is what it looked like just a few weeks ago.

I have tried and failed at organizing the refrigerator in the past, but I have a good feeling that the results will actually stick this time around. In fact, I even labeled everything, which means I’m committed to keeping it this way.

Before I show you what it looks like today, I wanted to share my motivations in taking on this project. My husband and I are trying to be extra cautious about our spending lately, and an organized refrigerator prevents us from overbuying because we can clearly see what we have. It also helps to combat food waste. I can’t tell you how many times I have thrown out hundreds of dollars worth of food because it went bad before we could use it. I always felt so guilty when tossing it out, but I’m happy to report that we haven’t had to throw out a single item yet! Since all of our leftovers are now kept in one location, we have been eating out less and are making a conscious effort to use what we have. Another positive result that I wasn’t expecting, is that I find myself reaching for healthier options when I get hungry rather than grabbing whatever is convenient out of the pantry. I have been taking the time to prep fruit and veggies when I get home from the grocery store, and can easily grab a serving of carrots rather than the oatmeal cream pies that my pregnancy cravings made me buy! 

After living with our newly organize refrigerator for a few weeks, here is how it’s looking today.

I keep all of our bulk produce (items I plan on using for recipes or excess leftover from my snack prep) in one drawer, and breads in the other since we never use all of it before the expiration date.

Keeping fruits and veggies out of the produce bin and placing them in plain sight has made the biggest impact on our day-to-day life. Before doing this, it seemed liked they would always get lost in the mess or I would simply forget we had them.

Like I mentioned above, I also took the time to label everything so that I’m more inclined to keep it this way. The general categories I have are: meal prep, fruit, veggies, eggs, deli, lunch, beverages, bulk veggies, bread, leftovers, and meat. I keep condiments, milk, creamer, and butter in the door bins. It is suggested that you avoid storing milk in the door because it is the warmest spot in your refrigerator, but we have been doing it for years, and have never had a problem. 

Call me crazy, but I want to do a happy dance every time I open the doors. It’s a shame that all this hard work is behind closed doors, because it is currently the most organized space in our house. I’ll just make it a point to casually open the refrigerator every time we have guests so I can show it off and in turn, they don’t think I’m a complete slob!

Hi! I'm Kristin from The Orderly Home.  I love all things organization and I'm a sucker for pretty storage solutions and anything that makes life easier for me and my family. A little about me: I'm 27, married to my best friend, and mama to a precious little boy. I'm a Texas girl who enjoys cooking and baking, spending time outdoors, and barre workouts. My idea of fun involves an iced coffee, some good music, and a label 

   

Glass Containers in the Kitchen

Today I'd like to share a few of my favorite organizations ideas for the kitchen. 

A few years ago I started buying glass containers for my fridge and pantry. I found that my pantry items would get a strange smell from some of the plastic storage containers and I feared it seeping into my food also.

This is a picture of the drawer I store my fridge containers in:

These are readily available at Marshall's, Home Goods and TJ Maxx. Pricing is very reasonable, and starts at three or four dollars and up.

When I do my weekly grocery shopping, I try to clean out the fridge before I go. This is a great time to get rid of things that may have expired and wipe your fridge down. Wash your empty containers so they are clean and ready when you bring your groceries in.

Once I bring my groceries in and put away my pantry staples, dairy and etc., I wash my fruits and veggies, cut, chop or dice them up, and put them into my glass containers. This makes my week go so much more smoothly in so many ways! Not only is meal prep easier, a quick salad for lunch takes seconds, a quick stir fry or fresh fruit for your yogurt or oatmeal is all ready for you! Dinner time prep is also greatly reduced. Everything is ready and clean for your side salad or casseroles. And it's easier for everyone to grab healthy snacks throughout the week. If we have leftover meat during the week, I put it in a small container for a fast taco salad at lunch or salad with chicken or what have you. I do feel the shelf life of my fresh produce extends in the glass containers which is an extra bonus.

As you see in the picture, I keep any fresh meats in a glass pan of some sort as well. This way you don't have it leaking or dripping in your fridge, causing food borne bacteria. It's also best to store meat on lower shelves for this reason.

I like  to have fresh citrus in a bowl for easy access for snacking or for my water.

I hope these hints will make your week a little easier. It may take extra time on grocery day to get it done, but it will be totally worth it the rest of the week!

Blessings from Kim ~ "With Jesus in her heart and coffee in her cup."

"Hi! I'm Kim ~ Blessed wife of Eric, mom of four and Nonnie to a sweet little grand daughter with another expected in January!  I'm a coffee enthusiast, baker, organizer and DIYer. My home style tends to lean towards traditional but, I must say, I can be a bit eclectic. Anything that makes me smile. Surround yourself with your favorite things and be sure you use the good dishes! Always look for extraordinary in what may seem ordinary. ~ Blessings to you and yours!" 

My New Kitchen Command Center

Hi all!

This month, we are working on cleaning and organizing kitchens. I can't believe that February is almost over already!  WOW!! If you missed the organizing challenge, you can read all about it HERE.  I'm inviting you to join in on the challenge and create a cleaner, more organized home this year.

A while back, I shared my sisters kitchen command center with you and I promised to show you mine as well.  It took me a while to finally get to this post, but here it is:

My husband had a piece of sheet metal cut to size.
We ordered the sheet metal from our venting company.

We glued the sheet metal to the side panel.

With this glue.

Here are some closer up photo's of what I have on here.

I made the dry erase boards.

and they are great quality and come with magnets on the back.
 I have a couple of them in Posh + Tattered right now.

You can find the notepads in my zazzle shop HERE.  These are not magnetic.  I added magnets to mine.

 Find the magnetic pencil holder HERE.

I create my boy's chore chart too.  This is used every.single.day.  I am a huge believer in chores for children.  You can find lots and lots of printable chore charts in my Etsy Shop.

I love my kitchen command center.

Tell me, do you have a kitchen command center?

May you be a little inspired!

Until next time,
DaNita 
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View more of my Most Recent Projects HERE.
 

Kristin's Kitchen

In my opinion, moving is one of the best times you can purge. It gives you the opportunity to put your hands on everything you own, and decide if you truly need it.

Even after doing a giant kitchen purge a year prior to our move, as well as getting rid of several items while packing, I still managed to take an additional 3 boxes to Goodwill last week. There is something about living with most of your possessions in storage for 8 months that makes you realize what you can live without! 

Since February’s challenge is Organizing and Cleaning the Kitchen, I thought I would share our brand new kitchen with y’all. Plus, a couple of tips I have for keeping it organized and clean.

Instead of uppers, we opted to do a big window above the kitchen sink. I still have plenty of cabinets on the other side of the kitchen and in our butler’s pantry so I haven’t missed them at all. I found this old brick mold at a local antique mall and knew immediately that it would be perfect for storing our mugs. I am trying to keep things simple so all of the colorful mugs are in a cabinet, and I am on the hunt for some fun and unique white mugs to display.

One thing that helps me decide where I want items to go is visually seeing them in their place. Since I often change my mind a thousand times and don’t want to move heavy dishes until I know for sure where I want them, I use post it notes. I simply list on each one the items I want to store together and move those around until I find the perfect arrangement. I found these post it notes a couple of weeks ago and thought they would be perfect for just that.

And lastly, a few other tips that may help you keep your kitchen clean and organized:

-Do a load of dishes every day so that you start your morning with an empty dishwasher. This prevents dishes from piling up in the sink throughout the day.

-Placing knives, spoons, and forks each in their own section in the dishwasher keeps you from having to separate them as you unload dishes.

-Keep a mini vacuum nearby! I keep mine on the charger in the pantry so that it’s ready to go at a moments notice.

-Use olive oil to prevent fingerprints on stainless steel appliances.

-Load your coffee in the filter the night before so it’s ready to go first thing in the morning.

I enjoyed showing off my kitchen to y’all and would love to hear some of your best kitchen tips and tricks!

Hi! I'm Kristin from The Orderly Home.  I love all things organization and I'm a sucker for pretty storage solutions and anything that makes life easier for me and my family. A little about me: I'm 27, married to my best friend, and mama to a precious little boy. I'm a Texas girl who enjoys cooking and baking, spending time outdoors, and barre workouts. My idea of fun involves an iced coffee, some good music, and a label maker. My style has evolved over the years, and currently I am gravitating towards anything simple, clean, and neutral. 

 

Our Farmhouse Kitchen

As my bio states, we've been renovating a 1940's farmhouse for about a year and a half now. We have a long way to go but I have been enjoying the process. The renovations continue but I'll give you a peek at our kitchen, which is about 75% complete. 

 

It may be small but I really love it, especially when we look back at what it looked like when we purchased the home.

This is the BEFORE:

That's all there was for cabinets and counter space. No good. We removed a doorway to free up an entire wall for cabinets and appliances and tore down a wall to open it up to the rest of the house. Everything came out of the kitchen and we started from scratch.

We went with simple white cabinets up to the ceiling, butcher block countertops, an apron-front cast iron sink, and stainless steel appliances to make it a little more modern.

Most recently we installed our island. My husband built a base for a very special piece of butcher block: my parents received it as a wedding gift and it was where we ate a lot of our meals growing up. I remember sitting at it while my mom braided my hair before school and then coming home for an afternoon snack in the same spot. Dinner, homework, birthdays...all around the kitchen island. When they renovated their house, it no longer fit and was moved into storage. When they offered it to us, I was thrilled to have a part of our childhood, especially since we've moved from my home state of New Hampshire to Minnesota. Now our kids can grow up at the same table and I hope they can have many great memories around it too. My mom gave me the idea to put toys in one of the baskets under the island since I have young kids at my feet while I cook so I plan to do that soon.

A few of my favorite features: my wooden spoon, rolling pin, and cutting board collections and our copper Kitchen Aid mixer that we spray painted!

Still to come: a light fixture above the island, baskets underneath, a range vent and hood, a completed pantry, and maybe some color, perhaps. That's definitely something I struggle with! I also struggle with keeping the drawers and cabinets organized, especially my pots and pans, so I will definitely be following along with the Delightful Order Organizing Challenge this month. I hope you've joined in on the fun too!

"Hello, I'm Ashley from Three Wooden Spoons, a blog featuring my adventures in the kitchen and following our renovation of a 1940's farmhouse in Minnesota. I love to cook and bake, write, explore thrift and antiques stores, drink strong coffee, and dabble in home design. I would describe my style as simple and classic, but also eclectic. I love finding second-hand furniture and home decor, as well as antiques from various eras, and making it all come together for a cohesive interior."