Nesting Madness Part 1: Cabinet Makeover

Hi... bare with me over the next few months.  I'm already a project loving girl, but being preggo and nesting has sent me into overdrive. 


We have a tiny three bedroom house that feels tight with our little family of three.  So you could imagine that when three become four in a few months, it's going to get even tighter in here.  And since my crafting, sewing, scrapbooking, and catch-everything-else room needs to turn into a nursery, I have to find a new spot for all my goodies.  


The only obvious place to do all my crafty things I love is our little dining nook (too small to call a dining room).  But since it's our only dining area, it still has to maintain its original purpose.  


No problem!


I'll just pull out my crafting gear as needed.  BUT... where do I pull it out from?  Every cabinet, closet, shelf, and corner is already full... and we still have to make room for Sweet Pea.  


Well my mother-in-law raised four boys in a house only a few hundred feet bigger than mine, so she has a great grasp on making every inch count.  (She is currently in the middle of a complete kitchen redo- I think she needs to start blogging.  She has renovated just about every room in her house, added a giant walk in closet, and built a huge family room onto it since I have come into the family almost 7 years ago.)  Anyway, she pointed out that another row of cabinets in my dining nook could help store some of my crafting supplies.


Well... I thought it was a great idea, so we (my hubby and me) started working.


This is the "dining nook" and cabinets before we did anything.  

Nothing too impressive.  Functional enough.  Except for the counter space which seems kind of useless except to decorate on.  It has two outlets above it I'm guessing for small appliances, but we don't drink coffee so no need for a coffee pot, and I have "enough" counter space in the kitchen for my needs right now.

Well..  where do we begin.  I knew I didn't want the expense of custom cabinets to fill that 70 inch hole.  And my husband is very, very handy but I didn't want to put him through the frustration of designing and building cabinets.  So I started looking around and found some unfinished cabinets at our local Home Depot.  I took measurements and figured out how to get 69 inches worth of cabinets in that spot.

New decision = New problem... I couldn't decide on what to finish the cabinets with.  I knew I wasn't crazy about the color of the original cabinets so I definitely didn't want to go through the strife of having to match them. 

Then at a birthday party at my cousin's new house, I fell in love with her kitchen and her painted cabinets.  (She happens to be new to the bloggy world, so stop by today and welcome her at Lou Lou's Life)  I decided to paint all the cabinets in the dining nook.  Lou Lou, as you'll get to know her, gladly shared her paint color with me, and I couldn't be more grateful for her inspiration.

So.. I had my cabinets, I had my paint.. time to work..

I primed and painted my cabinets outdoors in our beautiful spring, but too windy weather..  Oh, and for all the Sweet Pea fans out there- I used latex primer and paint which is perfectly safe according to my doctor.

Brushing paint on cabinets gives them a prettier finish than rolling them, but I imagine spraying them would have been the easiest.

My hubby, with the help of his brother, hung the new cabinets frames for me...

Then we hung the doors and touched them up with one last coat of paint and...

  TADAAA!

I. Just. Love. Them!

I was so pleased with the finished project!  It made the whole area look brighter and prettier.  I can fit scrapbooking supplies and even my sewing machine and Cricut in them!  My husband loved them too and even suggested maybe doing the kitchen cabinets as well...  Well, not anytime soon  :-)

Adding the cabinets also closed in that counter making it look a ton better I think.. since all I use it for is decorating.  By the way, if anyone has any suggestions for making that space functional, I'd be glad to hear them!

BEFORE

AFTER

Now, plans for a dining set redo along with some other storage options are already in the drawing.  ;-)  As well as more of my  "Nesting Madness" will continue.  Stay tuned...

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