Friday, April 8, 2011

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...



I am linking this post with:



Running with Glitter








12 comments:

  1. I really like the painted cabinets. We call our kitchen nook, the 'art area' b/c we have cabinets similar to yours that are filled with art materials.

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  2. Found you linked up at Tatertots & Jello. I love it! White cabinets looks so fresh and clean. The add in cabinets look like they have been there all along! Great job! I just redid my kitchen, cream, almost white. Makes the space so light and pretty. I am a fan of the white!

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  3. Angel!! I can't believe what a difference those cabinets made.....AWESOME!! Y'all really did a great job. Thanks for the "shout out". I feel like a new kid at school and you are the nice girl that is welcoming me there..... : )

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  4. It looks great, Angel!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! :) YAY! :)

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  5. Are you going to share the paint color?? ;)

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  6. Holy smokes girl you are my hero! My house could use some nesting LOL. That kitchen looks Amazing with a capitol A. We are currently renters but our lanlord lets us update the house and take it off our rent and I'm in the process of convincing him to let us do our kitchen like this. Right when I thought I had him where I wanted him, a pipe burst on the second floor and is flooding the basement, eeek! I guess I'll wait a while before pressing him any further lol. I would love if you could stop by and link up to my VIP party tonight. Otherwise it runs every Friday through the weekend =) http://designergarden.blogspot.com/2011/04/vip-party-10.html

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  7. ANGELA! They look beautiful! Way to go!!!

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  8. Thanks everybody! The paint color is Cappuccino White by Glidden, by the way! It's the perfect white in my opinion ;-)

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  9. What a great redo! I so what to redo the cabinets in my kitchen. They are HIDEOUS but I haven't quite decided what to do yet........except gut it completely but I can't afford that. Ha!

    Thanks for posting. I found your blog on the Running with Glitter link-up!

    Congrats on the baby!

    Cara

    http://miscellaneousme.wordpress.com

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  10. HAH Angel- I see one more space you could utilize---see that window? Build a storage box window seat with locking wheels. Then you will have room for more STUFF and an extra place to sit or add handles on the side and you can move it easily where ever your heart desires ( like when you need to put your feet up while working at the table!! Saw your Mom yesterday and ate lunch with her too!! Debbie Brown

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  11. Fabulous before and after!! I love a fresh coat of white paint:) as for the space between cabinet and counter ... I have seen alot of people hang a long bar with "s" hooks holding buckets with craft supplies. That way you can grab them ,use them at dining table and just hang back up for easy clean up :)

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Thank you for taking the time to share a kind word with me!