Hell's Kitchen ( transformed )

Good morning everyone !

I've had quite a few emails asking when I was going to show the kitchen finished and I realized last week that I've only shown bits and pieces of the kitchen so far - so thought I'd try to show it to you in it's entirety - which is a difficult thing to do because it's a small kitchen ! ( you don't want to know some of the positions I had to get in to get these photos )
Most of them you will have seen before because - well - they're better photos than I was able to take today lol

So here we go - I'm just about as ready as I'm every going to be !

We started off with this
A kitchen that we had to completely gut down to the studs 2 days after moving in ( I'll do you a favor and not repeat what was behind those walls )

Not only did the walls and ceilings have to come down - they also had to be thoroughly disinfected with tons of bleach.................that being done was the biggest relief of all.

The kitchen today looks like this

Because it's a small kitchen I decided to have a niche built for the fridge - every square inch counts as those of you that have small kitchens know :)  Having it flush against the kitchen wall is a huge space saver.
The back door leads out to what I'll very loosely call the " mudroom " so I was able to take the space from there - and while they were doing it I decided to build a little niche for the microwave as well - to save counter space.

Here's the view from that black door and my favorite part of the kitchen.- you can see that I used industrial type of shelving flanking either side of the stove - I picked these up at IKEA for 15.00 each - they're discontinued.

And the stove backsplash is simply a mirror I had on hand

In order to keep the sink centered to the window - I had wine cabinets ( or water ? ) installed on either side of it - this kept the configuration I needed

same thing for the cooking section - except there I went for a place to store cookbooks ( which still aren't unpacked completely 6 months later ) excuse the mess of it - eventually it'll only house books - they're next to the stove for easy access :)

Although I really wanted a marble countertop - things happened and the budget had to be tweaked a little to allow for the wiring to be completely updated included a new panel box - oh and an implant for my tooth
So we went with marble tiles 12 X 12 for the time being - hopefully this will be changed out next summer for the " real " thing - but I'm pretty happy with is as a " make do " alternative for the time being
This came to 300.00 - the marble slab would have come to 3000.00 - it's light and clean looking - and I love
that it's reflective.
That back splash you see are marble " thresholds " that are placed at bathroom doors - and work perfectly.

I also created a kitchen window sill shelf using one of them

Although this was a frugal makeover - I DID splurge on my French Country window - it opens inwards and I'm still in love with it

I'm also still in love with the little window that I chose to keep - I painted it black - the glass is original with waves and dimples and a little latch -

I chose open plate racks on either side of the window instead of cupboards

and placed a hutch on the opposite wall for dishes and such - it's a small kitchen and I wanted it to look a little more " open " ( additional dishes are kept in the dining room hutch ) but this is perfect for the everyday ones we use.

I wallpapered the back for a little more impact ( you thought I'd say " pop of color " didn't you? LOL )

I originally wanted a tin ceiling - alas - once again the budget was attacked by something else -
Because I wanted the very high ceilings ( which had previously been lowered by panels ) to have some interest  I opted for panels from Reno Depot ( which is just like Home Depot here in Canada - I go to both regularly )
These are not the ones I bought but just wanted you to see what they look like prior to installing - they're mdf - and cost roughly 150.00 to do in total - aproimately 25.00 a panel - again a nice alternative ( to something I really wanted )

There are 4 squares per panel

and it was finished off with crown molding

The lights over the farmhouse table were purchase from Amazon - for 24.99 each - I have no idea why but they're now 65.00 each - I have filament lights in them and they look really pretty at night

ok - skip the above photo - that was a total fail LMHO - I can't get the filament !!!

As you can see in little snippets above I went with black or black and white artwork on the fridge wall
It's the only wall where I could place artwork - and I wanted it to have an impact.

Which ties in with the original door that I painted black
You can also see that I have a " thing " for niches - I had one built for the microwave as well to clear
up counter space...............

Outside the kitchen is a room we'll be turning into a walk in pantry - this is also the outside access to the pool area.  I'll continue the black and white tile into there as well.

I painted a little frame that reads " MANGE "  with chalkboard paint I had on hand - so I could change out the message from time to time  UPDATE:  Mange means Eat in French - not mange as in what dogs get like some of you questioned - OMG - I'm laughing my head off here - I might change it up to Fleas or Heartworm ..................

and of course you've seen my vintage storage door ! ( which is tucked in a corner )

And I think that's about it.......................it's.not my dream kitchen - but still - it's fresh enough to remember the way it looked when we first came to view it - and so I'm still a little thrilled when I come down the stairs each morning - and the light is just starting to creep in

Is it time for the before's yet?

Much love, ( please forgive any mistakes - I'm falling asleep and way too tired to proof read lol )
Oh and the floor - I forgot to mention the floor - these are stick on tiles that we paid around 120.00 for.
You can read my thoughts on them HERE

I'll be partying here!
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Painting a 70's Railing....................

I HATE them - sorry if any of you have them - but I STILL hate them.................

Although I think the 70's was one of the coolest decades - when I look back I could vomit.

MY GOD we had no taste at all )

Our clothes were awful

SOURCE

Hairstyles were gross - why why why did we want to look like " page boys " ?

SOURCE

and then someone came up with the innovative thought that these railings

were somehow superior to these railings ( in case you missed the post of this IWLTW - it's HERE

I think we were trying to break out of a prison or something ( metaphorically of course unless you actually DID spend time in prison - and even then why would you want your stair railing to remind you of that particular episode in your life? )

And if you haven't seen those railings in years - well then come by for a visit - I HAVE THEM !!!

Except I changed them up a little bit of course...............

Because there's nothing -

And I DO mean nothing

That can't be fixed with white paint

( except 70's page boys - you can't do a damn thing with them except let them grow out )

Here's a conversation that happened the other night.

I was woken up ( should that be awoken ? )  by the door closing loudly - and

John says - Oh no...............
Suzan says groggily - You didn't .
John says - What are we going to do?
Suzan says - ( screams actually )  I told you to PLEASE PUT THE HANDLE BACK ON
John says - What are we going to do?
Suzan says - I DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS !!!!!!
Suzan says - You'll have to climb out the window
John says - What the hell?  Are you going to let me climb down your hair Rapunzel?
Suzan says - Seriously, YOU. ARE. GOING. TO. HAVE. TO. CLIMB. OUT. THE. WINDOW

( I really like my bed - but it's supposed to be my sanctuary - not death row )

John says - Don't be ridiculous - anyway my keys are in my coat downstairs so even if I did I can't open the door
Suzan says- You'll have to climb out the window - and smash a window somewhere
Suzan says - We can't stay locked up in the room
Suzan says- panic setting in - YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING

I had images of us starving to death in the room - found on the bed with Soda - locked up together forever more..............

John rummages in his closet and finds a screwdriver

Suzan says - What is a screw driver doing in your closet?
Suzan says - I had to put handles back on a dresser with a butter knife because I couldn't find it
Suzan says - WHY DON'T YOU PUT ANYTHING BACK WHERE IT BELONGS?
John says - (as he clicks open the door) - Thank God I don't........................

Suzan says - while you have the screw driver out - do you think you can put the door knob back on?
John says - It's too late - I'm going to bed....................

That was 3 days ago - take a look at the bedroom door everyone!!!

The handle has been spray painted and ready to go back on for over 2 months now -
Guess I should bite the bullet and install it myself - but I really want him to
feel that he's been a part of this reno LOL

La la la la life goes on...............................

John's out of town while this got done - let's see the conversation that ensues when he sees the branches LMHO

I've strategically placed them so they don't put him in harm's way

You can read how he feels about branches HERE

I used Behr floor paint - white gloss - because it's very durable and because I have a ton of it on hand.
The blue on the wall - just in case anyone wants to know - is Behr Pensive Sky.

Have a great day all !
Hugs,
Suzan

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My Painted Stone Fireplace

Well I did it - I fought myself over this one for 2 months - I really did - and had it been a beautiful stone fireplace I would never have touched it - but it was U.G.L.Y - seriously - the center is concaved the rocks are in awful shape - and it was time for an update.

so again - if you missed yesterday's post - here's what it looked like

and here's what it looks like today....................I'm especially pleased that the " rocks " don't stand out like tons of separate rocks - it looks much more cohesive now
It went from Darth Vadar ( I was afraid to be in the room alone with it ) to Snow White - with a few swipes of a brush :)

The hardest part of all was painting the bottom edging against the freshly stained floors - I was a nervous wreck to be honest with you - but not one drop landed on the floor
I'll eventually build a boxed hearth - because this is so off balanced I can't really lay anything on it.

I still have to paint that metal surround edging - it's going black because that's easiest and that pitiful excuse for a mantel will be changed ( it's just a piece of mdf - I may put skirting on it to make it look more substantial and see how that works )  I had an old piece of metal scroll work that I placed in the middle - ( actually where the rock is concave ) it hung outside in the last place so had to dig through my garden decor boxes to find it..............that probably took longer than painting the fire place lol

For now I have photos of my 2 favorite cities - New York and Paris - resting on it
and the flowers John brought home ( you can read about that fiasco HERE )

What do you think ?
Are you horrified that I painted it ?
Or do you think it's an improvement ?

 Just so you all know - John loves it - so there'll be no John says - Suzan says for this post lol
 You can see yesterday's post HERE to see the brick fireplace I painted in my last home - and some
 gorgeous stone fireplaces too :)

Just on a side note - there's a huge cat that just ran by my window - ( it's 2 in the morning )
I'm hoping he's not a stray - poor thing - it's so cold out there - but wow - he's HUGE -
I'm wondering if he's eating all the mice that got the boot from this place when we bought it?

Have a great first day of the week all :)

Much love,

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